beauty standards

So, the return and reimagined version of what was once known as “Heroin Chic” in the '90s brings about a society in which a woman continues to have to look a certain way to garner any decent amount of respect or have her existence validated.

After a full two years of managing to avoid the coronavirus, I fell ill last spring and had to move to the COVID-19 isolation dorms, where I spent nine days before leaving home for spring break. Although I grumbled and complained to my friends, that period of relative separation from other people provided an important opportunity to reflect on myself and on what I do purely for others. 

As Western ideals seeped into Indian neighborhoods, the beauty standards evolved to become exclusionary, only accepting bodies that fell straight.

The label of "beauty" has a presence that I’ve never really understood how to deal with, especially because it tangles with both my Asian heritage and my American upbringing. Both of these cultures have made a permanent mark on me with their distinctive beauty standards.

We were too young then to realize how abnormal this was — how unreasonable it is to expect a barely chubby child to stay below a certain weight for looks