Don't be Beautiful - Nikita Gill

 

Nikita Gill is a British-Indian poet, writer and artist, celebrated for her emotionally charged poetry with the themes of love, healing, feminism and self-empowerment.  'Don't be Beautiful' is a powerful feminist poem of Gill that challenges conventional standards of beauty and encourages women to define themselves beyond appearance.

The poem begins with the expectation of the society that demands, "beautiful is something a girl needs to be".  But the poet says, 'Don't be Beautiful, there are an eternity of other things to be other than beautiful'.  She urges the women not to focus on being 'beautiful' in the way the society dictates.  Instead, they should try to be strong, intelligent, passionate and brave.  They should shift the focus from physical attributes to inner strength and individuality.  Beauty is a fleeting mask that people look at, but the qualities like wit, kindness and intelligence are things that people feel.  The poet argues that beauty is a 'shell' that can easily be cracked or lost.  In contrast, being witty, kind and intelligent creates legacy.  Thus, the poem functions as a modern feminist manifesto, urging the reader to take up space with their personality rather than shrinking themselves to fit a visual ideal.

-----Thulasidharan V