“South Asian women are trapped in a double cage: one built by unrealistic Western ideals on social media, and the other by regressive South Asian narratives in media. No wonder anxiety and depression are through the roof.”
South Asian women are stuck in a double cage — and no one’s really talking about it.
On one side, we’ve got Western social media ideals constantly telling us what “beauty” and “success” look like:
💄 Flawless skin, tiny waist, soft glam, effortlessly rich girl vibes.
📈 Hustle culture masked as “that girl” routines.
📸 The pressure to be aesthetic 24/7 — or risk being invisible.
And on the other side?
We’ve got our own cultural narratives — still romanticizing silence, sacrifice, and shame.
🧕 Be modest. Be obedient.
🤐 Don’t talk about your mental health — “log kya kahenge?”
🧺 Get married by 25, but also have a degree, a perfect body, cook like your dadi, and never talk back.
So what happens when you’re told to be confident but not loud, ambitious but not bossy, beautiful but not too bold?
You split yourself into pieces trying to be everything for everyone.
This double bind isn’t just exhausting — it’s dangerous.
Anxiety. Depression. Burnout. Body dysmorphia. People-pleasing. Constant guilt. And a deep-rooted fear of being “too much” or “not enough.”
This isn’t empowerment. It’s emotional suffocation wrapped in pretty packaging.
It’s time we stop glorifying survival and start fighting for freedom — freedom to show up as our full selves, messy, loud, vulnerable, healing, unfiltered.
We owe that to the next generation of South Asian girls.
“Why are South Asian women shamed for speaking up, wearing what they want, or choosing careers over marriage? And why do we allow media to keep feeding this mindset to the next generation?”
Seriously, think about it.
🗣️ If a woman speaks her mind — she’s “disrespectful.”
👗 If she wears something outside the norm — she’s “asking for attention.”
💼 If she chooses her goals over marriage — she’s “too ambitious” or “selfish.”
Meanwhile, boys are praised for bare minimum independence and called “kings” for doing basic things like cooking an egg or doing laundry at 30.
And we wonder why so many South Asian girls grow up second-guessing their worth, their voice, their right to choose.
But here’s the thing: it’s not just the aunties and uncles whispering judgments anymore —
📺 It’s the media, TV dramas, movies, even influencers — still glorifying the obedient daughter, the sacrificing wife, the bechari bahu who never talks back.
Generations of girls are being raised on stories that teach them to shrink themselves to be accepted.
And we’ve let it slide for way too long.
The question is — why are we still allowing it?
Why are we letting outdated, patriarchal storylines be repackaged and sold to the next generation as culture?
South Asian women don’t need more “role models” who suffer silently for love.
We need stories where they thrive, speak up, choose themselves — and aren’t punished for it.
Because real empowerment isn’t just a buzzword. It’s about rewriting the narrative — for us, and for the ones who come after us.
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