Check out this interesting article – You Can Be Too Beautiful.
We all make snap judgements based on how other people look, and it’s a common myth that prettier people have it easier. This article offers a different insight. Beauty itself is so subjective, and the entire beauty industry is geared towards capitalising on what people think they lack.
In countries like India, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, fair skin is the ultimate expression of beauty. It’s bizarre. Shelves are lined with all manner of ‘skin-whitening’ products, and it makes me wonder about what kind of chemicals are strong enough to bleach skin several shades lighter. Scary.
On the other hand, in Australia and many other countries, a lot of fair-skinned folk are dying for a tan. Literally, in some cases. The statistics about the mortality and incidence of skin cancer are quite serious. 1,452 people died from melanoma in 2010. I’m hoping that more people will value lasting qualities like compassion, patience and kindness over fleeting constructs like physical beauty.
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Published by Raidah Shah Idil
Raidah Shah Idil is a student counsellor, poet, writer, and creative instructor with a passion for YA (young adult), fantasy, sci-fi and detective fiction. She was born in Singapore and moved to Australia at the age of 12. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of New South Wales in 2005.
After working as a marketing copywriter and studying the Islamic Sciences in Amman, Jordan for nearly two years, she returned to Sydney, got married, then moved to Malaysia. While working as a part-time tutor at Axiom Learning, she works as an online counsellor for Seekershub Global. She has completed her Diploma of Counselling through the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Her full-time job is raising her baby daughter. Everything else is squeezed in between. Literally. Her writing has been published in The Feminist Wire, SISTERS magazine, Daily Life, Lip Mag and Venture Beat. Raidah’s poetry was recently published in the ‘Armed With Only Our Souls’ online DDFS chapbook by New York poet Caits Meissner. Her debut double-featured novel, “Finding Jamilah and the Story of Yusuf” was published by MyLegacy publications in early 2014.
In her spare time (ha), she reads, listens to audiobooks, goes on walks, and is always on the lookout for tasty noodle soup. She currently lives in a green, leafy suburb in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, three small children and mother-in-law.
View all posts by Raidah Shah Idil
Check out this interesting article – You Can Be Too Beautiful.
Raidah Shah Idil 