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📱 Blame It on Social Media
“Why is it that South Asian women are expected to look like Instagram filters in real life? Let’s talk about how social media glorifies toxic beauty standards—fair skin, thin waist, long hair—and the silent damage it’s doing to our mental health.” Why is it that South Asian women are expected to look like Instagram filters in real life? We’re born into a culture that already places us under a microscope—taught to sit straight, smile politely, and look “presentable” before we even understand what that means. And then social media walks in, like an uninvited guest who moves in permanently and starts editing our reality. Now, it’s not just aunties commenting…
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Cultural Gaslighting: When Your Pain Is Dismissed as “Drama”
Introduction: When Your Truth Is Too Loud for Their Comfort Priya, 26, told her mother she was struggling with anxiety.The response? “Stop watching too much YouTube. You’re just overthinking. Nothing’s wrong.” It wasn’t the first time her feelings were dismissed.And it wouldn’t be the last. For many South Asian daughters, pain is not something to be addressed — it’s something to be silenced.When you speak up, you’re told you’re “dramatic,” “ungrateful,” or “too emotional.”That’s not parenting.That’s cultural gaslighting. What Is Cultural Gaslighting? Gaslighting is when someone manipulates you into doubting your reality.Cultural gaslighting is when entire belief systems are used to deny your emotional truth. In South Asian households, this…
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How Colorism and Beauty Standards Impact Mental Health in South Asian Communities
Introduction: “You’d Be Prettier If You Were Lighter” At age 9, Aanya remembers her aunt pulling her aside after a wedding:“You’ve gotten so dark! Stay out of the sun, beta. Who will marry you like this?” She didn’t understand what she had done wrong — except exist in her own skin. For many South Asians, especially women, beauty is not just skin deep — it’s skin tone deep.Colorism — the discrimination based on the darkness of your skin — is so normalized, it often masquerades as “advice,” “concern,” or “tradition.”But beneath the surface, it carves deep cracks in self-esteem, belonging, and mental wellness. The Inherited Shame of Darkness Colorism in…
Daughters of Strength, Bosses by Choice