IMPERFECT IS PERFECT
By: Bushra Hussain Khan
Writing this may sound selfish to some but it does not point anyone in particular.
Without creating a dramatic story I would directly start. There is something about this topic as whenever I get to hear this all I start having negative vibes. Google is the answer to all questions and during summer it’s natural to have acne and breakouts on the face, I was looking for some skincare tips but few links that my eyes got stuck on made me very uncomfortable. Google usually has those “people may also ask” portion and all I read was ‘can dusky be fair? , why is dusky, not attractive? , How can I get fair skin tone? , what food whitens skin complexion? How to be slim? How to lose weight in two days? …….
Over the years many ethnicities have been programmed to equate fair skin and slim figure or I should say zero figures with beauty success and happiness.
Why is this obsession with being fair? Why is it necessary to be slim enough to be called beautiful? What has happened to those catchy lines “beauty comes from within?”
This is an unfortunate truth that we live in, where people are obsessed with beauty.
In the era of modernism somewhere the society is still backward in terms of choosing someone based on complexion. Society has placed so much emphasis on complexion and figure that it has aroused dangerously obsessive behavior amongst us. I agree with the concept of using products for skincare, especially in the current effects of global warming and a polluted environment.
Society has dictated what is acceptable and what is not.
‘Rishta,’ this is another level of stupidity. It is very common in the society we live ‘girl or boy’ has to be fair in order to be termed as “beautiful”. I have seen this so many times and it is so surprising, how can someone choose a life partner based on skin color. Being fair does not make you complete or perfect, and remember “perfect is always fake”.
The worst part is that few fairness cream advertisements openly show the need of being fair. I have no shame to say that I even have to go through it. I still remember my aunts asking my mom to give me saffron and milk every night to make me fair because I had had sun-kissed complexioned. Using fairness creams, ubtans, Haldi, and Multani mitti were very common to me. Until I realized that this obsession with fair skin is making me lose my inner self-confidence.
Another major drawback eating habits that unfortunately affect our health in several ways. Certain types of eating cause weight gain and due to some metabolism issues few cannot gain weight. Sometimes food isn’t the only problem that can make us fat or skinny, it can even be in our genes. Being too fat or too slim can be hard to get rid of and becomes even more difficult to get rid of those judgments that people have.
Why it is that society needs to comment on someone’s figure or skin color. I agree being fit keeps you away from certain health problems, but somewhere this obsession has increased a lot. To add the cherry on the cake are the dangerous skinny celebrities and those advertisements giving fake inspiration, especially to teenagers who evaluate them.
After being constantly compared to others for being dusky or broad it’s been quite a tough journey to find you sexy. You start believing in it, and adopt a self-image and start regretting yourself for not being perfect. Due to which even the smallest of the joke about you makes you feel as if someone is stabbing you deep and you die a little. Believe me; it becomes really difficult to cover up such things in life with a smile. You never know what someone is going through. Passing comments, giving certain remarks does not make you a practical person.
