Mehwish Irfan's grp survey

Jinnah University For Women

Dept: Mass Communication

BS 4^th year

Name: Age:

Class: Occupation:

1.Do you think that good physical appearance is a required thing for?

a.Marriages b.Getting a good job c.Getting social approval

d.Personal satisfaction

2.Do u ever think that having not a good physical appearance is a hurdle for girls to survive in Pakistani society?

a.Yes b.No

3.If a girl doesn’t have good physical appearance then what she should do?

a.Should come out from depression b.Should be confident and believe in her skills

c.Should try to improve her appearance

4.Do you think for the recognition of skills & abilities good physical appearance & fair complexion is required?

a.Yes b.No

5.Do you think fitness is required for good physical appearance?

a.Yes b.No

6.According to you what is beauty:

a.Simplicity b.Originality c.Fair complexion d.Having good looks

7.Are you beauty conscious?

a.Yes b.No

8.Why do you prefer to look beautiful & fair?

a.For personal satisfaction b.For seeking priority c.For getting social approval

9.Do you think that girls having dark complexion face depression because of the criticism from their families,friends & relatives?

a.Yes b.No c.Don’t know

10.Do you think dark or dusky skin complexion is a hurdle:

a.In marriages b.In getting good career c.No

11.Why do the girls having dark complexion use fairness creams?

a.To look attractive & pretty b.To get married c.For getting better career

12.Girls having dark complexion often face:

a.Hurt self esteem b. Lack of confidence c.Inferiority complex

c.Other psychological problems

13..Girls having dark skin complexion face much more problems & social disapproval as compare to girls having fair complexion?

a.I agree b.I don’t agree

14.Our society give more preference to:

a. Girls having fair complexion & good looks b. Girls having dark complexion

c.Girls having smartness & slim body

15.Fair complexion is the symbol of beauty:

a.I agree b.I don’t agree

16.Do u think fairness cream advertisements are creating some kind of discrimination in society?

a.Yes b.No

17.What role media is playing regarding colour discrimination?

a.Negative role b.Postive role

18.Which TV shows & magazines do you prefer in order to enhance your physical appearance & beauty? (name them)

_________________________________________________

19.By using which tool media can change the opinion of the people & educate them regarding colour discrimination?

a.Dramas b.Talk shows c.Reality shows d.Advertisements

QAF's Article

COLORS ON EARTH

Once upon a time there were two colours, brown and blue. Each represented their place on Earth. One day brown met blue and their combination originated a new colour; green. Earth was a happy place with them until humans came into their life. The humans were fascinated by the powers of these colours. Soon they began fighting for the possession of those colours and thus, created the human discrimination.

The humans took the bias behaviour to another level and started separating people by their complexion and physical appearance. God made this planet as one and humans divided it with their prejudice. The practice still continues and has a more severe affects on human life.

It seems like a normal thing now. People face rejection in social groups, peers, matrimony, jobs and even at education. The reason is mostly our representation at first sight. Our personality is our representation. True, but what made us who we truly are? Is it our talent and knowledge that matters the most or our appearance on which we have no command?

Paulo Coelho said, “Don’t worry. Nothing is wrong with looking like a fool if what you are doing is far from foolish.” So, which fool we would like to be? Think wisely.

Qurrat-ul-Ain Fatima

Karachi

Sara Niazi's Article

“BLACK & WHITE”

Discrimination in Pakistan is systematic and independent of the presence of foreigners of any tinge. The climate permits and promotes this chaos and disdain for dark skin. Most Pakistani celebrities have wheatish skin. Several stars even promote skin-bleaching cream that promises to improve one’s popularity and career success. Matrimonial ads boast of fair complexion alongside foreign visa and advanced university degrees.

Discrimination based on dark complexion exists in Pakistan. Even now when a girl faces a so-called ‘ber dikhawwa’ or ‘drawing room scene’, a custom in our society, she has to counter remarks like “the girl is so dark I want a fair girl for my gorgeous son”, or “the girl is so short that I don’t think she would complement my tall son” or mostly “the girl is so fat that she would be a football or giant after a few months of marriage so I want a slim and smart daughter-in-law.” People never seem to value the education and other skills of a girl. These are the demands not only set by the mothers but also by the boys. When they are putting these demands and requirements, they totally forget themselves. Do they really deserve a perfect girl? They are oblivious and never bothered to even think about hurting the girl’s feelings with their rejection.

In the last sermon of our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) addressing a large gathering of Muslims, He (P.B.U.H) says: “No Arab is superior to a Non-Arab neither a white man is any way better than a black man, only the goodness of a person makes him superior from others.”

