Priyanka Chopra covers this issue of Allure’s “first-ever digital cover story.” I don’t think this is for a traditional month’s issue – it seems like they’re calling this the “summer issue.” Which is fine, any excuse to look at pretty photos of Priyanka. Allure photographed her well – they styled her sort of beachy and natural in some photos, and in others, she’s just got a very clean, classic look. You can see Allure’s cover editorial here. Some highlights from the interview:
Her dream before she was entered into the Miss India pageant: “I wanted to be an engineer. Looking back now, I should have seen the signs that girl, you can’t pass a reflective surface without looking at yourself. You’re not going to be an engineer.”
How she feels about pageants today: “I feel like in an evolved world, where we are today, as long as a woman understands that that’s not [her] only option. And then chooses to do it. Who is anyone to judge her? But when women are made to feel like your only option to succeed is to be OK with being objectified or being made to feel stupid…then it’s wrong.”
The necessary evil: “It’s a necessary evil to look the best that you can. But I’m also the kind of girl who likes to be turned out. I like to get dressed up,” she explains. For Chopra, it’s not just pressure, spending time on her appearance is a form of self-care. She tells me that as women we don’t prioritize ourselves enough. “I’m not saying become vain and narcissistic. But I’m saying sometimes, you just need a moment. And give yourself that minute. Just that minute helps so much.”
The expansion of beauty: “You see so many women, different sizes, modeling, acting, taking their strength, but it’s the mindset that needs to change, of society, of men, of people — that view where a woman in a plus size should not be a check in the box. Or a woman of color should not be a check in the box. Or a woman shouldn’t be a check in the box. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. And everyone doesn’t look the same way, so the world needs to be trained to see beauty differently.”
“It’s a necessary evil to look the best that you can…” Who says? I mean, I’m not going to sit here and claim that I *want* to look awful 24/7. Of course I can “get dressed up” and of course I do the maintenance stuff (brow grooming, dyeing my hair, shaving my legs). But honestly, I don’t TRY to look the best that I can on most days. Because that sh-t is a lot of effort and I have better things to do. That feeling has increased exponentially as I’ve gotten older too: I give fewer and fewer f–ks about what anyone thinks of how I look, and how I think I look. It honestly doesn’t matter. Anyway, that’s my Gospel of Kaiser: it actually doesn’t matter that you look the best you can at all times, because who really gives a sh-t?
Photos courtesy of Allure and WENN.
Why do they always talk of extremes? Why can’t you love yourself and your body AND want to be an engineer? Would it be more acceptable to love yourself and go into a soft career? WTF.
Yes. Be a sexy, stylish, gorgeous engineer. Our minds are so compartmentalised.
A cousin of mine once told me that I looked too pretty to be clever and read books. He was my age so should be in his forties now. It hurt so much as I felt that my “beauty” was bothersome to him and my personality too.
I know! I’m fairly attractive, can be sexy when I feel like it, and I’m a doctor. Why can’t someone be all?
“It’s a necessary evil to look the best you can”. Wow, how twisted. I am always baffled how humans are unable to see context. Her looks are her job so FOR HER it is a necessary evil to look the best she can. In the States but also in the Indian film industry it’s almost mandatory (you have to do a lot of physical invasive stuff to stay relevant).
For us civilians it is a matter of personality. It’s important to find your style (even if it’s just yoga trousers and a Tee), which most of us do without even thinking about it, while others need help. The outside reflects the inside but it doesn’t mean “looking good” (a pernicious notion) but looking one self, having one’s own style. Look at Tom Waits!
I sometimes also need a break from myself and “the outside”. A day where I don’t shower and just spend all my time reading – they are less and less as responsibilities are more and more but… They also feel good.
In her industry, it is a necessary evil. In general, I don’t think it’s a requirement per se, but the simple truth (from what I’ve observed) is that people who look more polished and put together are treated better than whose who aren’t. It’s not fair but I think that’s the way it is. I don’t think it’s uncommon for women to feel that they have to look “good” to be taken seriously.
I can’t be the only one who finds her not that attractive right ? She’s pretty but totally average looking.
they fixed her neck on the cover. she suffers from turtle/old tree neck like i do. *sigh*
I actually find her less than average- I think it’s her heavy brow bone. Either way, her face and attitude (she comes across as arrogant and conceited) are not attractive in my opinion.
@Angie: I don’t find her beautiful either, at all. Sure, she’s attractive, but far from stunningly so. One of my close friends is Indian, from Bombay, and she’s an electrical engineer, not an actress or model, but people are *always* mistaking her for one—she’s genuinely gorgeous. I think this woman’s “beauty” is extremely overrated.
She was chased out of Bollywood. Now we are stuck with her here.
When I read the headline, I figured she meant as an actress, but I’m not mad at her that she means that’s her thing. I have friends like that who go out their best, or they don’t go out. I was at a church function and some older African American women were there and they never go out not looking their best, best. I mentioned a Patti LaBelle quote where Patti does not enter the world unless it’s as fully Patti. They were very cute about that and agreed. Me? I’ll go out undone, but if it’s a thing I dress up, even if the thing is just that I’m honoring that person’s birthday, etc. by looking my best.
Beautiful woman, but her Hollywood career does not seem to be going so well. She is a bigger deal in Bollywood.
To be real, the limiting and false opinion that beautiful women can’t be women of substance made me not ever want to look my best for a long time. I’m over that now, but I’m not like a full face, blow dryer type of gal. I also happen to think I often look my prettiest when I’m not giving any f*cks.
Well, if she sees her looks as an extension of her whole self, then ok…it makes sense. Plus, after reading this, it came across as more of something that was her own perspective of her own self/life/self-care practice, instead of an imperative suggestion for all women.
I have noticed that she is very “matter of fact” type. I read somewhere that she made investments from her earned money. She seems kind of grounded amd not stupid in the slightes. She plays the game but she understand where she stands. Her beauty gave her more than a diploma.
I have noticed something about myself. I am not beautiful (as I should, my genes could have made that happen and instead…) but I never go out without my mascara. I need that because my eye lashes are blonde and fine. Without that I look like I have two balls instead of eyes. It’s a neccesary evil for me as it takes time to put the amount I want but I do it. And I get compliments about that. So I am an engineer with a habit of putting a lot of mascara and I am not ashamed about that. I want those compliments. Those and the others about my shiny long hair that I let loose once a week
I don’t find her attractive at all. She is o.k.