Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 9,500+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Try GOLD - Free
The Ugly Myth
Outlook
|March 01, 2025
Women are slotted into two categories: beautiful or ugly. Who defines beauty and who does this binary actually serve?
IMAGINE two islands. Imagine the ocean stretched wide between them. Women get to inhabit either of the two islands: 'Beautiful' or 'Ugly. Residents of the latter must spend their whole lives trying to make it to the former. Keep trying, or fall from grace. No in-between in sight. This is not speculative fiction. Women of all ages live under the cloud of this constructed binary in real life. Those who don't fit into the 'beautiful' slot are bombarded with remindersand threats of varying degrees-from cosmetic companies, the beauty industry, wellness clinics; film, television and social media; family, neighbours, perfect strangers you bump into on your commute to college or work. Everyone has tips to offer to ferry you to destination 'beautiful'.
This story is from the March 01, 2025 edition of Outlook.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Outlook
Outlook
A Temple Town in the Making
Digha, once a sleepy coastal town, is undergoing a profound metamorphosis. The newly opened Jagannath Dham temple has not only become a spiritual beacon but also a massive civic undertaking. The man on the ground, Purnendu Majhi, District Magistrate of Purba Medinipur, explains the scale and scope of the balancing act required - of devotion, infrastructure, and sustainability
4 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
The ISKCON Index
The International Society for Krishna Consciousnes (ISKCON) has been tasked with the 'Sewa' at Jagannath Dham, Digha. This entails all prayer services as well as prasadam. An operational overview
2 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
Bhakti in Bengal
A movement rooted in joyous celebration of the love for Krishna shaped Bengal's syncretic socio-religious ethos and identity. A special essay
3 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
When Vision Met Devotion
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, envisaged the Jagannath Dham in Digha as more than a temple. And in its swift execution and final magnificence, it stands as a testament to how vision, strategic execution, civic planning and devotion can converge to create not just a place of worship or an engine of growth but a spiritual symbol of significance
4 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
The Revolution Will be Memefied
I was born when the 1970s were kind of getting over, when revolutions were ending and the world was kind of settling in, and yet, wars surrounded us and rebellion seemed like an inheritance of sorts. The May 1968 revolt in France had those slogans. “I came. I saw. I believed.” (Mimicking veni, vidi, vici) We lived by them. We played outside. We were unafraid. The 1960s and the 1970s had many protests. We were those children of revolution. Free-spirited and uninhibited. We still can be brave at times in the face of betrayal.
1 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
Digha's Second Sunrise
Where devotion meets destination, a new Digha rises — part pilgrimage, part pleasure, wrapped in architectural splendour and the promise of rejuvenation
2 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
Not Wasting Away
Along with its new found popularity and prominence as a tourist destination, comes new civic challenges. How is Digha handling the issue of waste management?
1 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
Sacred Engineering
From vision to the drawing board to execution, the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) has played a central role in the development of the Jagannath Dham temple in Digha
3 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
The Lord of the Tides
As Digha emerges as a new coastal home for Jagannath, the age-old bond between the deity and the sea gains fresh momentum-bridging history, ritual, and a rising tide of devotion
4 mins
October 01, 2025
Outlook
Jagannath in Our Soul
Bengal has an enduring connection with Lord Jagannath – from Chaitanya’s footsteps to the rhythms of Ratha Yatra and the literary pulse of a region in devotion
2 mins
October 01, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size