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People We Admire | She Speaks | Women Empowerment“Obsessively fixating on how you look is limiting beyond belief and prevents you from appreciating everything beautiful about you, after all, beauty is defined in many ways.”
As a 20-year-old, the unrealistic representation of beauty promoted on social media led me to develop a negative connotation about my own “far from flawless appearance.” It took me a lot of time to overcome this complex that I developed by comparing myself to airbrushed models. But eventually I realized that their beauty doesn’t take away mine.
Three years ago, my acne was at its peak. I was struggling to find my identity. While I was trying to heal my inner self, people kept limiting my identity to ‘the girl who has acne’. As a result, attending social gatherings became a real challenge for me. I still remember my nephew asking me what was wrong with my face when he was younger and if it was contagious. Though it was a young boy’s concern, it only highlighted the importance to normalize acne for me.
Finding more people like me who were embracing themselves accelerated my journey towards promoting self-love.Through my page, I want to empower women, particularly South Asian women, who are conditioned to believe that their worth is dictated by how they are viewed by society. I want women to know that their beauty cannot be defined by anyone else and that attractiveness does not measure a human being’s worth.
I really benefited from having a sister who passed down the lessons she learnt from her experiences. Although it is important to make your own mistakes, it helped having someone who kind of understood where I was coming from and reassured me that everything would be okay.Today, anyone can be an influencer on Instagram, regardless of your likes and followers, and have an impact on someone somewhere without you knowing it. This is why I try to encourage people to speak out about their stories and experiences. It can start a domino effect of positive change and help people feel comfortable in their own skin.
For a woman, just that can-do wonders in terms of confidence and self-esteem. I urge everyone to be brave, vulnerable and powerful.
