The fashion industry has impacted women’s low self-esteem.
December 21, 2025
DAWN
EVERY time I go see M, a local fashion designer I discovered earlier this year after deciding to only buy local brands, she asks me how that piece of clothing makes me feel. She doesn’t approach fashion asking ‘how do they look on you’ but ‘how it makes you feel’. It may sound funny but I really started to think about how I felt in clothes at her studio. I began to consider how clothes draped, how they moved when I did for example, rather than the singular lens with which I used to consider any clothing: does this make me look fat?
I suppose growing older has helped insofar as I care less about what others think. I have always chosen comfort but I realised that was just a guise for fear of standing out. Even though I said I was exercising choice in my clothes, I realise that choice was driven by societal expectations. What will people think of me if I go off script, like, not subscribe to the three-piece lawn suit or, more recently, the coordinated suits which resemble pajamas? One time I laughed at my image in the mirror because I looked like a doily you use under cakes but, even then, I thought at least I blend in.
Ah, the pitfalls of women wanting to stand out!
In that respect, the body positivity and body inclusivity movement has challenged stereotypes of what women are expected to look like. It heralded an era of plus-size models in editorial campaigns for fashion houses, especially high street wear, including in Pakistan where options were previously limited. Everyone welcomed a better body representation in the fashion industry. I believe that is changing again, starting in the West, with a return to how things were, ie, skinny is back in again. Old-timers like myself will remember growing up to ‘heroin chic’ as a style aspiration. The fashion industry has impacted women’s low self-esteem with its constant change in trends and making girls feel compelled they have to conform. This, along with its exploitation of workers, is its worst crime.
Then came social media which all but pushed the nail in the coffin of how we perceive our bodies, ourselves.
At a recent talk between three creatives in art and fashion, discussing among other things, the human body, M said something incredibly profound. “We were never meant to know what people think of us.”
The fashion industry has impacted women’s low self-esteem.
Yet we live at a time where all we know is what people think of us and that usually starts with the body.
Our bodies have become a source of attack on social media which promotes unrealistic beauty standards — think skinny or youthful sculpted faces or ‘glass skin’ — and fosters a comparison culture. I have written in the past about girls as young as 11 performing 10-step skincare regimes which parents think are harmless when it is quite the opposite. Has playing outdoors become obsolete for children?
Compare this to our mothers or grandmothers’ generations who truly dressed for themselves and didn’t feel any compulsion to conform. When I say ‘graceful’, you are likely to think of an elderly woman, not an influencer, probably shilling for a designer who copies other designers.
Social media makes us push an image that our life is perfect but it is actually a mask we wear to hide our imperfections. We used to celebrate individuality but now we worry it will be a source of attack. Over the years, I have seen more and more women covering themselves not for cultural reasons but because they don’t want to attract male attention. Therein lies the problem which needs far more urgent redressal. Women are disappearing from public spaces — we don’t laugh out loud for fear we will draw attention to ourselves, we don’t walk on the streets that are not safe, we quit jobs because we are harassed, etc.
An ideal woman is one who stays off the radar.
Who gains from us conforming to ideals, or more importantly, who creates these ideals — in fashion, beauty, wellness, etc? The self-help/ wellness industry is a fast-growing one, estimated by the Global Wellness Institute to be valued at $6 trillion. Everyone is selling something that promises you to lead an ideal life. It is exclusive and anti-poor because the community it encourages to build is one that creates health disparities. One clear example of this is the GLP drug meant for obesity patients which is widely used, even in Pakistan, by wealthy people as a popular weight loss drug. The price of these injections has skyrocketed because of the demand.
Skinny is not a trend. It should also not be an aspiration. Instead we must question where these messages and biases come from and ask if we want to embrace them or challenge them.
Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2025
The writer is an instructor of journalism.
X: @LedeingLady
The writer is co-producer and host of Unpressedented, a podcast on the media landscape in Pakistan.
I suppose growing older has helped insofar as I care less about what others think. I have always chosen comfort but I realised that was just a guise for fear of standing out. Even though I said I was exercising choice in my clothes, I realise that choice was driven by societal expectations. What will people think of me if I go off script, like, not subscribe to the three-piece lawn suit or, more recently, the coordinated suits which resemble pajamas? One time I laughed at my image in the mirror because I looked like a doily you use under cakes but, even then, I thought at least I blend in.
Ah, the pitfalls of women wanting to stand out!
In that respect, the body positivity and body inclusivity movement has challenged stereotypes of what women are expected to look like. It heralded an era of plus-size models in editorial campaigns for fashion houses, especially high street wear, including in Pakistan where options were previously limited. Everyone welcomed a better body representation in the fashion industry. I believe that is changing again, starting in the West, with a return to how things were, ie, skinny is back in again. Old-timers like myself will remember growing up to ‘heroin chic’ as a style aspiration. The fashion industry has impacted women’s low self-esteem with its constant change in trends and making girls feel compelled they have to conform. This, along with its exploitation of workers, is its worst crime.
Then came social media which all but pushed the nail in the coffin of how we perceive our bodies, ourselves.
At a recent talk between three creatives in art and fashion, discussing among other things, the human body, M said something incredibly profound. “We were never meant to know what people think of us.”
The fashion industry has impacted women’s low self-esteem.
Yet we live at a time where all we know is what people think of us and that usually starts with the body.
Our bodies have become a source of attack on social media which promotes unrealistic beauty standards — think skinny or youthful sculpted faces or ‘glass skin’ — and fosters a comparison culture. I have written in the past about girls as young as 11 performing 10-step skincare regimes which parents think are harmless when it is quite the opposite. Has playing outdoors become obsolete for children?
Compare this to our mothers or grandmothers’ generations who truly dressed for themselves and didn’t feel any compulsion to conform. When I say ‘graceful’, you are likely to think of an elderly woman, not an influencer, probably shilling for a designer who copies other designers.
Social media makes us push an image that our life is perfect but it is actually a mask we wear to hide our imperfections. We used to celebrate individuality but now we worry it will be a source of attack. Over the years, I have seen more and more women covering themselves not for cultural reasons but because they don’t want to attract male attention. Therein lies the problem which needs far more urgent redressal. Women are disappearing from public spaces — we don’t laugh out loud for fear we will draw attention to ourselves, we don’t walk on the streets that are not safe, we quit jobs because we are harassed, etc.
An ideal woman is one who stays off the radar.
Who gains from us conforming to ideals, or more importantly, who creates these ideals — in fashion, beauty, wellness, etc? The self-help/ wellness industry is a fast-growing one, estimated by the Global Wellness Institute to be valued at $6 trillion. Everyone is selling something that promises you to lead an ideal life. It is exclusive and anti-poor because the community it encourages to build is one that creates health disparities. One clear example of this is the GLP drug meant for obesity patients which is widely used, even in Pakistan, by wealthy people as a popular weight loss drug. The price of these injections has skyrocketed because of the demand.
Skinny is not a trend. It should also not be an aspiration. Instead we must question where these messages and biases come from and ask if we want to embrace them or challenge them.
Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2025
The writer is an instructor of journalism.
X: @LedeingLady
The writer is co-producer and host of Unpressedented, a podcast on the media landscape in Pakistan.
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