From The Straits Times    |

Image: Showbit

1. “When are you getting married/ having a baby?”
Whoa, hold on! I just had the craziest flashback. It’s the ’50s, and people can’t stop expressing “concern” over my personal choices because a woman’s worth is based on whether she finds a man and how many children she pops out before her ovaries shrivel. What do you mean we’re in a new millennium? I could swear we’d time-travelled then, and not in a good way…

2. “Real women have curves!”
So… naturally thin women aren’t real women? I get that you’re trying to reverse the effects of fat-shaming (and kudos for that), but imposing yet another arbitrary beauty ideal on us isn’t helping to develop body positivity for everyone. We don’t have to tear one group of people down just to build up another. Some real women have curves, and some real women don’t – deal with it.

3. “Are you sure you want to eat that? It looks so fattening.”
Yes, I am going to wolf it right down because I love food, and I know the occasional chunk of dark chocolate, or a plate of Hokkien mee, isn’t going to suddenly stop me fi tting into airplane seats overnight. These occasional indulgences also make me a happy person, which prevents me from making judgmental comments about other people’s eating habits.

4. “Women watch football only for the hot players. Do they even know what the offside rule is?”
Oh, please. Most women have skincare and makeup routines so complex they would make a man’s head spin. And even if some of us aren’t regular diehard match fans, do you really think we can’t identify an attacking player being closer to the goal line than the last two defenders of the opposing team when the ball is played? The point is, even if we do catch a game occasionally purely for the hottie on the field, so what? Are guys watching the Victoria’s Secret shows to marvel over the intricate lace handcrafted stitching on the bustiers? I think not.

5. “Aiyoh, you look so tired! You must be sick.”
No, it’s Monday morning and I chose an extra 10 minutes of shut-eye over bothering to put on eyeliner. But thanks for drawing my face – and the fact that you think it looks terrible – to everyone’s attention. Would you also like to point out that zit on my forehead while you’re at it?

 

This story was originally published in the January 2016 issue of Her World magazine.

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