Embracing My Dusky Skin

Growing up as a dusky-skinned girl in Nepal, I often found myself feeling like I didn’t belong. The beauty standards in my society celebrate fairness above everything. As a teenager, my skin color became my source of major insecurity. People around me would make comments about my complexion, later defending it as a playful affection. But for me, it was something I never loved. 

At the very young age, I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was the unattractive one among all because I was not fair like others. My friends proudly shared their stories about admirers and boyfriends, but I was never in that loop. This made me so frustrated that I became desperate to change my skin color. I researched for hours on ways to lighten my skin, hoping it would help me to fit in the society. 

But things began to change as I grew older and got into the world of social media. To my surprise, I saw people appreciating skin tones like mine. I watched videos of white people tanning themselves to achieve a complexion similar to mine. At first, I could not understand why they would want what I had when I had spent years trying to escape it. 

Over time, I realized that the skin tone I once disliked was admired widely in other parts of the world. This helped me in admiring my own skin tone more and more. Slowly, I began to love my skin. 

While all of this happened, it's not like I never struggle with self doubt. There are still moments when all of it comes in but compared to where I once was, I have come a long way and today I feel more confident than ever. 

Ironically, it’s the same social media which is often criticized for promoting unrealistic beauty standards helped me find some sort of self acceptance. For that, I’m grateful.