I didn't ask whether it was based on beauty rather whether the system affected what people perceive beauty to be in India(perhaps I should have been clearer).
And again, exactly how does that work? What makes you think higher castes decide standards of beauty? Higher caste people have as much chances of being unattractive and not fitting in the standards as the lower ones including having darker skin if that's your parameter.
The person in India who was talking about even his 10 year old daughter using fair and lovely, was a Muslim. It has a good market in Pakistan too. Technically the caste system shouldn't even affect them, isn't it?
How do you explain the same trend in Africa and other countries where the caste system didn't exist at all and the product still has the same selling point?
Did those who came from lower caste not look up to those from higher castes?
That's not how castes system works. People living in lower strata of society try to follow the foot steps of the higher strata in a bid to move up whether there is a caste system or not, but caste system is irrelevant when it comes to beauty.
For the past few centuries those of European decent have remained the most developed people in the world(in terms of living standards and world influence) it isn't surprising that a sizable number of people try to emulate them, even their appearance.
Could the same thing not be said for India and its caste system?
Yes the problem is with your assumption that higher caste have some special look. They don't and it's much complicated than you think. Lower classes may seem darker skinned to an
outsider but it's often simply because of them being labour class. Working out in the sun and not having resources and time to take care of themselves. Punjabis may look different than Bengalis or Biharies but that's because of ethnic diversity not a caste issue.
On top of it people mix up varna and caste.
India had an original varna system based on profession or rather division of labour- Brahimn, kshtriya, Vaish, shudra. At first there was no restriction in moving from one to another group either. But as we move from Vedic period (4000-1000 B.C) to the 230 B.C. to 700 A.D), the four varnas came to be arranged hierarchically and in turn got more and more rigid and completely obnoxious in some ways.
The origin of castes has nothing to do with varnas, though in the process of development of castes, they came to be associated with varnas. That is hierarchy of castes and the mobility of a caste came to be stated in varna terms.
It still worked in two ways- new professions and sub groups came up within 4 varnas as the society grew complex and more specialized. As well as the new communities that moved to India and gradually entered the Indian society.
India has many ethnicity and they all found a place in caste system but as a caste the skin colour or beauty was never a decisive factor. What kind of place they could make in the society was. They exist because they were helpful in helping migrants in finding a place in society in Varna terms and yet retain their own personal customs and rituals to an extent and give a strong sense of kinship and security beyond the family.
For example the Jews and Zoroastrians who came in India escaping persecution in their country of origin were able to follow their own beliefs and rituals and customs within their community along with keeping their sense of kinship without interference. Nobody bothered them here. With time they blended in- well Zoroastrians did. Many Jews went back to Israel and complained of racism from their western counterparts- living in India for far too long didn't help their skin colour.
