Colorism: Beyoncé Sharma Jayegi
By Shera Furigay
Judge my skin and compare to your standard
Mold my beauty into your liking
But in that, forget I am human
Love my skin and create a new standard
Admire my beauty, change to liking
And in that, remember I am human
- Shera Furigay
On July 31, the visual album of “Black is King” was released by none other than the queen, Beyoncé Knowles Carter, and was based on her 2019 album, “The Lion King: The Gift.” In this album, a particular song struck a chord for me — “Brown Skin Girl.” This song embodies what it means to be dark-skinned and beautiful, a concept that still has yet to be integrated widely in today’s societal beauty standards.
As a “Brown Skin Girl” myself, this song took a deeper meaning as it represented women of color across all ethnicities and races. The inclusion of darker-skinned Indian women helped remind me that I’m beautiful no matter what societal ideals might project.
However, despite the message Beyoncé wanted to convey to her audience, the meaning behind this song did not translate in such a positive manner to others.
About two months after the album was out, “Khaali Peeli,” a new Bollywood film starring Ishaan Khatter and Annaya Panday was released, and featured the song, “Beyonce Sharma Jayegi.”
I personally have not heard the song myself, simply because I cannot be bothered, but from reading the lyrics alone, I understand the racist implications behind them. Specifically, they compare a fair-skinned woman to Beyoncé, saying that her beauty would put Beyoncé to shame. After significant backlash, these lyrics were taken down and changed to “Duniya Sharma Jayegi.” But we simply cannot forgive and forget the damaging message these lyrics portray to the South Asian audience.
I find the difference between the messages behind these two songs jarring. On one hand, we have a song embracing dark skin, encouraging self-love and reassurance in one's beauty. On the other hand, we have a song supporting toxic and racist beauty standards, supporting the idea that one’s skin color should determine their self-worth.
In my artwork, I tried to portray this difference, particularly through the line, “Can’t let no one come control me.” These are lyrics taken from “Brown Skin Girl,” and happen to be sung when a South Asian woman comes on screen in Beyoncé’s music video.
A screenshot from Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” music video.
Source: Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid - BROWN SKIN GIRL (Official Video)
Even though this line can simply be read as one, I took these lyrics and divided it into two different sides of the art. One side of the lyrics, “Can’t let no one...”, relinquishes control to one's own self, allowing one to make the decision to love themselves no matter what others have to say.
However, the second half, “...come control me”, questions whether we or society are truly in control of our self-perception and acceptance in the end. Despite this two-pronged meaning, I still want my artwork to portray the original meaning of the lyric itself. Despite how society tries to control us, it's up to us to love ourselves no matter what.
Shera Furigay is a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monsoon’s content creation and social media teams. She loves anything that stimulates her mind creatively, from art to music. With quarantine, she’s learned to love acrylic art, and is now dipping to digital art as well.