OVERLOOK

M A LA LA YO US A FZ A I

IT IS A B O UT TIM E YO U E M B R A CE E V E R YTH IN G A B O UT YO U.

TEHMINA DURRANI, PAKISTANI WRITER AND ACTIVIST AUTHO R OF TH E FA MOU S BOOK “ M Y F EUD A L L OR D ”

REP E A T A F T ER M E: I A M B EAUTIF U L . I BELIEV E IN M E. I LO VE MY S KIN . I WILL NOT LE T A N YON E B RING ME D OW N . I W I LL NOT REM A IN S IL E N T !

OVERLOOK Editor-In-Chief

Asfa Mahmood

Editorial Director

Asfa Mahmood

Lead Designer

Asfa Mahmood

Art Director

Asfa Mahmood

Writers

Leah Donella

Writers

Yana Brovdiy

Writers

Imran Gabol

Writers

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

CONTRIBUTORS

JOHANNE DAOUST

Johanne is my Graphic Design Professor. She has made a substantial contribution in helping me refine my editorial direction as well as my layouts. Through her detailed reviews she is determined to assist and guide her students in discovering their own unique editorial style.

YOURA LEE ANNA ALBLAS

Youra and Anna, are two very patient TAs who provided astute technical, aesthetic and VERY picky editorial copy direction. Thanks to both-all punctuation has been hung, all dashes have been corrected, and all indents have been altered.

MANUELA ROMERO

I met Manuela in first semester when we worked together on a group project. She is a great art director and has given me advice on how to make my magazine most appealing.

AIMMAZ HASNAIN

My brother Aimmaz, a Chemical Engineer at TESLA, a minimalist, a writer, and a poet, and turns out, a wonderful art director! I have valued his thoughts and his minimalist design direction throughout the process of creating OVERLOOK.

CONTENTS

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Editor’s Letter Being a Pakistani, people around me had a lot to say about the way I looked and the way I behaved. “Oh, you need to be fair”, “don’t cut your hair too short, you will look like a boy”, “you are too tall”, “you look like a man with all the hairs on your body”, “sit properly like a girl”, “If you don’t know how to cook, you will never get married”, “Don’t sit out in the sun for too long or else you will get black”. They all thought it was their right to say all of that because they had my best interersts at heart and so that I can become the perfect girl. But what if I don’t want to follow the norms? Women in society are often overlooked. They are seen as inferior to men and are expected to follow certain beauty standards to fit the norms of society. Women are identified by the color of their skin. In South Asian culture, a female with dark skin is neglected when looking for proposals. Often time, women try coming up with solutions to lighten their skin when they should be embracing it. We are taught falsely from a young age that we are nothing without a husband and that men run the house. Most women are scared of getting a divorce because they think that a label would be put on them and society will blame them for their decision. This magazine is a voice for not just Pakistani women but all the women out there who choose to continue struggling in silence because they have not been given a voice.

ASFA MAHMOOD Overlook|9

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2020 STOCKHOLM AWARD LAUREATE

HUMAN RIGHTS

HINA

JILANI Overlook|11

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Hina Jilani at the second session of Human Rights Council, Geneva in 2006.

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ioneering lawyer, pro-democracy campaigner and avid civil rights activist Hina Jilani was announced today as the recipient of the 2020

Stockholm Human Rights Award – bestowed annually by the Swedish Bar Association, the International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC). IBA President Horacio Bernardes Neto said, ‘I can think of no more deserving recipient of this award than Hina Jilani. She has dedicated her life to the protection of the vulnerable through her commitment to human rights and the rule of law. She has worked tirelessly and in situations of great adversity to uphold democracy, to challenge injustice and to defend the defenceless. Her ceaseless endeavours have made both Pakistan and the wider world a better, safer and more just place.’ Ms Jilani grew up in Pakistan. Her father was a politician and an outspoken critic of the country’s military dictatorship, who spent much of her childhood in prison. Injustices and human rights abuses witnessed first-hand sparked a lifelong commitment to challenging social norms and promoting human rights and democracy in Pakistan, and around the world, in Ms Jilani. She said, ‘I always had this feeling that if you see injustice, you have to speak out against it; otherwise you are not in a position to complain.’ In 1980, Ms Jilani founded Pakistan’s first all-female law firm, providing legal aid to women. The scope of her practice grew to include legal education, research and protection from exploitation. The same year she established the Women’s Action Forum, a campaign group that advocated for women’s rights and challenged the discriminatory laws with which she had grown up.

