The Two-Tiered Nature of Beauty Standards
Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor busting the myth of “Celebrity Perfectionism” on Buzzfeed in 2016 impressively stirred us up as the trendy topic then. Casually talking about having dark circles, scars, cellulite, body hair, etc. I don't remember anyone normalizing it…
What We Get Wrong about Male-Female Friendships
This article was co-written by Fariha Lamisa and Feda Al Hossain In Bangladesh, friendship between a man and a woman is often shunned by society. Oftentimes, these types of friendships would either be scorned for its perceived lack of morals…
Death of A Star
I had this painfully short-lived desire to be a singer when I was young. My father even had this sweet lady come to our house and give me music lessons for a few months. As time went by, my teacher…
Sexual Repression in Bangladeshi Men: A Precursor to Violence
Warning: Mentions of rape and sexual abuse A few days ago, I was on a public bus, which was extremely crowded as usual. I was standing, and a middle-aged man stood beside me. After a while, I felt that the…
Are We Ready to Talk About Birth Control: A Bangladeshi Stigmatized Perspective
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I developed what was commonly referred to as ‘mask acne’. My face got worse and worse over time, to a point where I no longer cared about what I looked like but rather, I wanted the…
The Turkish-Syrian Border Faces its Most Catastrophic Earthquake in Centuries
February 6, 2023: It has been 3 weeks since a series of powerful earthquakes struck the Turkish-Syrian border. The first one had a 7.8 magnitude and was recorded as the largest in centuries. Amidst the aftershocks, a 7.5 magnitude quake…
Population Growth and Decline: What happens when we hit the 8 billion mark?
The population boom in the 20th century was not a one-day miracle. Demographic transitions during the mid-18th century laid the foundation for this exponential growth. Until the mid-18th century, Europe and other parts of the globe faced high mortality rates…