The Curious Case of Makeup

My lack of enthusiasm towards makeup has my mom (and everyone I know) worried about “what kind of a girl” I’m turning out to be. 

I’ve always been very anti-make up, and on the occasional times that I have worn make-up I have felt really uncomfortable. In fact, it makes me feel worse when people compliment me because then, all I can think of is, “I don’t really look like this” and “do I have to wear make-up for people to consider me pretty?”, and most importantly, “do I really look that bad without anything on my face?” I don’t like having to hide my flaws or “enhancing” my beauty in people’s words. I’ve often had friend’s moms or just aunties tell me how I would look so beautiful if I put on “only a bit of make-up” or did my eyebrows or styled my hair or straightened it or whatever. And although I have grown a thick skin to it, there may be girls out there who haven’t. Because there have been moments when I’ve felt insecure because I went to weddings without anything on my face and have had people tell me how I should wear make-up and “tum shadi k baad kia karogi” (what will you do after you’re married) and “tumhara shohar kia boleyga” (what will your husband say?)? 

If I ever have a daughter, I would want her to be comfortable in her own skin, I would want her to be able to go out bare faced and be completely okay with how she looks even on a day when she’s pulled an all-nighter before and has dark circles and puffy eyes. I want her to be okay with the fact that bad hair days don’t always need to be fixed and that hair straighteners are only damaging. And I want her to know that she should never feel the need to wear make-up just to impress a man. It’s something that we have drilled into our heads by people around us and it’s created this innate insecurity in every girl I know. But no I don’t really blame men for this. I blame the women. Women have created these insecurities amongst women, and these insecurities have been inherited and carried around by women too. There haven’t been many guys who have judged me for not wearing make-up but almost every girl or woman I know has at least once pointed out to me that I could look “prettier”. My self-esteem isn't dependent on a pimple or a scar; it’s healthy as long as I feel comfortable in my own skin and I want that for every woman who feels the need to cover up every little blemish, because they are a part of who she is and she shouldn’t want to wear make-up to cover it out of insecurity because gender-roles are crap and not dressing up doesn’t make you any less of a woman and if you do want to wear make-up, wear it because you want to, not because of an insecurity. 

By Alia Eva  

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The Good Ol' Power Ranger Days

A stick of white tape, serving as a spine label, spans the length of one side of my favorite VHS tape. Judging by the label, my father has limited knowledge of the film, but excellent penmanship. He has, for the past week, been obsessively labelling every single cassette that we own, organizing them in alphabetical order, I think; My six-year-old brain tends to be quite unreliable.

I had watched the movie more times than I could count - I suppose this does not convey the sentiment entirely, in light of my mathematical ineptness. So every afternoon I was splayed out on the floor, face inclined and unmoving, staring raptly at the flickering television screen. Sometimes standing while I watched, allowing myself to imitate the various fight scenes. I could recount every dialogue and describe every scene with unimaginable precision. But that is not the point. What really matters here is that I contemplated it daily.

I have not thought about a film so seriously ever since. I have, indeed, sat in front of my computer screen for hours, watching the sophisticated and dry films of Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, probably two of the most praised directors, recommended ad nauseam, by every self-proclaimed film critic. My intention here, is not to scorn those who like movies of this sort (as I, myself, am one of them) but simply to convey the limited scope of popular films that we talk about seriously.

What really bothers me, is the mindless activity, that watching commercial films has become. Local theatres, where people congregate, to quietly but collectively engage themselves in a story, is where the hard work is actually required. One may roll their eyes at this, contemptuous of those who watch, or - even worse - enjoy popular commercial films. But that is where the problem lies. Over-the-top special effects, jaded and unoriginal dialogue, and a general lack of intellectual value, keeps us from discussing them. This is why no one really has a sound, intelligent reason for disliking or liking popular movies; Very few people are willing to do the work, and sift through the visually muddled, cliche films.

To stop the very medium from declining, and been seen as only a quick source of pleasure, we must transfigure the way we watch movies, and employ the same effort that goes into reading serious literature, or looking at a piece of art for a long period of time. We must revert to the Power Ranger days. 

A movie poster to specifically remind you of the movie that truly matters

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Of Movies and Changing Ideals

I think that different people have different ways of connecting to certain things. Some might feel that a book or maybe a song helps them express how they feel, and sometimes, you need that slight link between reality and fiction to make you understand that there are so many other ways to go about with your life than just simply focusing on the negativity. Finding that small connection helps you realize that even though you might be going through the worst stage in your life, you’re not the only one who has gone through it because you’re reading about it, listening to it or maybe, as it is the case for most people and what I am going to primarily talk about in this article, watching people go through it in movies.

I think that there are very few people who don’t have a specific movie that have, at some point in their lives, made them feel something and maybe they didn't find the connection in it that I talked about before, but instead found something that they wish they could relate to and that in itself, has a meaning. Because this makes them form an idea in their mind of what they want or what they are looking for, which for this completely indecisive generation, is a pretty big thing. What I am trying to say is this: you probably don’t realize it, but movies can have a great impact on you. They can influence your decisions because they change the way you perceive a certain thing or maybe, they make you want to behave the way a certain character you fell in love with did.

Lets talk about the difference between movies and other forms of expression such as books or songs. Movies can literally transport you to another world and give you a visual image of the way you’re meant to be imagining the story playing out in front of you and this actually helps to take whatever feeling the movie might bring about in you to a whole new level. It lets you connect with your emotions by playing them out in front of you in surroundings you’re familiar with, unless it’s some crazy, out of this world science fiction that you can’t possibly relate to, but the fact that it gives you a visual representation, helps build the whole relationship and connection between you and that movie. It might be argued that movies limit your imagination because unlike books, they tell you exactly how one looks or talks, but sometimes, that’s exactly what you need and it might actually lead to a certain character inspiring you and inspiration can take you to a lot of places. It could be what makes you want to start writing, or maybe finally decide to take that dance class you kept hearing about but hadn’t joined because you used to think that dancing wasn’t something you wanted to do. It could lead you to make a lot of decisions could which end up shaping your whole life into something you fall in love with.

To conclude this probably nonsensical article that most of you didn’t read till the end because of my way of not being able to bring a point across ever, movies can change you. So, the next time you’re choosing between which movie to watch, maybe you should learn more about them before you do or actually think about what way they might affect you because trust me, you might not initially realize it, but they do have the power to change the way you feel about certain things.

By: Maryam Ansari

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