Indian women : No longer the most beautiful ?

Maria Wirth

The German philosopher Hegel (1770-1831) didn’t have a high opinion of Indians, in contrast to most of his German colleagues. He even claimed that the character of Indians is ‘cunning and deceitful and that moral and human dignity are missing’. (By the way, he never was in Bharat).

German philosopher Hegel about Indian women

Yet he wrote this about Indian women and he meant Hindu women :

“There is a peculiar beauty in Indian women, whereby their face is covered with pure skin, with a slight, lovely blush, which is not just like the blush of health and vitality, but a finer blush, like a spiritual touch from within. The look of the eye and the position of the mouth, appear gentle, soft and relaxed – it is an almost unearthly beauty…”

In the 1960/70s, I remember that Indian women, with the characteristic red dot on the forehead, were considered as the most beautiful in the whole world. Of course, there were beautiful women also in other countries. However, Indian women stood out for their grace, and for that ‘spiritual touch’, apart from their good features, delicate body structure and long limbs.

Physicist Fritjof Capra about Indian women

In 1982, the physicist Fritjof Capra gave a talk at the Bombay University. He mentioned that everyone knows that Indian women are very beautiful and feminine. But now on his first visit in India, he realized that the whole culture is shifted more towards the feminine side. Even men are gentler.

Indian women wearing jeans and smoking

Around the same time, in the early 1980s, a well-known German feminist gave a talk in the Max Mueller Bhavan in Delhi. For the first time I saw Indian women wearing jeans and smoking. They had a western feel about them, and no, they didn’t have an ‘almost unearthly beauty’.

The focus is now on make-up, and no longer on grace or a spiritual touch

Then, in the 1990s, the beauty of Indian women got internationally recognized in a big way. 1994, Aishwarya Rai was crowned Miss World and Sushmita Sen Miss Universe. From 1994 till 2000, India won four Miss World titles. In 1991, India had had to open its economy, and the buzz about the beauty pageants was used to make Indians buy beauty products. Western companies benefited from a huge market. The focus was now on make-up, and no longer on grace or a spiritual touch.

In 2002, at a conference in Puducherry, a German psychology professor said that Indian women are beautiful, but not sexy. He may have considered this as a drawback, but Indian women of earlier decades at least, would have seen this as a plus point.

One hears a lot about Indian/Hindu women being oppressed by male patriarchy

Nowadays one hears little in the West about the beauty of Indian women, though the majority of them continue to have good features and well-proportioned bodies. Instead, one hears a lot about Indian/Hindu women being oppressed by male patriarchy – they suffer, they are abused …

On German Arte TV some years ago, Colin Gonsalves and Arundhati Roy drew an abysmal picture of the situation. According to those two, almost every woman had been subjected to abuse and rape. Culprit is supposedly the patriarchal Hindu society.

It was vicious propaganda. Hindus would be the group with the least number of rapes in relation to the population due to their mindset, if there was a truthful survey which took the religion of the criminal into account.

Yet the narrative was set after the sad case of Nirbhaya in 2012 : ‘Hindu men are rapists. Nobody should have any doubt about this !’

Naturally the talk about the beauty of Indian women needed to stop. How can women, who are abused and suffer, be beautiful ?

Steering young Hindu women towards Westernization and sexualization

Meanwhile, entertainment and media steered young Hindu women towards Westernization and sexualization.

A German who visited Puducherry after a gap of some years, joked that it seems that the traditional Indian dress is the miniskirt. And a teacher friend tells me that it’s incredible, how sexualized the whole atmosphere in schools has become. Woke-ism and LGBTQ+ has reached Bharat. A 19-year-old student told me that about half the girls of her class confidently and openly claiming they are lesbian.

It can be assumed, that this degradation of Indian society in general and women in particular was planned from a higher place. Maybe Hindu men were maligned, so that Pakistani Muslims don’t look so bad after the atrocious ‘grooming scandals’ in UK broke in the news ?

Another possible reason : Constantly talking about rape, lowers the resistance to ‘sexual education’ in schools and drives the Hindu society ever more towards Westernization and moral degradation.

Hindu women are being intentionally pushed into the wrong direction

Recently, on two Indian TV channels, ‘depression in women’ was the topic. It meant, the spiritual connection is weak or has been lost altogether.

I hope that Hindu women use their discrimination. I hope they realize that they are intentionally pushed into the wrong direction with wrong role models, like Hollywood or Bollywood actresses. A direction which makes them unhappy but makes them believe, they are ‘modern’ and ‘sexually liberated’. It is a direction that cuts them off from the vital connection to their inner Self or Atman, where inspiration, true happiness and love come from. And it makes them lose their beauty.

It is a direction, where only rights are demanded and duties are frowned upon as old-fashioned. Where women compete with men and no longer complement each other. Where the trust between the sexes is severely damaged. And where women even exploit their husbands with the help of women friendly laws (and lawyers) and drive the husband to suicide.

After 34-year-old Atul Subhash’s painful testimony went viral, which he had meticulously recorded before his suicide on December 9^th, 2024, several other cases of men committing suicide after severe harassment from their wives, sadly came to light. Such ‘modern’, ‘sexually liberated’ women may have good-looking features and bodies, but they are not beautiful. And not happy.

They may realize their mistake when they get older. But why not have the courage now to stand up to peer pressure which demands from students to be ‘woke’ ? Why not now already nurture one’s spiritual connection and feel safe in Bhagawan’s embrace ?

Yet there are still many truly beautiful women in Bharat, who have not lost their spiritual connection to their inner Self. The three young women in the photo (above left side) surely strike everyone as beautiful. Indian culture is still very much alive. Fortunately.

(Courtesy : Article by Ms Maria Wirth posted on mariawirth.com; 11.1.2025.)

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India’s young women are feeling the pressure to meet impossible ideals of beauty

‘Fair and lovely’

Skin colour is also considered to be a critical marker of beauty. Fairer skin is deemed desirable, whereas a dusky complexion, acne, circles under the eyes, body hair, and scars are causes of shame and embarrassment. Songs in Indian movies often make references to the fair and glowing skin of the heroine, explicitly linking lighter skin tones and blemish-free skin with beauty. The advertising industry, too, is unrelenting in its attempts to sell skin-lightening or fairness creams, such as the popular ‘Fair and Lovely’ range, conveniently neglecting Indian women’s genetic realities. The scale of the problem is reflected in the booming success of the fairness cream industry in India, which stands at about 450 million US$ and is growing by 17% every year.

Many trace this obsession with fairer skin to European colonialism, which perpetuated and reinforced a perceived connection between lighter skin and higher social standing. Some link this to the idea that ruling rich stayed indoors, while the poor worked outside in the sun.

The ‘perfect’ woman

Just as potent as the media and advertising are influences found within young women’s closest circles. Young women speak of their parents and peers as important figures of influence who, in their own unique ways, may reinforce the apparent necessity of meeting appearance ideals. These messages may be shared through appearance-focused conversations, comparisons with siblings or friends, and appeals to diet or exercise.

Marriage, too, may create another pressure : Many marriages in India are still arranged through advertisements online or in newspapers, in which families seeking brides often state a preference for women who are fair and slim. Many young women internalise these messages, accepting and absorbing these ideas so that they become part of their character and beliefs. They come to connect the achievement of these physical standards with their own self-worth.

(Courtesy : Excerpts from an Article by Ms Megha Dhillon posted on acu.ac.uk)

There are still many truly beautiful women in Bharat, who have not lost their spiritual connection to their inner Self !