The queen of the world, Priyanka Chopra has graced the cover of Vogue India and Paper Magazine recently and okay, I can’t express how stunning she looks. Like there’s literally nothing the woman can’t do. Even in her interviews to the respective magazines, PC made some amazing points.
Priyanka spoke at length about representation in cinema, especially when it comes to the South Asian community, her teenage years in America and how ‘ambition‘ and ‘feminism‘ have turned into bad words, when they’re not. The most heartfelt part of her respective interviews was her regret at endorsing a fairness cream in India.
Here’s what she said to Vogue India about her experience –
A lot of girls with a darker skin hear things like, “Oh, poor thing, she’s dark.” In India they advertise skin-lightening creams: “Your skin’s gonna get lighter in a week.” I used it (when I was very young). Then when I was an actor, around my early twenties, I did a commercial for a skin-lightening cream. I was playing that girl with insecurities. And when I saw it, I was like, “Oh shit. What did I do?” I started talking about being proud of the way I looked. I actually like my skin tone.
And to Paper Magazine –
I was made to feel very self-conscious when I was younger because I’m darker-toned, and that was a huge part of my self-esteem issue when I was growing up. So I did this cream commercial and when I saw it, it made me feel like crap. It reminded me of what I felt like when I was a little girl. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is what I felt like. Like what I have is not good enough.’ I got out of the contract and never did it again. It took me seeing myself advocating the thing that made my teenage years miserable, because it was normal and everyone did it. It was sold in stores right next to toothpaste. You don’t understand the psychology of what it does to society. When I did it is when I understood it. Creams for glowing skin is different, but as soon as it says ‘whitening,’ it’s like, what?
You can read the entire interviews here and here.
Also, Priyanka Chopra for President (of the world, not just one country).