Beauty Only Skin Deep?

Photo: Zahedul I Khan

Every time I flip the pages of the newspaper or a magazine or go out on the roads of Dhaka, I am blasted by advertisements trying to make me whiter, thus smarter and happier. Apparently, all my problems in life will be solved if my skin becomes just a few shades lighter. The billboards keep on showing newer formulas with extracts from 'water' and I believe extracts from potatoes, pumpkins, betel leaves are well on their way to rescue me from the ignominy that my skin bears. To show that the products work, I see the models being brazenly dappled with thick sheets of makeup and deluged with heavy lighting, which do make them look whiter. The products promise to add glow to my skin but ironically fail to do so even on the models who advertise them. The advertisements, however, do not gender-discriminate and suggest that both men and women should be white. For a national cricketer, his skills on the field simply do not suffice; he needs to be white to impress off the field as well! All of these leave me wondering if, instead of the skin, directing all the attention towards developing our mind, intellect and personality would have left the world far more 'beautiful.' Nelson Mandela struggled for ending the discrimination against black people, the discrimination based on colour of one’s skin and we all commend him for that. While we have mourned the death of this great icon just in the past year, we simultaneously allow ourselves to be tricked by these wicked advertisements. As Mandela waged a war, so should we against whoever tries to fox us into believing the primeval notion of 'The whiter, the better!' instead of the universally appealing idea of 'The more humane, the better.'
Tasnim Jara
Dhaka Medical College
Dhaka

AN IRRATIONAL OUTLOOK 

Yesterday, I paid a visit to one of my former students Fahima. I taught English to her when she was a student of class seven. This year she sat for the SSC examination. So I went to her house to know about her result. I was very pleased to know that she got a GPA 3.94 from the Businesses Studies group.  But at the same time I was shocked to hear that her mother would not allow her to study anymore. She wants to marry her daughter off as soon as possible. It's not like they are poor or can't afford to send their daughter to a good college. In fact, the family is rich enough to establish a college in their locality. Fahima had tears in her eyes when she told me of her mother's decision, pleading with me to persuade her mother to let her study further. When I broached the topic with Fahima's mother, she stated that girls do not need to be much educated, they should be married off as soon as they reach a suitable age. I thought that such mindsets were a thing of the past but I was proven wrong. I tried hard to persuade her, and finally she assured me that she would give it a thought. Fahima and I don't know whether she can study further but I am adamant that I will convince her mother using every means. I hope her mother understands that further education is important for every girl who wants to be a good citizen, a good wife, a good mother and most importantly, a good individual in the future.
Md Abir Hossain
Govt. Titumir College
Dhaka