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Why South Asian Media’s Old Beauty Tropes Need to Die for the Sake of Women’s Mental Health
It’s 2025. And South Asian women are still being taught that their value lies in the size of their waist and the fairness of their skin. This isn’t just lazy storytelling—it’s psychological warfare. From the moment a South Asian girl opens her eyes to the world, she is met with an image of beauty that is narrow, punishing, and unattainable. And where does it come from? Not just aunties and matrimonials. It comes blaring through our televisions, films, and phone screens—wrapped in “entertainment” that tells her she is too dark, too fat, too loud, too much. It’s killing our confidence. And it’s slowly killing our mental health. The Lie We’ve…
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The Mental Health Toll of Media Stereotypes on South Asian Women’s Bodies
What happens when your first bully isn’t a classmate—but a television screen? For millions of South Asian women, beauty isn’t just something to aspire to—it’s a battlefield. From Bollywood blockbusters to Pakistani serials, from glossy fairness cream ads to filtered influencer reels, we’ve been taught that there is one kind of body worth celebrating: fair, slim, delicate. Anything else? Too much. Too dark. Too fat. Too real. And the price we pay for trying to fit into that mold isn’t just physical. It’s mental. It’s emotional. It’s lifelong. The Screen is a Mirror—But It’s Broken Growing up, South Asian girls don’t just play dress-up—they play catch-up. Catching up to what…
Daughters of Strength, Bosses by Choice