I don’t understand why we forget that Almighty Allah has created every thing beautiful and individual. Then why we differentiate people by their complexion or their looks? When our beloved Prophet (P.B.U.H) had removed all the differences that led to racism and discrimination among Muslims then why we commit sin by doing so and hurting the self esteem of girls? Why don’t we prefer and desire for the intelligence, talent and education of a girl instead of her looks as a life partner who might be a beautiful housewife but lack that education required to run a proper lifestyle?

It is well said that character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude, and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.

Sara Niazi

Jinnah University For Women

Karachi.

Sara Muzamil's Article

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder

Our society follows traditions strictly. The opinion and standards are made in our minds which makes everything rigid in our society. Idealism is another craze which drifts us away from the actual facts. We see things from above and ignore the inner side of the picture.

Beauty of any girl in our society is defined as fair, tall and slim. We do not include girls with little dark complexion but attractive features. We also never include girls as beautiful who are chubby.

Why we have a rigid thinking and particular mind set about the things? Why we have set beauty standards as fair, tall and slim? Females go out to search for a perfect bride by judging these things as beauty in a girl. Other qualities, skills, their nice behaviour and attitude are left unseen.

This has created a fuss and complex among girls which do not have these qualities. They feel guilty and complex of being rejected so many times. They are tired to be shown as a nice decoration piece in front of others. But still people see and reject them due to colour, height or weight.

This dilemma in our society is increasing day by day. Even when our society is changing somewhat from traditional one to modern then why we are not trying to bring positive changes instead of following those old traditions.

We females have to change our attitude and guide our brothers and sons that beauty does not just lie in physique, colour or height. It is much more than that. Skilful, active, well qualified and smart girls are more successful wives and mothers.

There is beauty in a pretty smile and caring eyes. No matter the physique whether chubby or slim. So much beauty is in this spectacular world and dazzling life but the true beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

Sarah Muzamil

Jinnah University For Women

Karachi.

Sara Niazi's Article

Prejudice

“Fairness is the real strength”. This was the marketing message of one of the fairness creams advertisement watched throughout the Pakistan. The ad was directed at women who desire for fair complexion to get prominence in the society. The idea of “being fair is superior” was actually given by English people who always thought and still consider that white skin is supremacy.

The concept of “white complexion is ascendancy” is traced back from the Mughal rulers of Central Asia, Turko-Afghan dynasties who were known for their white complexions and the British who ruled in the Sub-Continent approximately for two hundred years. It is also presumed that the fairness is associated with the landed class. In Pakistan, you won’t see a beggar with white complexion, if a person is a beggar here and wandering around the streets, the ultra-violet rays will burn his or her skin into coal.

However, the concept of beauty is also coupled with fairness. In Pakistan, there is no chance to be called beautiful until and unless the girl is very fair. Our advertisements establish the notion that if the girl is fair only then she can get married, or can get superior career or can attain triumph and promotion at work place. This also leads to the stereotypes among women for work in any field and for getting married that merely fair girls are the priority.

There are several outcomes of such advertisements which are certainly negative, that girls descend into inferiority complex, suffer with despair and lack of confidence. Their self-esteem is harmed and they loose the real aspiration of their lives.

Girls are very sensitive about their social acceptance in the society and the ones with darker skin tone are being disregarded in most of the places. So, we need to change the thoughts and modify the behaviors of not only people but also the media because if media wont perform positively for this matter than no one would ever even think seriously about color discrimination as an issue. And it is the major tool for bringing up any social change in the society.

Sara Niazi

Jinnah University for Women

Karachi.

Its nt dat being fair makes U pretty :)

Must Read!!

http://www.masala.com/3581-not-fair-but-lovely

Got to knw abt all these women :)

1: NASEEM HAMEED is a Pakistani athlete, who became the fastest woman in South Asia when she won a gold medal in the 100-metre event of the 11th South Asian Federation Games in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Monday, February 09, 2010. Naseem started her career as an athlete from her school. She participated in various sports activities at school and college levels. During her time in college, she was noticed by Army coaches and was allowed to practice in Army grounds near Korangi. She won various local events after this and was then picked by Pakistan Railways as an athlete. Naseem consistent performance earned her a place to represent Pakistan in 2010 SAF Games in Dhaka where she won the Coveted Gold in 100 Meters clocking 11.81 gaining the title of Fastest Women in South Asia and emerge as the queen of the track


2: Phillis Wheatley was a highly educated woman and a gifted poet of the late eighteenth century. While it was unusual for woman of that era to be highly educated, it was almost unheard of for a slave to be able to read and write. Regardless, Phillis Wheatley was a slave girl whose education helped to her to become a recognized and published poet in the late 1700s.