Secretar y-General of the Swedish Bar Association Mia Edwall Insulander, commented: ‘To reach new places one cannot follow beaten paths, but diverting from the beaten paths is seldom easy – it takes great resilience and courage. Hina Jilani founded the first womenonly law-firm in Pakistan as well as put up Pakistan’s first legal aid centre. She is a true pioneer and her battle against systematic injustice, standing up for the human rights of the most vulnerable in society; women, children and minorities is of utmost importance and an inspiration for all of us who believe in democracy, the rule of law and equal opportunities for all citizens of the world. As a fellow lawyer, woman and human being, I feel the highest admiration for this year’s laureate.’ In 1986 Ms Jilani set up Pakistan’s first Legal Aid Centre, going on to conduct many landmark cases and setting new standards for human rights in Pakistan. Her focus has always been the most vulnerable sections of society. In the same year, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was established with Ms Jilani as one of its founding members. Today, it has branches throughout the country and is the most renowned national body for the monitoring of human rights violations. In 1990, Ms Jilani co-founded Dastak, a shelter providing free legal counsel and support to women fleeing gender-based violence. It also raises awareness on issues such as domestic abuse, child marriages and ‘honour killings’. Her work often makes her vulnerable to hostile propaganda, arrests, abuse and intimidation, but she continues to live and work in Lahore, where she remains committed to social change and at the heart of the human rights movement.

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IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis commented:

‘Hina Jilani’s extraordinary courage in speaking truth to power, tirelessly fighting injustice wherever it occurs and giving a voice to the most marginalised groups in society, including women, children, minorities and prisoners, distinguishes her not only as a lawyer of great repute, but a human being of great fortitude and integrity. Ms Jilani’s accomplishments are numerous and ground-breaking, inspiring people beyond her native Pakistan. I am delighted that she has been selected as the 2020 awardee.’ The new millennium brought further achievements including her appointment as the first Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders in 2000. A position that saw her spend the following eight years working to empower and protect those campaigning for civil rights. In 2013, Ms Jilani joined The Elders, a group of independent global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela. Their vision is to work together for peace, justice and human rights, to promote ethical governance, to resolve conflict and address its root causes and to challenge injustice. Ms Jilani’s first mission was to Myanmar in 2014, when the delegation met with government officials, the militia and civil society, calling on the warring parties to end their fighting and discuss opportunities for change. Ms Jilani remains an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, having been appointed in 1992. She also currently serves as President of the World Organisation against Torture, Co-Chair of the World

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Refugee Council and Co-Chair of the International Task Force on Justice. The Stockholm Human Rights Award is given to an individual, and/or organisation, for outstanding contributions to human rights and the rule of law. Last year’s recipients were David Miliband and the humanitarian aid body the International Rescue Committee (IRC) that he heads. The Award will be presented to Ms Jilani on Monday 30 November 2020 at the Swedish Bar Association, Laboratoriegatan 4, 102 54, Stockholm, Sweden. An interview with IBA Executive Director Dr Ellis will follow. The event will be livestreamed.– UPDATE: Due to Covid-19-related restrictions, the presentation has been postponed to next year, for a more ceremonial celebration. Pandemic permitting, the preliminary date is set to 6 December 2021.

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ALALA M

Y

OUSAFZAI

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MALALA YOUSAFZAI’S UNIQUE LEADERSHIP

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Things to learn from Malala Yousafzai’s unique leadership

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ossessing leadership qualities from an age so young is something we rarely get to see. Using those leadership qualities to make an

impacting change and fighting against all odds to do so, is true bravery and leadership combined. Such are the unique characteristics that a young lady from Pakistan possesses. This young lady has been recognized globally for her remarkable qualities and willingness to fight for the education rights of girls in her country. This young lady is no other than Malala Yousafzai. Malala has had a unique vision from the start. She had shown extreme bravery and to go against even Taliban to make her voice heard, maintaining massive determination in face of immense difficulties. For that courage, Malala has received several recognitions and awards globally and she is currently still working towards making a difference for her people. The qualities of true leadership are possessed by her. A true leader does not forget the roots from which he or she belongs, they rather work towards always bettering them and making chances of growth. At such a young age, Malala wished to make a difference for her people, fed up with the constant distress she had to face as a young girl in Pakistan. The moment she thought it was enough, there was no looking back for her. Despite the consequences she faced, Malala gained massive powerful momentum and continued on her quest for a difference, that has led her to where she is today. Malala Yousafzai’s unique leadership qualities are extraordinary and noteworthy. There are so many lessons we can all take away from them.

