Beauty and the beholden

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder is the mantra I believe I ve always believed in. A number of times I ve come across perfectly normal looking women who are worried about their weight. Does every women have to be skinny? I wonder. We are not actresses or models. And why can't an overweight woman be a model or actresses if she is fond of working in showbiz?
What if I am not beautiful? Asks sumera a lecturer at a university. She asks this question in spite of the fact that people often compliments her on her beauty.
Sumera isn't alone women in Pakistani society are bombarded with what the ideal woman should look like fair slim tall with long lustrous hair. And if she fails to meet any of these criteria everyone from realities to male acquaintances comments on her physical short comings.
Aliya 26 an intern at a multinational pharmaceutical company realised during her job that being qualified wasn't enough one had to be physically attractive too to make it in the corporate world. There were only two girls in our department and both us being overnight often drew comments from senior men about our bodies and weight she says....