3: Edith Wharton is the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, 1921Wharton won the prize for her 1920 novel The Age of Innocence. Like many of Wharton’s books, The Age of Innocence was a critique of the insularity and hypocrisy of the upper class in turn-of-the-century New York. The book has inspired several stage and screen adaptations, and the writer Cecily Von Ziegesar has said that it was the model for her popular Gossip Girl series of books.

4: Juli Inkster Golfer
Juli Inkster’s story is one of perseverance and patience. In 1983, Juli burst on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour in a blaze of glory. She had an extraordinary rookie year, capturing the Nabisco Dinah Shore and du Maurier Classic, becoming the first rookie to win two major championships on one season. She was also named 1984 LPGA Rookie of the Year. After this amazing year, Juli’s career floundered. Her play became inconsistent and, except for her 1989 Dinah Shore victory, Juli failed to win another Grand Slam tournament for fifteen years.

5: Manon Rheaume is the first woman to play in an NHL game, 1992 Manon Rheaume, a goalie from Quebec City, Canada, was no stranger to firsts: She was well-known for being the first female player to take the ice in a major boys’ junior hockey game. In 1992, Rheaume was the starting goalie for the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lighting in a preseason exhibition game, making her the first woman to play in any of the major men’s sports leagues in the U.S. In that game, she deflected seven of nine shots; however, she was taken out of the game early and never played in a regular-season game. Rheaume led the Canadian women’s national team to victory in the 1992 and 1994 World Hockey Championships. The team also won silver at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

A very nice description indeed :)

A woman is all about femininity,That's the stuff that she's made up of.
She has within her,Layers of depth to her thoughts and feelings.
She reminds you of an onion,Seemingly translucent to tantalize your imagination.
Only to uncover layer upon layer,Peeling off to reveal yet another layer.
She's never one-dimensional,That's not what she made to be.
Her layers serve only to protect,Her very core of being.
Her deepest core is so very well-hidden,From the harsh glare of unenlightenment.
Generously sharing her genuine being,Only to those she trusts with her core.
You can only choose to let go,Resisting not her many womanly charms.
But be swept up by her many facets and dimensions,Uttering, "What astonishing femininity!

Knw ur worth :)

1: A Daughter Is... ...your greatest source of pride and your greatest hope for the future... The happiest moment of your life was the day she was introduced to the world.
2: A daughter is a bundle of firsts that excite and delight, giggles that come from deep inside and are always contagious, everything wonderful and precious and your love for her knows no bounds.
3:Be to her virtues very kind,Be to her faults a little blind.
4:Grace was in all her steps. Heaven in her eye. In every gesture. dignity and love.
5: I have the same goal I've had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.-- Madonna
6: Like star dust glistening on fairies' wingsLittle girls dreams are of magical things.

Must read it out.........

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fchanginguppakistan.wordpress.com%252F2010%252F03%252F08%252Fthe-fair-lovely-standard-maria-saadat%252F&h=9e632&ref=nf

Unfair fairness

The business of fairness creams thrives on social discrimination, inferiority complex and stereotypes of dependent women

By Fauzia Viqar

"Your skin glows with a fairness that's superior in all possible ways". This is the marketing message of a fairness cream advertisement spread over a quarter of the front page and the entire second/inside page of a leading Pakistani national newspaper. The advertisement is directed generally at women who aspire to a fair complexion in order to receive privileges associated with the colour. However, men will also be attracted to it due to the distinction that a fair complexion confers in a post-colonial state like Pakistan where the legacy of the British rulers remains strong even today.

If the size of the advertisement is an indicator of the revenue this fairness cream generates for the makers, there is serious cause for concern for human rights activists and proponents with respect to the overt message of the ad and the underlying assumption in it -- that a fair colour is better than all other colours ranging from medium to dark.

The history of this colour superiority in Indo-Pak subcontinent can generally be traced back to Delhi Sultanate and its Turko-Afghan dynasties that ruled from Delhi. Three centuries of Persianised Timurid Mughal rulers from Central Asia known for their fair complexions and large, almond shaped eyes further entrenched the white colour superiority.

However, it was the conscious British global doctrine of racial superiority propagated throughout their empire that led to our colour colonial legacy thriving and growing alarmingly. Doctrine of racial superiority of White Anglo-Saxon people was introduced to facilitate dominance of that ethnic group, while purposefully excluding or in some cases in North America and South Africa seeking to eliminate other ethno-racial groups on the basis of differences that were projected as hereditary and unalterable.