Take a stand for what you believe in As a young girl growing up in Pakistan, Malala and her family lived in constant fear of the Taliban. She lived in Swat valley which is an area in Northern Pakistan. Malala’s family was a more progressive one and allowed their daughter to carry on with education. However, this was made impossible by the Taliban who started bombing various schools in her area.

This was a very depressing state for a bright young girl to carry out. Many young girls her age were terrified by this. These girls were then forced to stay at home, rather than acquire education. Their dreams of gaining education were slowly falling apart. At this point, the 11 year old Malala decided that she would not accept this. Her dream could not fall apart just because of some grown men who didn’t want girls to study. She defied everyone and continued to go to school for an education. She stood with what she believed in, no matter what the consequences were. Apart from this, she let the world hear her voice. She wrote for BBC Urdu (the Pakistani BBC) anonymously to inform them about the situation she was undergoing. Her blog soon went viral globally, but it did not change her situation. Malala wanted to make a difference, through her own identity. She began to speak to various journalists on the radio and television both domestically and internationally. There was now a personality attached to the voice that longed being heard. The world was now ready to listen to what she had to say. Despite the various death threats Malala faced, she stood with what she believed in. She was not afraid of the consequences. At such a young age, all she cared about was making a difference and being heard. For any leader, it is common for them to face hurdles as they start. Moving forward against initial difficulties is probably the most important phase for actualizing any vision. Getting through the hurdles is what makes you a true leader. Even if nobody stands with you and your vision, be firm in what you believe in. Don’t quiet down – your voice will soon be heard. The path to becoming a useful and influential leader when tackling a big problem is a tough one, as faced by Malala. Many people will be against you and will discourage you from the goal you wish to achieve. You should not let this impact you one bit. The voices outside you don’t change what you have inside you. The reason you are standing for something is because you know that the situation cannot stay as it is now, something has to change and someone must take action, and you cannot remain quiet anymore.

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Search for your story Remind yourself constantly of the story that has led you to the place where you stand today. People do not understand your views because they have not been through what you have. Your voice matters because you have been through such experiences and struggles that your aspirations for a struggle-free life are legitimate. This is exactly what Malala did. Malala searched for her story to show people her true beliefs towards where she stands today. She wanted to inspire people through her struggles and her story. This connection was her secret for perseverance. In order to get your message across efficiently, you must be able to tell your story.

Be unaplogetically yourself Do not ever forget your roots. Just like Malala, who still recognizes the needs of her people in Pakistan. She associates herself with Pakistani girls and fights for their rights continually. Trust and honesty in your vision will eventually help you in achieving your goal. Persuade others with what you truly believe in by simply being yourself. As a leader, it is not necessary for you to act like someone else as a means to impress others. People will be inspired by your story if you put forward your true self in front of them. People are compelled by authenticity, don’t be afraid to show who you are. Always remain genuine and honest, people will be inspired by your true personality.

Listen to what other have to say Currently, Malala not only advocates for education and the rights of young girls in her country but also for other underprivileged countries like Gaza, Kenya, Nigeria, etc. She wants to make a difference globally, for every girl who can associate with her story.

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This, however, does not mean that she acts as if she knows the stories of all girls residing internationally. In fact, she keeps her ears open, reaching out to young women who need her help, and by that improving her ability to fine-tune her message and leverage her current influence and global recognition, in order to become a better leader for girls all around the world. As a leader, it is important for you to listen to the needs of your people. Listen carefully and incorporate what others have to say. Malala ensures that she gets insightful feedback from the people she is working for, before carrying out any campaigns. She wants to make a genuine impact and this can only be done if she listens carefully to the needs of those affected by her acts and vision.

