Identity And Image

This is in continuation to the last session of my module. Apart from society and culture our discussion also revolved around the topic of awareness. You know what awareness is right? It is the state of being conscious about something. And you know what we became conscious of in that session? About the concept of internal make-up vs external projection that form the individual’s persona. We also discussed on other factors that make each individual unique like personality types, interests, conditioning etc. This was a very important and informative session, as in the field of fashion you might find it very common for people to loose their identity to maintain their image. So without wasting any more time, let's dive in and look at my take on's from the session!

It is amusing to think and observe how social media, society and various industries have totally impacted our lifestyles and our identity. Today, instead of focusing on feelings we focus more on our looks. Before stepping out of the house we are more concerned about our hair, clothes etc. etc. We all try to paint ourselves as something we are not. We try to hide our shortcomings, our flaws in order to fit into a particular group. Instead of focusing on inner beauty we focus on what's outside. But, if you notice, it is not our mistake exactly, we have been taught to act in this manner, we have been taught to assign labels and we have been told what is beautiful and what is not. So for example, whenever we are asked to describe a person, we always begin by saying something like "tall, dark complexion, broad shoulders etc.". Instead of getting to the know the person inside-out, we very quickly judge them and describe them with the way they look. But we need to stop doing this. We have got to start appreciating an individual for all their flaws and strengths. 

And by the way do you ever wonder where does this concept of outer beauty began from? And how has this concept managed to sustain? Let me tell you, it is because of us. We succumb to those beauty norms by trying to alter our body so that we can fit into society and be appreciated. And why is this? It is due to constant body shaming, promotion of a standard body image and frequent advertisements of a perfect human that keep ourselves from being who we actually are. Can you see this vicious cycle that we all are stuck in? Not only this, we also sometimes face discrimination based on our body type and our skin color. And why wouldn't we? When advertisements about becoming fairer and loosing weight are promoted, this has to be the result. And it is the women who are the most affected by these norms. I am sure every women out there knows what I am talking about. 

And its not only about how society tries to define our image, but also our characteristics and behaviors. And this goes for both men and women. While, men are expected to be aggressive and macho, women are expected to be shy and nurturing. Even thinking about all these boundaries that are put on our personality feels so suffocating. Why can't any individual be they way they want to be? Why do they have to be within those social boundaries? These are some questions to ponder upon.

See, of course, no one wants to get discriminated because of the way they look, we all want to look what is considered to be 'beautiful' by society. But here's the thing, society and these several industries have been creating norms and trying to control our life from the moment we are born in this world. And if we ourselves do not accept that our 'flaws' are our strength and not weakness, we will never be able to smash this idea of perfect human. So, it's high time that we accept ourselves the way we actually are, we understand that our 'natural beauty' is our true beauty. I am not saying don't do makeup or don't dress up, that is art. What I am saying is that we can't let our identity and image be defined by society and the people who we might not even know. Whether we dress up or not it should be our choice, whatever we do to our body should be our choice and not influenced by certain norms and unrealistic standards. After all, at the end it's not important how many likes you get, how good you look, it's about creating valuable relationships, not only with people but also with the environment. What matters is our inner beauty and not the outer one. 

And I know I might have written this very easily that we need to break the shackles of these unrealistic beauty and behavioral norms, but trust me I myself know its very difficult to bring a change and be confident in your own skin when people keep judging you. But life is all about growth right? And even though growth is uncomfortable, it does give you freedom. And if you observe, this change is indeed happening slowly and gradually in our society, we have just got to participate in this change. Anyhow, there's a lot to say, discuss and debate about the concept of inner beauty vs outer beauty, and the concept of characteristics. But at the end I would only say that I hope for a future where we all are comfortable in our own skin.

P.S. For me there are no flaws in any individual, because everyone has their own story, own experiences, due to which they are where they are. It's just we all have to try to grow and learn as much as we can. 

All these images have been sourced from Pinterest.