Previous studies have found the presence of colorism, especially a bias toward fair-skinned women in India’s newspaper matrimonial advertisements where fair-complexioned women are considered more beautiful than those with a darker skin complexion. Most matrimonial advertisements in newspapers are posted by family elders such as parents of prospective brides. This study explored if the rise of online matrimonial portals has empowered marginalized members of families such as prospective brides by giving them greater access to, and control over, posting matrimonial ads, and whether who posts these ads has made a difference to how women are projected in the online ads. Textual analysis of 150 online matrimonial ads indicated that younger women such as would-be brides posted more ads in online media, compared to older family members. Further, irrespective of who posted the ads, there was less overt focus on physical attributes of women such as fairness of skin, but colorism was present in more subtle forms. Finally, the online ads posted by both prospective brides, and their parents, were unable to entirely break free from shackles of socially constructed patriarchal norms where women’s physical attributes such as fair skin are considered critical qualities. Findings were consistent with the tenets of Critical Race Theory that colorism is an ingrained feature of social systems and is constantly negotiated based on a group’s own social interests.