The climax of Western imperialism in the late nineteenth century "scramble for Africa", India and other parts of Asia and the Pacific represented an assertion of the imperialistic ethnic claim of the White, Anglo-Saxons that they had the right to rule over Asians and Africans based on their racial superiority. An advertisement of a soap from the late nineteenth century shows an African crouched in a corner with a hand extended towards a white British merchant receiving the soap. Caption of the ad states "The first step to lightening the White Man's Burden is through teaching the virtues of cleanliness." The British were promoting their ethno-cultural superiority through all available means.

Along with class, White colour was simultaneously associated with beauty. Imperialist nations like the British have described white as beautiful, civilised and virtuous and black as ugly, uncivilised or even evil in various historical accounts. Social, cultural and religious historiographies by Western scholars served to reinforce these stereotypes associated with colour to justify and maintain their privilege. However, while racial superiority based on physical and social constructs like colour and beauty was established by colonizers to justify and maintain their privilege, why is it that we continue to reinforce those stereotypes six decades after independence.

In pre-partition India, the British deliberately created a colour divide among Indians by declaring the Punjabis a "martial race" and cultivating them over other ethno-racial groups. Sadly, we did not do away with the notion of superiority based on colour or physical appearance after independence. In fact, various political leaders and rulers in Pakistan perpetuated this racism for their own gains.

In Pakistan, fair complexion has come to be associated with membership of a landed class and with affluence due to the fact that almost all landed and feudal families seek fair brides for their sons. This trend continued through generations with males seeking fair complexioned brides.

There are multiple negative impacts of this intense cradle-to-grave racial socialisation equating white colour with beauty. Firstly, it results in racial discrimination among people with the same history, culture and religion, causing Pathans to consider themselves superior to Punjabis, Baloch and Sindhis and former East Pakistanis to consider themselves superior to the "dark skinned Bengalis" unfit to assume leadership positions in the government and military due to their short statures and dark complexions.

Secondly, it creates an inferiority complex among people, especially women who don't have a fair complexion. Their self image suffers and they tend to focus on white colour as a dominant personality marker, disregarding other important aspects of personality such as intelligence, education and professional achievements.

Thirdly, advertisements selling fairness creams create role stereotypes among women when they show how a darker girl gets marriage proposals and ends up getting married when she turns fairer with the usage of fairness creams. When these commercials repeatedly show women aspiring to grab a successful proposal by lightening their skins, the message received by millions of Pakistani youth is that marriage is women's ultimate ambition.

Considering that Pakistani society is a fairly conservative society where women are generally discouraged from participating in the workforce or in public life by their families and societal norms, many women will feel further discouraged to adopt professional roles. Roles shown in fairness creams TV commercials potentially strengthen the perception of women's domestic roles in the society resulting in stereotyping of women as dependent.

We need to work on getting rid of colonial markers of privilege and change the mindset of our free nation.

TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!!!

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES TO BOOST THE MORAL

"Discover a Diva within You"

Who is a Diva???
A woman who has fair skin, long beautiful hair and a good physique.... Right?
No Wrong!
A real diva is a woman who is talented, confident, is comfortable in her own skin and therefore does NOT need anyone to validate her self-worth.
She is a woman who handles housework and/or office work skillfully and with poise.
Any Woman can become a diva!, Come Join us and...
"Discover a Diva within You"
On 6th November 2010
from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
at Anwer Sultana Auditorium
Help us spread awareness against the discrimination of Women on the basis of complexion and physical appearance.

Say no to fair and lovely and other discriminatory products

JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE

Stand Up all of u girls out dere!!! If she cud do this Y cnt V ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0

A massive hit of ole tyms!! Wt do u guys think?

Great Spirits have always encountered violent oppositin from mediocre minds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGRW3q_SkmM

A very informative piece of writing to motivate Young Girls not to multiply their parents worries by demending more n more stuff on their wedding...:)

http://blogs.aaj.tv/2010/10/dowry-the-multi-faced-monster/

Beautiful Quotes regarding Women

Women are always beautiful. ~Ville Valo

The rarest thing in the world is a woman who is pleased with photographs of herself. ~Elizabeth Metcalf

Women really do rule the world. They just haven't figured it out yet. When they do, and they will, we're all in big big trouble. ~"Doctor Leon," drleons.com

Why the Difference??

Shades of Difference addresses the widespread but little studied phenomenon of colorism—the preference for lighter skin and the ranking of individual worth according to skin tone. Examining the social and cultural significance of skin color in a broad range of societies and historical periods, this insightful collection looks at how skin color affects people's opportunities in Pakistan.

Is skin color bias distinct from racial bias? How does skin color preference relate to gender, given the association of lightness with desirability and beauty in women?