Constantly remind yourself of your true goal The picture of your vision should be imprinted onto your mind. You should constantly remind yourself of your dream, so you do not go astray. You should remember that, the path towards achieving your goal may change, but your dream will always remain the same. To achieve it, you must remember what it looks like, on a constant basis. This is exactly what Malala did, and keeps doing. At first, she started off advocating for the rights of women in Pakistan, fighting the Taliban for actualizing her vision and dream. As her voice became recognized globally, she understood that she could now make a greater impact. She can fight for changing the lives of young women globally, rather than only in her country. This is what she is doing today. Malala aims to make a constant impact for women globally, with her efforts towards providing education and rights to them, no matter what the condition of the country is. Her inevitable goal is to advocate for womenrights and this is exactly what she focuses on and reminds herself of constantly.

Malala’s message to the world As a young Pakistani Girl, Malala started and led a global movement that stood solely for girls. She was merely a young teenager who had a vision. There was nothing that stood between her and her goal. Society had made Malala so fed up of the way young girls were treated. There was no other way for her to seek what she wanted for herself and other girls, rather than speaking up herself. She began blogging through the BBC channel as a means to getting her voice heard. This led the world to becoming more aware of the situations young girls in Pakistan were undergoing. She advocated strongly for gender equality and rights towards education for women. The consequences she faced were rough. Malala faced several death threats from Taliban for the work she was carrying out. She was shot by Taliban forces on her quest for her vision in 2012,

as she was on her way back from school one day. This did not stop Malala. This shortcoming only made her stronger. She now felt a greater sense of power within her and longing for achieving her goal. Malala worked tirelessly to make the voice of her movement heard. Eventually, it was. Like a black swan that transforms our reality, the fact that we couldn’t imagine or predict Malala’s vision and perseverance, didn’t stop her from changing the world. Today, Malala is globally recognized as an advocate for women’s rights and youth activism. She is an extremely courageous woman who possesses great knowledge and historic leadership skills. Her willingness to defy against all odds and stand against the Taliban for her voice to be heard shows how she has no fears. She is a mentor for many women and is admired greatly for her profound bravery.

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B IS

EAUTY

IN THE EYES OF THE COLONIZER? Overlook|23

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Q

uick — think of the most beautiful person you know. Is it your partner? Your mother? Rihanna? (Wait, you know Rihanna? That’s amazing!). There are a million different reasons we find certain people beautiful. But there’s no denying that a lot of current beauty standards in the U.S. are based on a particular type of beauty — one that centers a type of white femininity that’s only accessible to a select few. So this week on Ask Code Switch, we’re answering a question from Cecilia Fernandez, of Ann Arbor, Mich. She tweeted at us to ask: “Besides the natu-

Before that, the official rules stated that contestants had to be “of good health and of the white race.” Decisions about who society holds up as beautiful also have a lot to do with class. Nell Irvin Painter notes that a lot of the things we consider beautiful are actually just proxies for wealth. Think of how much it costs to get cosmetic surgery, or braces, or even a facial. (It’s worth noting that there’s a fair amount of overlap between beauty routines and health or grooming routines. People brush their teeth to prevent cavities, sure, but so many toothpastes also have whitening products. And you could be blowdrying your hair to get it dry, or to make sure it’s shiny and voluminous. In this context, we’re

ral hair movement, what other ways have women of color gone to decolonize their beauty routine?” Cecilia, this is a really great question. As someone who spent years flat-ironing my curls and suffering through orthodontia, I was also quite curious about this. So to begin, let’s talk about what it means when we say our notions of beauty are “colonized.” Think about why that person is beautiful. Is it because of their perfectly white teeth? Their thick, shiny hair? The fact that their features conform perfectly to Western beauty norms? To begin with, a lot of current Western beauty standards celebrate whiteness — not some objective, biological, evolutionary thing, but literally just being a white person. In fact, if you go back and look at the work of some early racial theorists — people like Christoph Meiners and Johann Blumenbach — t h e y d e f i n e d t h e c a t e g o r y o f “white,” or “Caucasian,” as being the most beautiful of the races. “It was important for [those racial theorists] to be superior in all areas,” says Nell Irvin Painter, an artist and historian who wrote The History Of White People. She says the group of academics who first created these racial categories were white supremacists, so, “they not only wanted the people they called ‘their women’ to be the most beautiful, and ‘their men’ to be the most virile. They wanted ‘their countries’ to have the best politics. So they wanted to have everything better. And that included beauty.” That association between beauty and whiteness has proved hard to shake. There’s a reason that so many people still think of an “all-American beauty” as a thin, blonde, blue-eyed white woman. It wasn’t until 1940 that the rules were changed to allow women of color to enter the Miss America pageant.

