The pretty,popular girls in TV shows I grew up watching were nearly always blonde. I would watch beautiful women with long blonde hair and sky-blue eyes strut through a hallway. I would watch characters such as Regina George,Elle Woods,Cher Horowitz,Rachel Green and countless others. We would all watch in awe. They became the beauty standard. But they never looked like me.
Finally,I get to watch a star who looks like me. South Asian girls get to look up to a beautiful,successful woman who has features that resemble theirs. I get to feel beautiful and accepted,and I hope that they do too.
I think this moment could actually make a big difference in a lot of South Asian children’s lives. We generally were only represented as nerdy comic relief characters before this. We were rarely represented as beautiful,powerful,strong people that everyone wants to be with.
As an Indian who hates maths and IT,I have never resonated with that kind of South Asian representation. But now it’s as if the stereotypes have started melting away. We don’t have to be the stereotypical kid with big glasses who’s great with computers,or a shop owner or taxi driver. We can be beautiful,smart,strong,independent - and desired.
If I had been able to grow up with this kind of representation,maybe I and all the other children of colour might not have had such a difficult time accepting ourselves.
I now know that brown is beautiful,but I wish I knew this when I was younger,and I hope that this is only the beginning of South Asian representation in the media.
Which begs the question:when will South Asian men get their limelight,so my little brother has a cool role model who looks like him? As I’ve learnt from my experience and from seeing someone like Simone Ashley onBridgerton,representation is everything. So when will there be an Indian superhero,a Nepalese playboy,or a Pakistani James Bond?
Maya Chandler is a year 12 student who lives in Sydney.
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