Miss India pageant slammed for lacking diversity among its finalists

The Miss India beauty pageant has been criticised for lack of contestant diversity. Photo / Twitter

A beauty pageant has come under fire for lacking diversity.

The Times of India released headshots of the 30 finalists for the Miss India beauty pageant — exposing the fact the women look very alike.

The contestant who wins Miss India will compete on June 15 for the spot to represent their country at the Miss World pageant in Thailand in December.

However, critics have slammed the organisation on social media for having similar finalists and pointed out that they all have a fairer skin colour which lacked true representation of the country's women.

"They all have the same hair, and the SAME SKIN COLOUR, and I'm going to hazard a guess that their heights and vital stats will also be similar. So much for India being a 'diverse' country," one woman said on Twitter.

Another agreed, asking why couldn't a "Miss India be a dusky or dark brown or darker chocolate brown?"

One person described the group of women as an "assembly line production".

Miss India contestants. They all have the same hair, and the SAME SKIN COLOUR, and I'm going to hazard a guess that their heights and vital stats will also be similar. So much for India being a 'diverse' country. pic.twitter.com/L4yXG0WvRu

— labellagorda (@labellagorda) May 27, 2019

The pageant's grooming expert Shamita Singha told the BBC the original pictures had to be retouched as the contestants looked "like plastic".

"This is not the skin tones of the actual pictures," she said.

She also highlighted that the show's past winners, including Nehal Chudasama, Srinidhi Shetty and Anukreethy Vas, had darker skin.

Fair skin has become an obsession in India with beauty pageants such as Miss India being blamed for highlighting it.

Bollywood stars have also endorsed skin lightening products, which have become among the highest-selling products in India.

What is wrong with this picture? pic.twitter.com/61B23aYFr6

— Lebrown James (@Naa_Cheese) May 28, 2019

Question: who will be crowned Miss India this year?

How to choose from such a diverse bunch?! 😏🙄 pic.twitter.com/nOnkrvXOts

— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) May 27, 2019

Beauty pageants have been taken very seriously in India since the mid-1990s, with many contestants including Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra going on to have lucrative Bollywood careers.

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