These powerpoint slides contain a detailed analysis of how brides in Pakistan are subjected to harsh beauty treatments to make them appear more beautiful at their weddings and how this negatively affects their lives. Moreover, it discusses how this pressurizes women to use extensive makeup to cover themselves up which has later on led to many scandals when a groom has found out his bride is not pretty like he thought.
2. 1. Introduction
“The entire house is buzzing with the sound of dozens of people moving around, some
hanging threads of string lights on every available surface, some gathering every item the
bride-to-be will need in her new home and others jubilantly preparing the henna and haldi
for the bride’s rasm-e-hina the next day. Hinasits with her mother and aunts, trying
fruitlessly to get the group around her to stop giving her last-minute tips. One aunt has
mentioned the advantages of rose water three time already. “It’s been like this for the past
year. I am getting married in 6 days and I have received more tips on becoming pretty than I
can count”, Hina relates, a subtle touch of annoyance in her voice. “Baita, it’s not like we’re
wrong, you know”, her mother quips in. “A bride needs to look her best at her wedding. And
you remember very well what your in-laws said; they want a perfect bahu”. No one detects
the tired look in Hina’s eyes. Later, when we are alone, she confesses what she truly feels,
“Being a bride is the hardest phase in a girl’s life”
3. •Brides are expected to be at their best behavior
•A minor act can cause the wedding to be called off
•From a young age, girls are badgered by their family and relatives on
performing a certain number of acts to look beautiful
•Advertisements on television and on social media e.g. beauty creams, weight
loss machines, rose water, face washes, soaps and shampoo etc.
•A girl feels trapped in her life, bound to be shunned if she isn’t pretty
according to this society’s standards
4. 1.1 Physical Setting
•Three of the interviews were conducted at the home of the interviewees
•One was conducted via skype
•Location - Bahria Town, Rawalpindi and Wapda Town, Lahore
• Bahria Town has an urbane look, with wide roads and green sidewalks
• Wapda Town has a less classy look with tight streets and a mess of homes located everywhere
with barren sidewalks
•Open rooms, modest furniture
•Inhabitants held at least a certain amount of wealth
5. 1.2. Research Question
Why is there a pressure on girls to look their best throughout their lives by
using unconventional methods such as beauty creams, weight loss and other
remedies?
6. 2. Literature Review
•Brides are likely to join a gym, exercise more, use skin fairness techniques, get cosmetic
surgeries, lose weight, dye their hair and diet etc.
•They set an ideal weight goal for themselves
•Asked by their family, friends, partners or others to lose weight
•Wedding photos will be seen by everyone and will be stored as a memory to which they can
look back. (Prichard and Tiggermann)
•Wedding day is used as a reference day for the future; particularly for the reference of body
weight
•Some extreme cases also include skipping meals and taking weight-loss medicines.
• Some were observed to be drinking a lot of water as a mean to manage their weight.
(Neighbors and Sobal)
7. •Shankar & Subish said in their study found that the fair color has been a
symbol of superiority and power in the South Asia since colonial times.
• A women’s color greatly impact the marriage proposals she acquires
• Fairness creams are promoted as a symbol of success
•Fair color - high social class and good ancestral linkage
•Dark color - working class
•The heroines shown in films are fair skinned
•Fair skin color is shown to have increased attractiveness for opposite sex
8. •The word “fair” is used as equivalent to beauty
•The girls are instructed not go out in the sun from early days of their lives
• Common for relatives to pass remarks about a female’s dark complexion
•The darker the complexion, the higher is the dowry demand.
•Among the Sri-Lankans, the best bride is described as having fair color, long hair, young
appearance, white teeth and an attractive body.
•Color is associated with the health and morality of the bride
•Thin and dark woman are not preferred as it is believed that the thin body would make
conception difficult as a fair woman ensures that the future generation would have a fair skin
•The grooms’ families usually use skin color as an excuse for rejection if the dowry offered is
not up to their demands. (Philips)
9. 3. Methods
•Observations at relatives’ home, family gatherings and weddings
•Looking, listening to and seeing how the brides- to- be were asked to do things
before their wedding
•Participant observation through visiting family weddings and staying in the
brides’ homes. Sat in family discussions and and observed how the girl was told
not to eat much because this would lead her to gain weight.
•Witnessed the girls getting admonished by their families on issues such as eating,
weight loss and applying beauty products
• Interviews of four brides and their mothers as well as aunts and sisters
10. 3.1. Physical And Social Access:
•Relatives’ homes, family gatherings and weddings
•Invited by our relative to come a few days before the
•Group member’s cousin was getting married so she visited her
home more often before the wedding
• 3rd interview was of friend’s sister, so visited her house and then
took the interview
• One of the four interviews was taken on the Skype from another
friend’s sister; in hostel
11. 3.2. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
•Consent of the participants
•Named changed as requested by the participants
•No biased information.
