Beauty standards made by Pakistani media

In Pakistani media, we have seen the pressure of matching the beauty standards to become a leading star. But are these beauty standards even realistic? The prominent leading actors and actresses are of fair skin which clearly enforce fair skin as a standard of beauty. There are a few actors/actresses and models who are of darker skin but how prominent they are and how often they are seen on television screens itself answers the question of what is beauty according to our media. Amna Ilyas who is an actress and model with a darker skin tone, shares her story in an interview about how many brands ask the makeup artists to light her skin tone for the shoots. How TV show directors also put emphasis on the fair skin tone of the actresses. In the recent years of Pakistani media, we did not see any darker skin toned actor or actresses in a leading role. The fairness creams advertisements also play a very crucial role in this race to acquire these beauty standards. These days a TV show, “Parizad”, is getting a lot of attention and appreciation from the audience. The show is based on breaking the stereotype of this beauty standard. The leading hero of the show is of darker skin tone. The show is very beautifully written by Hashim Nadeem and amazingly presented which clearly portrays the struggles of an average looking man in this society. TV shows like “Parizad” are just a beginning towards the breaking of stereotypes such as baseless and unrealistic beauty standards. It is a great beginning and highly appreciated by the audience too. But there is still a very long way to go.