Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Why do we insist on women and transgender people conforming to a certain norm of appearance, to appreciate their value?
Like the different parts of our body, our skin is also susceptible to different kinds of medical issues. There are specialised fields like dermatology dealing with these problems. A dermatologist or a skin specialist is someone that you should consult for taking care of skin ailments and conditions that can prove to be hazardous to your health if left untreated.
Your physical and mental well being cannot be compromised and thus seeking proper skincare with the help of professionals is the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, the problem is that women and transgender people around the world are judged, humiliated and even subjected to physical harm at least a million times more than men when it comes to the way they look. We (read men) are shameless and shallow enough to discriminate against other genders and ridicule them on things like skin colour, body shape, body hair, face etc.
We cannot take refuge in the excuse that we were not aware of our own biases. That may or may not have been true when we were kids but not anymore. Any adult who makes another person feel small by their words or actions cannot has no right to claim that they didn’t realize what they were doing. We all know very well what we have said and done as a society over the years and how we have behaved towards women and transgender people.
We expect them to maintain a particular look to appear desirable to our (read, men’s) senses, not realising that there is something horribly wrong with us for making the other person go through so much pain, just to cater to our whimsical nature.
We tell them to be individualistic and different but we don’t like the way they look, think or conduct themselves.
We tell them to hide what we (again, read men) perceive as flaws within them, using products that are not only expensive but can also cause adverse reactions while endangering their health at the same time. Many of these products have been subsequently banned due to the clear health hazards that they pose to their customers.
Companies and celebrities have often been guilty of peddling such cosmetics to the general public in the name of these absurd beauty standards that no one should have to aim for. Why the hell can beauty be seen as a metric that needs to be standardised and how have we been okay with this nonsense for so long?
If this is what we have become as a society and as a civilisation then I am sorry to say that there is something awfully wrong with us and the way we think.
Shouldn’t we be more accepting towards the other person and create an environment where they are free to live their way without constantly acting as the self-appointed moral police?
Image credits Matt Moloney, via Unsplash
Writing is my therapy. It helps me make sense of this world. read more...
This post has published with none or minimal editorial intervention. Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
Please enter your email address