Amna Ilyas Says There’s Nothing Wrong With Being Dark-Skinned And We Agree [Video]

Brown people are supposed to be brown.

Amna Ilyas

In a recent interview with BBC Urdu, Pakistani supermodel and actress Amna Ilyas opened up about discrimination in the industry. Her interview is making waves for all the right reasons, calling out discrimination and encouraging people to be comfortable in their own skin.

The Good Morning Karachi actress opened up about the discrimination she faced due to her skin color.

“Dark skinned girls in Pakistan have nothing to be ashamed of and they should never be made to feel undeserving of an opportunity.”


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Amna Ilyas brought up how she was made very aware of her skin tone as a child both in the interview and in her Instagram post.

“There was a time in my life where I felt alienated and inadequate because of the micro aggressions society placed on me. When I was younger I did use fairness creams and even went as far as to do an ad for one.”

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B4w6UqEndds/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

The Baaji starlet was blatantly honest about the double standards in the entertainment industry when it comes to skin color. That explains the lack of diversity when it comes to our television and film screens.

“The top five actresses (in the biz) are light-skinned, and those that weren’t have made their skin lighter to be part of the race,”

Racism over Skin Color

Colorism is a type of racism in which people are distinguished and discriminated against due to their skin tone. Amna Ilyas didn’t hold back about the prejudice she faced at the beginning of the career.

She reveals how in some cases, her images were photoshopped until she was no longer recognizable.

“For instance, if I had to do a lawn campaign, they’d make me look two tones lighter. Either my make-up artist would do so or the client would ask them to ‘make me lighter‘. Then on photoshop. Sometimes I’d look at my pictures and think ‘that’s not me‘,”


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There is a cultural phenomenon across the sub-continent called a ‘Gora complex‘. It basically wants brown people to not be brown. People do not realize skin color is genetically determined and that no amount of fairness cream can change that.

That’s why it’s refreshing to see a dark skin role model like Amna Ilyas. It showcases someone on screen that actually looks like most of the Pakistani population, brown.

“I can say today that I’m proud of my skin tone.”