thinking of the purely aesthetic parts of a routine — not ones that have to do with health, functionality or hygiene.) (So, how do you push back against all that? A lot people talk about the importance of buying makeup wor fashion designed by women of color. But throughout history, a lot of the most effective movements have been about expanding our ideas of what it means to be beautiful. Let’s come back to the natural hair movement for a moment. That came out of the broader Black is Beautiful movement in the 1960s and ‘70s. That movement — which came in the midst of the broader Black Power and civil rights movements — was about affirming aspects of blackness that had been considered ugly by white, colonial standards. Organizers of the movement started to embrace the political power behind the idea that all aspects of blackness were beautiful. Nell Painter says the movement had a huge effect on both her and her family. She says she didn’t start to think of herself as beautiful until she was in her thirties, around the time “black is beautiful” sprung up. A similar thing happened to her mother, who was born in 1917: “My mother was very beautiful. But my mother was dark-skinned, so she never thought of herself as beautiful. ... For black people, the idea of black as beautiful, that was a real breakthrough. And so my mother emerged as a beautiful person, and people told her she was beautiful, and it took her a long time to accept that. I don’t know if she ever really did.”

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There are other movements that have tried to address beauty as a political force. There was the indigenismo movement in Mexico. One of its icons was the artist Frida Kahlo. In her self-portraits, she painted herself dressed in pre-Columbian clothes and hairstyles, with visible facial hair and hair between her eyebrows. Many have described those artistic choices as being a radical rejection of white, colonial beauty standards. And these days, a lot of women push back on the idea that they should remove facial and body hair in order to be considered beautiful or hygienic or professional. The activist and model Harnaam Kaur has spoken about how her life changed once she decided to stop shaving her beard: “I feel a lot

decolonize that look in the way that you feel is important to you. But you can’t go to that school like it. ... Until recently you couldn’t serve in the military. ... There’s all manner of corporate jobs that if you’re decolonizing your body you can’t have.” Keep in mind, Rooks says, that fighting against beauty norms is probably going to be really hard. Obese women, old women, queer women, women of color and all the intersections get particularly scrutinized, even when they’re trying to conform to beauty norms — let alone when they push back against them. “We can live in a world where we try to do battle with those overarching narratives,” Rooks adds. “But the forces pushing back

stronger and liberated to be who I am and accept who I am freely. ... I’m here as a woman who’s wearing something that’s supposed to be — in quotations “supposed to be” — a man’s feature.” The body positivity movement and the fat-acceptance movements have also consistently pushed back on the idea that thin, young, white, able-bodied women are the epitome of beauty — or that beauty should be a precondition for reswpect to begin with. One thing to keep in mind is that beauty is a facet of power. Being considered beautiful can help you gain access to certain spaces, or increase your power in certain settings. By the same token, a perceived lack of beauty, or a refusal or inability to conform to certain beauty standards, also has really tangible consequences. Noliwe Rooks is a professor at Cornell University who teaches about the politics of race and beauty. She says that women are placed in different categories depending on “how they appear in the world,” and that attempts to decolonize one’s beauty routine often lead to pushback from the outside world — especially for black and brown people. She cited Hampton University in Virginia as an example. The historically black institution made news in 2012 for a policy in the business school that said male students couldn’t have dreadlocks, because they were considered unprofessional. Rooks says, “If you’re someone who feels like for body positivity and self affirmation, and adornment, this is what I’m going to do, ‘I want dreadlocks’ — yes you can do that. You can

against it in many parts of the world — it’s quite a headwind.” When we’re talking about personal beauty, having a beauty routine at all means that you are, consciously or unconsciously, accepting the idea that you need to change. The way your hair falls or the shininess of your skin or the curl of your eyelashes — it will be more beautiful if you spend time and money to make it different. So back to the question at hand: How do you decolonize the idea that your natural self isn’t adequate? You could argue that a profound way to decolonize your beauty routine would be to have none, and simply say, “My body and face and are valuable and beautiful without modification.” The other really radical thing could be to try reject personal beauty as a measure of worth. Many have argued that beauty should not be a prerequisite, as it so often is, for being treated with respect, kindness or personal autonomy. Any way you go about it, the process of decolonizing your beauty routine is probably going to result in a lot of people being uncomfortable with your appearance. It’s also the only way beauty norms have a chance of changing. So you have to know your politics. What are you trying to say with your beauty routine? And what ugly truths are you willing to deal with?

