By Mriganka Dadwal
Superfluously this might look like an ‘I love Sandra Bullock’ post (which I do, she is such an incredible actor) but truly this post is about appreciating all women who are comfortable in their (flawed) skin. The recent Netflix release starring Bullock has received mixed reviews but for me what gets 5 stars is her sheer guts in shedding every inch of make-up to bare her raw self. Way to go girl!!
Don’t get me wrong, I am (just another ordinary girl and hence) all for smoky eyes and red pout but it becomes a trap when popular culture reinforces upon women, overtly and covertly that, THAT, is the impeccable standard they have to live up to, to qualify as beautiful. That is what is actually Unforgivable.
Lakme, Dior, Maybelline, you are all guilty of projecting airbrushed images from glossy magazines which go a long way in shaping (read damaging) little (and not so little) girls’ self-esteem when it comes to defining “beautiful”. Beauty is a subject matter of interpretation but the illusion of perfection has been carefully crafted. I call it the Beast created by pop-culture. This Beast peeps out of billboards, magazines, movie posters and guess what? It keeps whispering to women. You are not adequate as yourself. For you need radiance in a jar, served as some BB or CC cream to be the perfect version of yourself.
And really Vogue, Elle, Cosmo, grow up and get over 18-24 age models who look emaciated (more airbrushing). Women come in all shapes, sizes and colour but apart from Sabyasachi, no Indian designer has the depth (or balls) to feature plus-sized models or any other size that doesn’t confirm to the Devil called pop-culture.
Dear girls, flawless is an illusion that the beast has created to keep you in its traps – The trap is to keep you feeling inadequate, to keep you competing. With whom? An illusion!! How do we beat this Beast? Look it in the eye, laugh at it and walk away. Crown and dignity intact.
Hail Sandra for doing exactly that and taking pressure off the collective psyche of women.
To girls and women reading this, say #screwit to these limiting definitions of beauty. You are not fat, you are pleasantly plump. You are not thin you have an awesome metabolic rate. You are not freckled, you know how to bask in sun. You are not ageing and wrinkled, you have weathered many seasons.
Embrace who you are & don’t forgive anyone who tells you otherwise.
Two words for the Beast #ScrewIt
Repost with #ScrewPopCulture if you agree.
