Tuesday, June 23rd: Shaadi.com, a relationship-finding website for Asians, has removed a skin color filter from its site following pressure from users.
Hetal Lakhani, from Dallas, USA, launched an online petition against them, after which the company removed the skin color filter. She launched the campaign after talking to another user, who questioned the filter in light of the anti-racism protest.
Shaadi.com says that the filter was not serving any purpose and that these were the remnants of our offer that we were left to remove.When users enter their details on the site, they are asked what color their skin color is and how deep or clear it is.
Users could choose the specific color they chose in their search based on their skin color, but Shaadi.com claims that the filter didn’t work and the search showed relationships of every color. The website is unique from other dating sites in that it replaces relationship seekers in South Asian society and helps people seeking marriage to find a partner.
Meghan Nagpal was using this website to find a potential spouse for herself who is from India. She told the BBC Asian Network: “I emailed them (Shaadi.com) and a correspondent said the filter was needed by most parents. They discussed the color filter on a Facebook group where Hetal was also a member.
“I was really surprised when Meghan shared it on our group because usually a company has some responsibility,” says Hetal. I wanted to change the situation in such a way that something changed so I started a petition.
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It had just begun to spread like wildfire, and in just 14 hours, more than 1,500 petitions had been signed. People are very happy that we are raising this issue. Meghan and Hetal say Shaadi.com responded to them on Twitter, saying it was an aspect they had lost sight of on their site and that the filter was immediately removed.
“This is just a small step towards promoting equality in the South Asian community globally,” Meghan said. “I have a bachelor’s degree, I have a master’s degree,” Hetal said. But if the color of my skin affects it, it is very bad.
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