The blame lies not only with marketers but also with future bride-oriented mindset Pakistani girls are subjected to.
TORONTO: This is in connection with Tehreem Atif’s article “Our obsession with fair skin” (September 3). Unfortunately, the problem of young women’s battered self-esteem due to the complexion of their skin is just one manifestation of the emphasis of the Pakistani society on superficial attributes. In terms of this particular issue, the blame lies not only with the marketers but also with the future bride-oriented mindset that Pakistani girls are subjected to since their childhood — from the typical drawing-room aunty talk to the aspirations of the girl and her parents of finding an ideal ‘successful’ groom from an upper-class family.
Though the example of Nandita Das that was mentioned in the article is praiseworthy, I don’t think the Katrina Kaif-crazed Indian society is much better than Pakistan’s when it comes to the issue of fair complexion.
Ayaz Amad
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2013.
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