To the Editor:
Being Pakistani, I must be really out of the loop because I had no idea that a lack of makeup on Pakistani women was a stereotype. I found nothing wrong with the article on Benazir Bhutto except for its opening line, which read “Wearing lipstick and eye shadow, Benazir Bhutto is a far cry from the stereotype of the average Pakistani woman.”
Yes, there are stereotypes about Pakistani women (one example would be that they’re subservient to men) and the culture itself, as there are of any other country, but this one I’ve heard for the first time. I can say with the utmost confidence that the contrary is true. I wear makeup, my mother wears makeup, and my grandmother who lives in Pakistan does not leave the house without her eyes properly lined and her lips colored brown.
And guess what? Even the cleaning maids who live a life far from comfortable have a stick of lipstick, even if it’s a really old one. Maybe you didn’t mean it in the literal sense, but the truth is there are many more where she comes from. If I had never been to the U.S. and met an American who’s skin was purple and toes were yellow, I know no one here who would appreciate it if I assumed all Americans were that way.
Sincerely,
Mariam Sultan, ’04
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