CONNECTING THREADS

These South Asian creatives are interrogating cultural identity by rediscovering their roots, and in the process, encouraging us all to embrace our her itage

- SHRIYA ZAMINDAR

HAYA ABID (BIDDY), content creator

Known as Biddy to her rising Instagram following, Haya Abid has got spunk. You can expect a feisty and riotously funny personality wrapped in one big Bollywood-obsessed package. Her social media provides a commentary on cultural taboos, busting the archaic labels society often likes to box people in. But it’s all cleverly masked under the quips and anecdotes she reveals on her Instagram Reels, which has resonated with people and brought her collaborations with brands like Fenty Beauty.

Biddy has bouncing-off-the-walls energy which is palpable straight off the bat as we dive right into a discussion on thick eyebrows and the gravity of having good “eyebrow ladies” who hold the politics of our faces in their talented and nimble fingers. “It’s just our desi genes, girl,” Biddy shakes her head. “I think that’s, like, one of the most done to death comments that I remember, growing up, – ‘You look like a man because you’re hairy, why are you so hairy?’ And now? I like being hairy. Look at my ****ing eyebrows,” she continues. “When Cara Delevingne first stepped on the scene, they acted like she was the first woman with thick eyebrows,” mocks Biddy. For somebody who calls herself a “third culture kid,” she is entirely relatable.

Born in Hong Kong, she moved to the US in 2012 to study fashion at the Fashion Institute of Design Management, dropping out only after a year. When Instagram was just starting to become a medium for bloggers, Biddy hoped to establish her own identity, but struggled, having never seen any representation she could relate to.