“I’m Not Just an Aesthetic: Reclaiming My Voice as a South Asian Woman Online”
There’s something deeply unsettling about being celebrated for your appearance but ignored for your voice.
As a South Asian woman navigating digital spaces, I’ve felt this more than once — that quiet tension between being appreciated for how I look, how I dress, how I style my life, but not always for what I say. It’s a strange, frustrating paradox: to be visible, yet unheard. To be admired, but not fully understood.
We’re often reduced to an “aesthetic.”
The vibrant kurtas, the gold jewelry, the chai cups and hennaed hands — they’re all beautiful, no doubt. They’re part of who we are. But we are not just that. We are more than the filtered snapshots, the curated feeds, and the exotic captions people love to repost.
We’re real, multi-layered individuals with voices that deserve just as much attention as our visuals.
The Burden of Being “Marketable” But Not “Meaningful”
Let’s face it: the internet loves to put South Asian women in a pretty little box. One that’s palatable, non-threatening, and “on brand” for trends. The moment we step out of that — speak up about racism, mental health, gender norms, or the pressure we face from within our own communities — people start to scroll past. Or worse, unfollow.
But this is the truth many of us live with:
Our culture is romanticized.
Our traditions are aestheticized.
Our struggles are often erased.
It’s exhausting to feel like you have to perform a version of yourself just to be accepted in online spaces. And yet, so many of us have had to do exactly that — at least in the beginning.
Why Reclaiming Our Voice Matters
I used to wonder if anyone would care about what I really wanted to say. Would anyone listen if I talked about generational trauma? About colorism? About not feeling “enough” — not desi enough, not modern enough, not outspoken enough?
But then I realized — my voice isn’t just wanted, it’s needed.
Reclaiming my voice has meant shifting the narrative from what people expect me to say, to what I need to say. It’s about telling my truth, even if it’s uncomfortable. Even if it means fewer likes and fewer followers. Because I’d rather be heard by fewer people who truly get it than by thousands who only stick around for the aesthetic.
Breaking the Illusion: We’re Not Just Pretty Pictures
We’re artists, writers, poets, activists, entrepreneurs, mothers, daughters, dreamers — and that complexity deserves to be seen in full. Not filtered. Not flattened. Not turned into inspiration porn.
We hold so many contradictions, and that’s our strength.
We carry tradition and break cycles.
We love deeply and fight fiercely.
We’re soft and strong, spiritual and outspoken, rooted and evolving — all at once.
It’s time people stopped viewing us as content and started recognizing us as creators — human beings with stories, perspectives, and lived experiences that go far beyond what fits into a single frame.
The Real Power Is in Authenticity
Once I stopped trying to make myself smaller, quieter, more digestible — everything changed. I started speaking with honesty. I started showing up as my whole self, not just the parts that got the most applause. And slowly, I started attracting the right people — people who saw me, heard me, and respected the fullness of who I am.
There’s a kind of magic in showing up fully — not for validation, but for liberation.
Final Thoughts
So here’s my reminder to every South Asian woman reading this:
You are not just an aesthetic.
You are not just a backdrop for someone else’s feed.
Your voice matters.
Your truth matters.
You don’t have to perform to be powerful — just showing up as you is more than enough.
We are more than the image they want to project of us.
We are storytellers.
We are disruptors.
We are reclaiming the narrative — one word, one post, one unapologetic truth at a time.