•No offensive or discriminatory words were used while
taking the interview from the girls and their mothers
• Acknowledgements
12. 4. Study Participants
Name Age Education Social Class Relationship
Status
Rabia 25 Masters Middle To-be-married
Ayesha 23 Bachelors Middle Married
Hina 24 Bachelors Upper Middle To-be-married
Sehrish 21 Bachelors Middle Engaged
13. 5. Research Findings
5.1. Observations:
•Visit to Lahore to attend a wedding
• Bride was forced to apply concoctions made out of turmeric powder, rose
water, henna etc. to parts of her body to get a better complexion
• Appeared tired and irritated before the wedding as everyone was
constantly nagging her
• “I haven’t been able to decide what clothes to take with me. I am so worried
that I’ll get pimples at my wedding or that my color will suddenly get
tanned”
• Right before her wedding, the bride-to-be was asked to rest so that her
complexion will look fresh in the morning
14. •Attended a wedding
• Some were commenting on her dress whereas others were complimenting her fair
complexion
• No one bothered discussing the groom
• Mention of how the bride was lucky to get such a good groom because of her good looks
• Confirms study by (Shankar and Palaian) that women with a better appearance are able to
get a better groom
• In our university, a number of girls can be seen using different methods to maintain an
acceptable weight and a fair complexion
• Some bring fruits from home to eat instead of the greasy foods available at the café and tuck
shops
• Many girls adhere from drinking soft drinks as these are supposed to cause the most weight
gain
15. •Morning show on use of beauty creams:
• Show was hosted by Sahir Lodhi on Sama TV and featured a detailed discussion on how to be
prettier
• Number of methods such as using beauty creams, applying coconut oil each night and
drinking different shakes
• Girls with darker complexion were invited and a professional beautician was brought to help
them become fair
• Massaged her face then applied a cream to her face, after which she was asked to stay like that
for some minutes, then she was taken back stage.
• When she re-appeared, her complexion had been completely changed. She seemed prettier
and had lighter skin
• The audience was aware that a heavy amount of make-up was used to make her appear fairer
• A fairer looking person is accepted and a darker skinned person is shunned and shun those
who have a darker color
16. 5.2. Participant Observation
•Some of the bride-to-be’s relatives admitted that it wasn’t necessary for a
bride to indulge in various acts to become more pretty
•It’s like her [Rabia’s] family is worried her appearance will suddenly become
unattractive to the groom and his family overnight. I keep asking her mother
to let her worry about other things such as the fact she is leaving Lahore to be
with her new family, but no, she’s insistent she needs to look her best”
•“She’s a pretty girl”, he [her uncle] said, “I keep joking her groom and his
family will be shocked to see her so changed at the day of rasm-e-hina”
17. •Similar to Rabia, other girls can also relate to undergoing many treatments
•A distant relative almost died after taking too many weight loss pills before her wedding
•(Neighbors and Sobal) have stated in their study that women set a target of weight loss
before their wedding
•Corroborates with our personal observation at Rabia’s house and the incident related by our
group member.
•Everyone agreed a girl should be pretty but it is important a girl knows how to handle a
household too
•“I do not understand the obsession with the ‘perfect woman’ in this society. What will people
do with a pretty girl who can’t cook a simple meal?”
18. Discussion by (Philips) in his study of the Aryans that “fair” was associated
with “knowledge”
People in this society are adamant that fairer girls will do things better
19. 5.3. Interviews
•Three were done at the interviewee’s homes whereas one was conducted on
Skype
•Interviewees were accompanied by their family members
•It was observed that the aunts and mothers very strongly supported the
argument that fairer girls are better accepted in the society
•Interview with Ayesha, who is married, who was sent to a beauty specialist to
get her hair checked when she was experiencing hair loss
•“Her mother-in-law specifically asked me to get her hair checked when I
accidently let it slip that she was having hair fall. She even asked the weight of
my daughter and showed disapproval as she had less weight”
20. •“This wasn’t because of appearance, though. I was losing too much weight
which was causing health problems so I had to eat well”.
•Her mother-in-law was only concerned about her hair loss and weight, not
her looks- a best case scenario that is rare
•All of our other interviewees admitted to using different methods to look
pretty. E.g. Hina had mentioned she was using pastes and rose water to have a
fresher complexion
•As studied by (Prichard and Tiggermann), brides want to be remembered
even after their wedding for the way they looked
21. Sehrish, who will marry later this year, says she is already trying different
weight loss techniques
“Her cousin’s mother always taunts me about how she looked so amazing at
her wedding, people still ask her about what treatment she underwent. I want
my daughter to appear more beautiful than her”
“How will she have kids if she isn’t healthy? What will people say if she can’t
have kids?”
22. 6. Overall Analysis
Theme 1: “Goray goray ye gaal, hay beauty cream ka kamal.
Oh tera kya kehna”
Girls experience the most stress on
maintaining a rosy complexion
For a girl, her first notable
characteristic is her face color
If a girl is fair or dark, it can be
immediately noticed
Even most of our articles focused more
on face color than weight. As specified
in the literature review, fairer color is
seen as a feature of beauty
23. Theme 2: Superiority of the White: The Colonial Heritage
Lineage that dates back specifically to the Mughal
and British Raj
The British ruled with an iron fist and were sure to
have a number of followers, all of which had a darker
complexion
Advertising agencies are fixated on the idea of fairer
people ruling over those with a darker complexion
One of the mothers stated she knew her daughter will
have a better status in her new home if she has the
fairest complexion
Her daughter will have more respect in her new
household as she’s fairer
24. Theme 3: “Aaggay jaa kay tumnay bachay bhi to paida karnay hain”
•Girls are aware that a thinner weight will lead them to be seen as
more acceptable in the society
•Rare cases as those of Ayesha in which weight loss isn’t a
necessary option
•Heavier and fatter girls are seen as unappealing by people and
those who are healthy are seen as the perfect future mothers
25. 7. Conclusion
•“These days, we have a new tradition of not eating at all. Actresses especially forgo meals while
shooting at the set to lose unwanted weight”.
•We pressurize girls to appear beautiful and appealing
•Smartness and cleverness have taken the backseat to accommodate the vision that a pretty girl will
definitely be able to handle a household better
•Advertisements and mass media play an important role in brainwashing people to think of weight loss
and use beauty creams
•For a girl, being darker-skinned is a curse
