Prachi Nigam Is A Star And The Poster Girl Of Success We Need

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Asked the evil queen to a mirror that would reveal the answer to her questions. Every day, she would ask the same question to the mirror. But one day, it answered, “Snow White, O Queen, is the fairest of them all.” This was the start of our young, impressionable minds, where we read the not-so-innocent, sexist and biased fairy tales, that taught us life lessons on what it is to be a perfect woman. 

Our Kindergarten Fairy Tales Too Need Retelling Of Women’s Stories 

These books were skewed in a sense, where little women learnt that our looks are the most important aspect of us being valuable in society. Intelligence and physical strength were of no consequence. It is her physical attributes of beauty, that make her the winner. 

Literature is galore of stories of women who are pitted against one another basis of their appearance. There are evil queens and stepsisters in children’s books who are described as jealous girls who will go to any length to destroy the sister who is prettier than them. The books are written to teach a girl, that her desirability quotient is her ticket to a successful life. There is always a Prince Charming who would rescue Cinderella, is the story fed to girls. Therefore women ardently wait for the perfect dude aka Prince who will fix their lives by just proposing to them and finally marrying them. For this success, she must only be pretty and comely. 

A woman’s qualities were not what she stood for, but the man who would choose her to be the mother of his children was the measure of success in her life. It continues even to date, reiterating how a woman must meet the beauty standards set by a society, that remains intrinsically flawed and from the lens of patriarchal values, that judge women at every stage of their lives. 

So, it isn’t surprising that Prachi Nigam is being trolled for her facial hair. It is extremely disheartening to read the cruel comments on this young girl from Uttar Pradesh who has been subjected to judgement despite her amazing class 10 results in the entire state.

With the trolls, her hard work seems totally inconsequential in comparison to her physical attributes. 

One can’t ignore that men too are pitted against the set standard of height, beard and fitness but one can’t deny that with women the standards are way more stringent versus men. We hear and read sad stories of unsightly spinsters who died alone, waiting for the eligible man to choose them. 

While Nigam made her family proud of her milestone achievement, she is probably like many women wondering if her marks and hardwork is really enough for her to lead a successful life. 

According to reports, 97% of women who work hard feel judged for how they look. It is “lookism” that defines her standards of the self.

Many girls are only recently being able to articulate how stifled they feel with this abominable gender stereotyping. Women born  70s and 80s suffered silently for no fault of their own. 

Even now, it is taken for granted that girls will choose pink colour, wear ribbons and enjoy fairy feathers and a crown whereas the boy will excel in science and sports. 

As a conscious aware person on many occasions, I too notice the looks of a girl and her appearance. This is such a subconscious reinforcement of the notion that a woman’s worth is nothing more than the total of her parts. 

I stand guilty and apologise to all women that like most I don’t start by complimenting a woman’s bravery and her courage but I always notice her hair colour, clothing and appearance. 

This must change if we want less depressed and more empowered girls to touch the pinnacle of success in the coming years. 

Mohua Chinappa is a poet, an author who runs two podcasts called The Literature Lounge and The Mohua Show.