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SKIN IS AN ILLUSION

BY

NINA JABLONSKI

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I

nterestingly, Charles Darwin was born a very lightly pigmented man, in a moderately-to-darkly pigmented world. Over the course of his life, Darwin had great privilege. He lived in a fairly wealthy home. He was raised by very supportive and interested parents. And when he was in his 20s he embarked upon a remarkable voyage on the ship the Beagle. And during the course of that voyage, he saw remarkable things: tremendous diversity of plants and animals, and humans. And the observations that he made on that epic journey were to be eventually distilled into his wonderful book, “On the Origin of Species,” published 150 years ago. Now in his years of traveling on the Beagle, and from listening to the accounts or explorers and naturalists, he knew that skin color was one of the most important ways in which people varied. And he was somewhat interested in the pattern of skin color. He knew that darkly pigmented peoples were found close to the equator; lightly pigmented peoples, like himself, were found closer to the poles. What Darwin could not appreciate, or didn’t perhaps want to appreciate at the time, is that there was a fundamental relationship between the intensity of ultraviolet radiation and skin pigmentation. And that skin pigmentation itself was a product of evolution. And so when we look at a map of skin color, and predicted skin color, as we know it today, what we see is a beautiful gradient from the darkest skin pigmentations toward the equator, and the lightest ones toward the poles. What’s very, very important here is that the earliest humans evolved in high-UV environments, in equatorial Africa. The earliest members of our lineage, the genus Homo, were darkly pigmented. And we all share this incredible heritage of having originally been darkly pigmented, two million to one and half million years ago. Now what happened in our history? Let’s first look at the relationship of ultraviolet radiation to the Earth’s surface. In those early days of our evolution, looking at the equator, we were bombarded by high levels of ultraviolet radiation. The UVC, the most energetic type, was occluded by the Earth’s atmosphere. But UVB and UVA especially, came in unimpeded. UVB turns out to be incredibly important. It’s very destructive, but it also catalyzes the production of vitamin D in

the skin, vitamin D being a molecule that we very much need for our strong bones, the health of our immune system, and myriad other important functions in our bodies. So, living at the equator, we got lots and lots of ultraviolet radiation and the melanin – this wonderful, complex, ancient polymer compound in our skin – served as a superb natural sunscreen. This polymer is amazing because it’s present in so many different organisms. Melanin, in various forms, has probably been on the Earth a billion years, and has been recruited over and over again by evolution, as often happens. Why change it if it works? Melanin was recruited, in our lineage, and specifically in our earliest ancestors evolving in Africa, to be a natural sunscreen. Where it protected the body against the degradations of ultraviolet radiation, the destruction, or damage to DNA, and the breakdown of a very important molecule called folate, which helps to fuel cell production, and reproduction in the body. So, it’s wonderful. We evolved this very protective, wonderful covering of melanin. But then we moved. And humans dispersed – not once, but twice. Major moves, outside of our equatorial homeland, from Africa into other parts of the Old World, and most recently, into the New World. When humans dispersed into these latitudes, what did they face? Conditions were significantly colder, but they were also less intense with respect to the ultraviolet regime. So if we’re somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re still getting a dose of UVA. But all of the UVB, or nearly all of it, is dissipated through the thickness of the atmosphere. In the winter, when you are skiing in the Alps, you may experience ultraviolet radiation. But it’s all UVA, and, significantly, that UVA has no ability to make vitamin D in your skin. People inhabiting northern hemispheric environments were bereft of the potential to make vitamin D in their skin for most of the year. This had tremendous consequences for the evolution of human skin pigmentation. Because what happened, in order to ensure health and well-being, these lineages of people dispersing into the Northern Hemisphere lost their pigmentation. There was natural selection for the evolution of lightly pigmented skin.

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“Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it wonderful? You are the products of evolution.”

