Here's What You Should Know About The Beauty Ban In Turkmenistan

Beauty and fashion services for women have been banned in Turkmenistan, according to recent reports. 

The banned services include “dying or bleaching of hair, use of false nails and eyelashes, and several types of cosmetic surgeries including breast augmentation, lip fillers and eyebrow microblading.” Reportedly the Central Asian country authorities have introduced the ban as of April 2022, quoting the wearing away of  Turkmen traditional values due to foreign beauty and fashion trends.

Turkmenistan Beauty Ban

Many are criticising this move as another misdemeanour on women’s rights, but several reports suggested the impact of these bans to be more cunning. After reportedly losing their jobs or having had to pay hefty fines as high as $140, which is roughly half the average Turkmen monthly income, the women got breast implants or lip injections. Reportedly, the police take their pictures, file a complaint, and fine the women. 

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As of now, the Turkmen government has not provided any clarification or announcement regarding the new bans. But, this is not the only new ban imposed on Turkmen women. Ever since April, women in Turkmenistan are not permitted to sit in the front seats of taxis. Male drivers are blockaded from offering car rides to women to who they are not related.

In addition, there have also been reports of women being outlawed to sit in the front seats of private cars. The passengers are obliged to present documents confirming that they were related to the driver. The official narrative said that it was “against national traditions,” and “shameful and even sinful” for women to sit in the front seat.

The new bans and prohibitions have broken hopes that the 40-year-old newly appointed president Serdar Berdymukhamedov, son of the previous leader, could pursue a more enlightened path for the betterment of Turkmen women. 

Although the bans are informal, with no official legislation supporting them, such random bans have been a trademark of independent Turkmenistan. The country’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, outlawed ballet, opera and circus, closed the Academy of Sciences and significantly reduced the number of school years.

Added to that, he banned golden teeth, a common custom in the country, and renamed the months of the year and the days of the week after Turkmen national symbols. Niyazov’s successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, annulled some of the prohibitions only to introduce other bans, many of which concentrated on women.