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Elle Magazine: Apologize for Trying to 'Whiten' Indian Skin
  1. Signatures
    51,401 out of 75,000
    Petitioning
    1. Editor-In-Chief, Elle India (+ 32 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Editor-In-Chief, Elle India (Nonita Kalra)
      • Elle and Ogaan Publications Ltd
      • Editor in Chief, Elle India (Pramiti Madhavji)
      • Publisher and CEO, Elle International (Archana Pillai)
      • Editor, Elle India (Nonita Kalra)
      • CFO, Elle India (Takesh Mathur)
      • Graphic Designer, Elle India (Priyanka Singh)
      • Executive Publisher, Elle India (Amrit Rai)
      • Production Manager, Elle India (K J Thomas)
      • Director, Elle India (Preeta Sukhtankar)
      • Junior Fashion Editor, Elle India (Shyamli Arora)
      • Chief Stylist, Elle India (Edward Lalrempuia)
      • Elle Mumbai
      • Fashion & Beauty Stylist, Elle India (Sacha Mendes)
      • Elle India
      • Fashion Stylist, Elle India (Tania Fadte)
      • Vice-Chairperson, Elle India (Kavita Bhartia)
      • Vice President Marketing, Elle India (Minal Surve)
      • Marketing Manager, Elle India (Ritu Mathur)
      • Fashion Director, Elle India (Mohan Neelakantan)
      • Managing Editor, Elle India (Shradha Sukumaran)
      • Fashion Editor, Elle India (Malini Banerji)
      • Junior Fasion Editor, Elle India (Simran Arya)
      • Karuna Laungani
      • Stylist, Elle India (Jahnavi Tampi)
      • Beauty Editor, Elle India (Kadambari Lakhani)
      • Deputy Beauty Editor, Elle India (Tanvi Dagli)
      • Creative Director, Elle India (Prashish More)
      • Deputy Art Director, Elle India (Reshma Rajiwdekar)
      • Art Editor, Elle India (Mitika Ved)
      • Art Assistant, Elle India (Ashni Shah)
      • Editorial Manager, Elle India (Parul Menezes)
      • Art Director, Elle India (Prabal Guha Niyogi)
  2. Created By
    Prerna Lal
    Washington, DC
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

It looks like Elle had quite the white Christmas.

Bollywood actor and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is featured on the cover of Elle Magazine looking far paler than she is in real life. Most fans are up in arms and an appalled Ms. Bachchan is considering a lawsuit against the magazine.

Consumers have long been inundated with ads that use prominent Bollywood actors to promote skin-lightening products. In a country that produces gorgeous women of color, it is sad that Ms. Rai-Bachchan, who is relatively light-skinned, is one of the very few with some cross-over appeal.

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To see magazines like Elle further enforce the color hierarchy of crossover appeal by making Aishwarya appear lighter-skinned is a slap in the face.

This is the second racial debacle surrounding Elle. The American version was criticized for its October 2010 issue, which featured actress Gabourey Sidibeon on one of its four celebrity covers with noticeably lighter skin than her natural complexion.

Lets tell Elle Magazine to make a commitment to moving away from using white as a standard for beauty, and demand a public statement and apology.

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Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Elle: 50,000+ Readers Demand an Apology for the Whitening of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Greetings,

I write along to you, the publishers of Elle India, with thousands of other readers to express my concern as an Elle reader over the depiction of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, one of the most beautiful women in the world, as more light-skinned than she is in real life.

Consumers have long been inundated with ads that use prominent Bollywood actors to promote skin-lightening products. In a country that produces gorgeous women of color, it is sad that Ms. Rai-Bachchan, who is relatively light-skinned, is one of the very few with some cross-over appeal. To see magazines like Elle further enforce the color hierarchy of crossover appeal by making Aishwarya appear lighter-skinned is a slap in the face.

Ms. Rai-Bachchan is the epitome of perfection and she certainly deserves to be on the cover of Elle Magazine without lightening tricks. I sincerely hope Elle can commit to making sure that it moves away from the color white as a standard for beauty.

Most importantly, I ask that Elle issue a public apology to Ms. Rai-Bachchan and all her fans.

I look forward to your response.

[Your name]

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