Henna is the new temporary body mod. Pashmina head scarves are a rave staple. Nose piercings are edgy and alternative. Gold is for girls with warm undertones. Every smoky eye comes with a sexy, black waterline.
All these microtrends are misnomers of South Asian cultural traditions and pieces. They are fads that constitute appropriation more than appreciation.
Nepali student Alina Silwal’s four years at the University of Iowa have been shaped around cultural enrichment.
She has performed for both Andhi and Agni, the dance and a cappella teams, and stood in for mock bride at Mock Shaadi in her third year. Even her everyday life is embellished by Desi memorabilia.
“My culture is very graceful,” she said. “I like wearing traditional pieces like Jhumkas and bangles. Jhumkas are tiny and bell-shaped, and they have so many designs that they’re timeless. Bangles can be matched with any outfit and come in different sizes and weights. They make me feel so feminine.”
It seems the Western world has caught onto this divine femininity.
Hinduism, a predominant religion in South Asia, has a multitude of female goddesses, placing women as higher spiritual role models. This then translates into society, incentivizing Desi women to have their own subculture of jewelry and clothes.
As these values and pieces reached the Americas, gold, layered jewelry, and vibrant clay-like colors became increasingly associated with non-Desi women as well.
“I’ve seen a lot more of white people and Americans wearing jewelry similar to ours on social media. Especially on TikTok, you have all these ‘maximalist’ trends and people asking, ‘Are you a gold or silver girl?’” Silwal said. “I think it’s only OK if they go to an actual Desi store to get authentic jewelry because the bangles Americans wear are so specific to our culture. But I keep seeing people omit the fact that the roots are in South Asian culture or just refuse to try and learn where they come from.”
In fact, there is a generally negative disposition toward authentic Indian gold. Many users take to the internet to call it “too yellow” or “tacky” when it’s one of the only sources of pure, 24-karat gold.
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Third-year UI student Raksha Kumar grew up around a lot of Indian gold but recently began to embrace more silver.
“My mom would buy real gold from India. I got my nose pierced when I was 18. She wanted me to wear real gold with my piercings, and it wasn’t until later that I began to switch it out for random stuff I’d get on Amazon,” Kumar said. “Recently, I switched to silver, and brown people don’t ever wear silver. The all-gold trend is from our culture.”
Kumar is from Bangalore, which is considered South India.
She noted that in comparison to North Indians, her clothing and makeup draw out her darker and stronger features.
“I started wearing eyeliner a lot in high school, but I went to India last summer for the first time in over 10 years and bought actual kajal. That made me realize how many makeup products are Americanized here but are actually from South Asian culture. I was able to wear actual kajal and feel the real texture,” Kumar said.
Western trends have stripped the Arab, Persian, and South Asian heritage behind Kajal by renaming it “waterliner” or “tightlining.” The tradition of Mehndi has encountered the same fate.
“Mehndi is marketed towards Americans now, which is weird because they use it as freckles. I’ve even seen ‘white henna’ on TikTok Shop, but the whole point of henna is that it’s brown, and once it comes off, it reveals a more orange or red tone that depends on your skin color,” Kumar said.