REGINA – This past Friday, Arththy Safeer was beyond excited to compare her ‘tan’ with co-worker Morgan Klein.
“I love having my skin that I was born with used as a visual marker for how much sun my acquaintances have gotten over their vacations,” Safeer explained, “I love providing them that service.”
Safeer explained that the process of comparing her natural skin tone to her Caucasian co-workers sun damage is pretty routine at this point. It begins with someone unpromptedly grabbing her forearm and holding it alongside theirs, followed by an exclamation of how much darker they are than you.
“I am pretty diligent about slathering myself in sunscreen to prevent aging,” Safeer said over her break, “And of course because I feel the ever-present nagging of the white Eurocentric beauty standards in my head.”
Safeer is considered “so lucky” by many in her office for the consistency of her melanin. While many other females in the office have to peel back sunburnt skin to reveal incremental tans, Safeer’s skin tone lets her become the center of racial discrimination.
When asked how she got her ‘tan’ so beautiful and rich by Klein, Safeer said, “I’m just Pakistani.”
