“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…