The Junction

‘Perfection’ is more than skin deep: Being brown, being beautiful

‘Perfection’ is more than skin deep: Being brown, being beautiful

“You have dark skin and a fat nose,” said the old woman to the 12-year-old girl growing up in Punjab. A decade later, that girl is still fighting the stereotype of being a woman of colour, and the hard-sold lack of privilege of not being white. Does she give in?

Eurocentric standards of beauty have changed how women of colour look at themselves. From skin whitening procedures or hair treatments to photo editing apps – there is a constant effort to look as less as themselves and as close to white as possible. Dilpreet Kaur stitches together incidents from her own life and shares this intimate story.

Audio journalism students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism worked with mentors from All The Best radio to create content for Science Gallery Melbourne’s show on Perfection.

About the Contributor
Photo of University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
The University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism offers a Master of Journalism & Master of International Journalism & graduate certificate & diplomas in journalism. It publishes The Citizen
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‘Perfection’ is more than skin deep: Being brown, being beautiful