Beyond the Scale: Complexion, Hair, and Facial Concerns Among Young Pakistani Women
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54938/ijemdss.2026.05.5.842Keywords:
Body dissatisfaction, colourism, appearance concerns, factor analysis, Pakistani womenAbstract
Previous studies on body dissatisfaction have been mainly in the domains of weight and shape, but fair skin, hair and face are also part of the ideals for appearance in South Asia.In this study the concerns most salient among young Pakistani women with regard to their appearance were investigated, as were the concerns measured by the Body Dissatisfaction Scale for Women (BDS-W).The number of female university students is 300 in Bahawalpur, Pakistan and they have filled the BDS-W 26 item form.The least endorsed concerns were of weight-related nature, while the most endorsed concerns were: Not having a fair complexion (M = 2.99), Having body hair (M = 2.91), Not having the desired body hair length (M = 2.86), Not having clear skin (M = 2.77).Four dimensions—body shape and weight, facial features, muscularity and stature, and hair and complexion—were confirmed by exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factoring, promax rotation) based on parallel analysis.These accounted for 33.1% of the variability.There were six items that did not load well on any dimension: body hair, skin clarity and being skinny.Concern for hair and skin was much higher than all other dimensions and no dimension was different due to residence, age or education, F(2.88, 842.79) = 48.99, p < .001, ηp² = .14.One domain that stands out as a clear sign of body dissatisfaction among Pakistani women is complexion and hair.Assessment and prevention should be more than weight and take into consideration the norms of colourist appearance.
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