So, that happened and Rai is really mad about it. Understandably so, after all, she is a very loud and proud Indian who often takes joking pot shots at American culture. And she is well within her rights to be mad, what is Elle thinking?

But this bring up a much larger issue that is how much color politics play into who becomes famous in India. A big part of why Rai herself is famous is because she is lighter than the average Indian, a standard that is very pervasive, to an unapologetic degree. Also, Jorge Rivas at Colorlines talks about the skin lightening industry, something we have written about as well that is thriving not only in ...