Matrimonial site removes skin colour filter; ‘Can we remove caste and gender filter?’ asks Twitterati
Thanks to the Black Lives Matter Movement, we have finally entered the 21st century. A leading matrimonial website Shaadi.com finally removed its skin colour search filter after thousands of people signed an online petition. Started by a US-based woman of Indian origin Hetal Lakhani, the petition against the biasness received an enormous response as around 1,500 signatures were made within 14 hours. Previously, the website asked users to search for their partners on the basis of skin descriptions like ‘fair,’ ‘wheatish,’ and ‘dark.’ She wrote in her petition, “The obsession with fair skin is still notorious within South Asian communities. We demand that Shaadi.com permanently remove its skin colour filter to prevent users from selectively searching for matches based on their preferred skin colour.”
The idea of starting the petition came to her when she saw a Facebook post from Meghan Nagpal, who was using Shaadi.com. She copied her tweet into a Facebook group for South Asian women and asked for a discussion about its importance. Nagpal’s tweet read, “@ShaadiDotCom have you thought that you should maybe remove the skin color option on your profiles? Colorism has proven to be dangerous #SouthAsians4BlackLives #endcolorism #BlackLivesMattter.”
@ShaadiDotCom have you thought that you should maybe remove the skin color option on your profiles? Colorism has proven to be dangerous #SouthAsians4BlackLives #endcolorism #BlackLivesMattter
— Meghan Nagpal (@MeghanSNagpal) June 3, 2020
Hetal’s petition was noticed by influential blogger Roshni Patel who shared the same with her 80,000 followers and also tagged Shaadi.com. Her tweet got a response from the site who said, “Since we do not collect or capture this information on our platform, one cannot filter profiles using this. Hence, this search filter has no implications on matchmaking. That said, the search filter was blind spot from our side and we have removed it.”
https://t.co/PSq8gOhufE.
Dear @ShaadiDotCom I am sad that this is what you are promoting! Totally wrong – totally disrespectful- totally disgusting! To add a filter to a dating site because of our skin complexion! What are we teaching our South Asian gen! Sick to my stomach! pic.twitter.com/iK3oCTHfw4
— MissRoshni (@MissRoshni) June 11, 2020
Um.. so then why does your site have an option to filter your photo? You do realize that’s wrong? You are basically faking the color of your skin on a dating site where you find love. So what is the “reasoning” behind the filter? Do care to explain. We need valid reasons… https://t.co/alhTN7UrRJ
— MissRoshni (@MissRoshni) June 11, 2020
Since we do not collect or capture this information on our platform, one cannot filter profiles using this. Hence, this search filter has no implications on matchmaking. That said, the search filter was blind spot from our side and we have removed it.
— Shaadi.com (@ShaadiDotCom) June 11, 2020
Soon fans started celebrating the achievement and wrote about the same on Twitter. However, there was a segment of people who were still dissatisfied and demanded the removal of ‘caste’ and the ‘gender’ filter as well.
Shaadi.?com has finally removed its controversial skin colour filter after facing criticism https://t.co/MFVQFPYibW
— Gadgets 360 (@Gadgets360) June 24, 2020
But i could filter a girls hair colour or build? Whats the difference here people?? ?????
— Nick Wright (@NIXY1983) June 23, 2020
Has anyone looked at the cause of this in history? Lighter skin meant you weren’t laboring in the sun. Which meant you’re not a peasant, but the upper class. Classism has always been part of the human condition. THAT’S the underlying issues throughout history.
— Leni (@Leni77832467) June 23, 2020
A small step in the right direction to tackling the “colourism” in south Asian communities
— Zubair Munsif (@zebedee82) June 23, 2020
Next will be the gender filter.
— Roland Deschain (@DsRoland) June 23, 2020
What about gender, to be even more Woke?
— YingHuiThe (@YingHuiThe) June 23, 2020
Got so bored we checked out guys on https://t.co/7HXzlpuSjo yesterday. Gave me tinder vibes
— Marie Hui Antoinette? (@potatoinator) June 23, 2020
Remove filter all around
— Lillyyy ? (@McKinley077) June 23, 2020
Got so bored we checked out guys on https://t.co/7HXzlpuSjo yesterday. Gave me tinder vibes
— Marie Hui Antoinette? (@potatoinator) June 23, 2020
Previously, Hindustan Unilever, in a statement announced that it will drop the word ‘fair’ from its skin-lightening cream Fair & Lovely which has been a topic of criticism for quite a long time. “We are making our skincare portfolio more inclusive … a more diverse portrayal of beauty,” Hindustan Unilever Chairman Sanjiv Mehta said in a statement. After the judgement, various reactions poured out on Twitter as well both from celebrities and users.
It has been a long and sometimes a very lonely battle but results only happen when whole nation participates in the movement ????https://t.co/9xv1nkQm5P
— Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) June 25, 2020
HUL fighting racism by dropping “Fair” from Fair & Lovely but continuing to sell the product. pic.twitter.com/uZ4Md2xwPu
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) June 25, 2020
All Fairness Cream Companies after Fair & Lovely pic.twitter.com/C63cuGAZ5I
— alpha dude zone (@alphadudezone) June 25, 2020
HUL to drop “Fair” from Fair & Lovely as a support to fight #racism.
HUL and other fairness creams be like: pic.twitter.com/zYV6HFljKy
— Riya (@jhampakjhum) June 25, 2020
#HUL removing #fair from fair&lovely but still selling the cream. pic.twitter.com/CA12hBtWtH
— Ayush Sharma (@AyushTechnocrat) June 25, 2020
No one
Literally No one
*HUL removes #fair from fair&Lovely to fight racism*
BOD of HUL : pic.twitter.com/NkdDWB3qAv— Daastaan ? (@m_groot_) June 25, 2020
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