How Media’s Narrow Definition of Beauty Fuels Mental Health Issues in South Asian Women
What if the most damaging lies weren’t shouted, but silently repeated in every commercial, every drama, every film?
South Asian women have spent their lives watching screens that tell them they are “too dark,” “too big,” “too loud,” “too real.” Whether it’s Bollywood’s glossy glamour or the relentless morality of Pakistani serials, the message is the same: if you don’t fit into their version of beauty—you are not worthy of love, success, or even basic respect.
And this isn’t just unfair. It’s dangerous.
The Beauty Trap: Small Bodies, Big Pressure
From childhood, South Asian girls are fed a very specific image of what “beautiful” looks like: fair skin, slim frame, long silky hair, flawless features. This isn’t just media fantasy—it becomes a life script.
Shows like Meri Bhavya Life or Dhai Kilo Prem tried to challenge this narrative, but even they often couched body positivity within humor or pity. Pakistani dramas like Pyari Mona and Oye Moti took bolder steps, placing plus-size women at the center. But even then, the storytelling couldn’t escape societal obsession with body image. Women were either “brave” for existing as they are—or had to constantly prove their worth.
Meanwhile, in films like Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani or Shandaar, the idea of body acceptance is flirted with, but never fully embraced. Fat characters are often punchlines or supporting roles—rarely the romantic leads.
This constant exposure to unattainable ideals chips away at self-esteem. And for many South Asian women, it becomes internalized violence.
Mental Health: The Unspoken Consequence
What’s often overlooked in conversations about beauty standards is their brutal impact on mental health.
How do you love yourself when every screen tells you you’re not enough?
The consequences are real:
- Eating disorders hidden behind fasting “for health”
- Skin bleaching masked as “glow-enhancing treatments”
- Anxiety from constantly monitoring what you wear, how you look, how much space you take up
- Depression born from years of body shame and unworthiness
These aren’t superficial problems. They’re soul-deep scars—reinforced by every casting decision, every airbrushed poster, every joke made at the expense of women who dare to exist outside the mold.
The Industry’s Responsibility: Stop Selling Shame
Media isn’t just a reflection of society—it’s a blueprint for how we treat others, and ourselves.
South Asian media must take accountability. It’s not enough to include a token “body positive” character. The industry must:
- Normalize diverse bodies, skin tones, and features in lead roles
- Remove the “transformation” trope that suggests fat or dark-skinned women must change to be loved
- Hire more writers, producers, and creatives who understand the lived experiences of marginalized women
- Treat women’s bodies as something more than visual currency
Because when women see themselves on screen without mockery or conditions, they learn to stop apologizing for existing.
We Deserve More Than Survival—We Deserve to Thrive
South Asian women are more than just “before” photos. We are not waiting to be transformed, fixed, or accepted by society’s shallow standards.
It’s time for media to catch up to the women it claims to represent.
We deserve to see our bodies celebrated—not shamed. We deserve characters who reflect our truths—not just our traumas. We deserve to thrive, not just survive a system that was never built for us.
The next generation of South Asian girls deserves to grow up loving themselves in every shape, size, and shade.
And it starts with changing what we put on screen.