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Lightly pigmented skin evolved not just once, not just twice, but probably three times. Not just in modern humans, but in one of our distant unrelated ancestors, the Neanderthals. A remarkable, remarkable testament to the power of evolution. Humans have been on the move for a long time. And just in the last 5,000 years, in

systems, or loss of immune function, and probably some problems with their mood and health, their mental health. So we have, in skin pigmentation, one of these wonderful products of evolution that still has consequences for us today. And the social consequences, as we know, are incredibly profound. We live in a world

increasing rates, over increasing distances. Here are just some of the biggest movements of people, voluntary movements, in the last 5,000 years. So what? We’ve been on the move. We’re so clever we can overcome all of these seeming biological impediments. Well, often we’re unaware of the fact that we’re living in environments in which our skin is inherently poorly adapted. Some of us with lightly pigmented skin live in high-UV areas. Some of us with darkly pigmented skin live in low-UV areas. These have tremendous consequences for our health. We have to, if we’re lightly pigmented, be careful about the problems of skin cancer, and destruction of folate in our bodies, by lots of sun. Epidemiologists and doctors have been very good about telling us about protecting our skin. What they haven’t been so good about instructing people is the problem of darkly pigmented people living in high latitude areas, or working inside all the time. Because the problem there is just as severe, but it is more sinister, because vitamin D deficiency, from a lack of ultraviolet B radiation, is a major problem. Vitamin D deficiency creeps up on people, and causes all sorts of health problems to their bones, to their gradual decay of their immune

where we have lightly and darkly pigmented people living next to one another, but often brought into proximity initially as a result of very invidious social interactions. So how can we overcome this? How can we begin to understand it? Evolution helps us. Now what is wonderful about the evolution of human skin pigmentation, and the phenomenon of pigmentation, is that it is the demonstration, the evidence, of evolution by natural selection, right on your body. When people ask you, “What is the evidence for evolution?” You don’t have to think about some exotic examples, or fossils. You just have to look at your skin. Darwin, I think, would have appreciated this, even though he eschewed the importance of climate on the evolution of pigmentation during his own life. I think, were he able to look at the evidence we have today, he would understand it. He would appreciate it. And most of all, he would teach it. You, you can teach it. You can touch it. You can understand it. Take it out of this room. Take your skin color, and celebrate it. Spread the word. You have the evolution of the history of our species, part of it, written in your skin. Understand it. Appreciate it. Celebrate it. Go out.

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A MAN

TTACKS

WOMAN WITH ACID

IN LAHORE

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E

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A man threw acid on a woman in Lahore on Monday allegedly after she refused to marry him, police said.

T

he suspect is currently on the run and police are making efforts to apprehend him. According to the first information report (FIR) of the incident, registered on the victim’s complaint, the woman was

attacked by the suspect in Johar Town. The FIR was registered against a man who had allegedly previously threatened her under Section 336-B (harm by use of corrosive substance) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

WHERE IS THE

HUMANITY? The woman, who is a domestic worker, said she was walking to a house where she worked around 8am when she saw the suspect and an unidentified man waiting on a motorcycle near Jagawar Chowk. The suspect offered to drop the woman off at her employer’s residence and when she refused to accompany him, the man threw acid kept in a steel jug on her face. As a result, the woman’s face, neck and hands were severely burned, the FIR said. Following the attack, the woman ran back to her house and her brother took her to Jinnah Hospital.In her statement, the woman said the suspect had wanted to “forcefully marry” her and when she refused, he threatened to “not leave [her] capable of anything”. In this connection, she said the man had thrown acid on her with the intention to kill her. Following the incident, SSP (Operations) Ahsan Saifullah directed the SP Cantt Saddar to take steps to arrest the culprit and take legal action against him. “Acid attacks are not acceptable at any cost,” the police officer said, according to a statement. Lahore police chief Ghulam Mahmood Dogar also took notice of the incident and sought a report from the SP Saddar. He directed officials to register a case immediately and take action against the culprit. There were 9,340 victims of acid attacks in Pakistan between 1994 and 2018, according to a Dawn article. Striking with an easily acquired weapon such as acid causes irreversible damage with an effortless throw, as opposed to other readily available weapons like knives, which require forceful attacks with precision.

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BE PROUD OF YOUR SKIN AND MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN LAXMI AGARWAL ACID ATTACK SURVIVOR AND CAMPAIGNER FOR THE RIGHTS OF ACID ATTACK VICTIM.

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