Fair or Dare: what does it take to look beautiful on Pakistani television?

As teenagers, we all have spent evenings skimming through the latest fashion magazine or googling top actors of the time. It was a rather toxic habit, but also a necessary custom that acquainted us with what was really deeply desired by people. However, with my brown and barefaced blemished skin, I rarely found anyone that looked like me.

Little did we know, the expectations to look glamorous and 'perfect' would only become an even more challenging task, in both real life and for the actors we see onscreen. Every era in pop culture has a fixed code of beauty that performers, mostly female, have to ace for their survival, and the audience dreams of replicating despite their own limitations. While the audience rides the wave by replicating a cheap imitation, the pressure to maintain a certain set presentation of your face and body becomes a formula of its own for the actors otherwise performing formulaic scripts.

Is there a definitive beauty code for contemporary Pakistani TV and does it fulfill the baggage that comes with the contemporary politics of multiculturalism, anti-colourism, equality and syncretism? Perhaps yes and no.     

Everyone looks the same

While celebrities often alter their appearances to stand out from their colleagues, ironically their efforts go amiss because they all are morphing themselves to achieve the same result.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, veteran Simi Raheal detailed the physical attributes required by a celebrity in today's time. "The look is really generic. Most of the females and quite a few males also are required to be a certain fair shade of colour. They also have botox foreheads, plumped lips and slightly high cheekbones. Of course, straight hair is a must for celebrities, not curly hair. Generally, eyebrows are also supposed to be arched," described the Sabaat actor.

Raheal then went on to note how stars back in the day did not appear similar and had their individual flair. She said, "This is a huge contrast with media professionals back in the day who were known for their individual style sense. I mean if you look back everyone looked beautiful and graceful. Actors like Zeba Khanum, Shehnaz Sheikh, and Marina Khan had their own identities that were reflected in their appearances. However, in today's world, unless someone is an incredible actor, the impression of their appearance doesn’t stay with you."

Although beauty has long been associated with the colonial idea of what's attractive, many entertainers pointed out how beauty standards are witnessing a gradual change over the years. Actor Ayesha Omar feels awareness around colourism has allowed brands to step towards more inclusivity in their projects.

"I feel like the current beauty standards in Pakistan stems from our Gora complex; having fair skin, tall height, coloured eyes, having a certain body type,” Omar told The Express Tribune. “But I see a wave of change now because there is a lot more awareness about colourism and activism. I see that the criteria are changing and many brands are taking steps to promote more diversity through their projects," expressed the Habs star.

Curly or Straight?

Hair is one of the most prominent features of beauty and for celebrities, it was long considered the norm to have long, silky and straight hair on television. Even though many hair beauticians believe that stars are now slowly shifting to donning wavy and curly hair in public too, in the long run, they still "play it safe."

Areeba Farooq, hair colour specialist and founder of The One Salon also believed that celebrities are afraid to experiment with new styles and that's what is really holding them back. She noted, "I don't think our industry promotes the long, straight and silky hair standard anymore. We've been seeing some of our finest actresses like Angeline Malik and Sania Saeed rocking their natural curls for decades now. However, the current style donned by celebrities is very safe. This is mainly due to a gap between what hairstylists can offer, and what celebrities are willing to allow and experiment with."

Looking younger by the day

The pressure to continue looking youthful while growing old is perhaps the biggest dilemma most celebrities face. To adhere to these highly unrealistic expectations, public figures spend millions to look younger than their advancing year. And they can’t entirely be blamed for it given how the media circus and fandom respond to a single wrinkle on that perfectly glowing skin.

Raheal also shared how at her age, the greatest expectation is just to look young. "At the age of 65, not much is expected of me, but I am supposed to look young and fit. It's not just Pakistan, but being youthful is the expectation for actors all around the world, even though a lot of powerful actors might deny it."

There was once a time when people long contemplated before opting for physical alterations of their faces and bodies. However, with the introduction of filler injections and other non-surgical treatments, it has become so easy now to obtain one's goal with just a pinch of a needle. 

“Celebrities usually ask for two things: enhancing features to attain a good side profile and clear glass skin,” a dermatologist and aesthetic physician told The Express Tribune in a brief conversation. While what you do with your body is completely your choice and agency but the demand to fit a certain template speaks volumes about how the need to look flawless from every angle paves way for more and more modifications that eventually end up taking a toll on your mental health. 

The impact of beauty standards

After reading about all these requirements, one might just dismiss them thinking it's not their concern, but the truth is, these beauty standards have a powerful impact on society too. For better or worse, celebrities do influence how young adults view themselves and how they see the world. 

Veteran actor Rahael felt actors should be held accountable for setting impossible beauty standards and even if that is the demand of the day, they should definitely not promote them. "I think celebrities have a lot of responsibilities to speak against these specific standards and instead promote diversity, which of course they do not. Why? Because famous personalities are afraid to land into controversies and are redeemed unworthy to be cast in dramas and future projects," Raheal said.

Moving on, the Ruswai actor also emphasised how detrimental beauty standards can be for new talents to come forward in the industry. "People are chosen for how they look and not for their talent. And this extends to every age group you see onscreen. From selecting a younger actor to play a mother's role to having specific stereotypes for grandmothers, the media always has a set of rules to follow."

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