There is no doubt that there remains a significant lack of diversity in journalism and mainstream media with Women of Colour in particular being marginalised and underrepresented. However, with the limitless possibilities of social media, many WOC have begun harnessing various social media platforms to create their own space and tackle this issue- in the last few years, Instagram in particular has seen a rise in South Asian women presenting their creative talents on the platform.
Pardesi
One such platform is Pardesi; an online space designed to amplify the voices of South Asian women in the diaspora. It discusses many issues such as identity, gender and race while addressing these topics through the perspective of South Asian women. Launched in March by Kaneeka Kapur, a Law student at the University of Warwick, it now has over 4,000 followers.
Kaneeka began the blog because she wanted to create “an online community where South Asian women can have a voice” because of her own journey and the conflict of identity that she faced growing up as a British Indian.
“I realised that there was no space anywhere for an everyday person like me to write and produce content about my identity, and my truth”
Kaneeka Kapur
The platform was originally based on Instagram because Kaneeka wanted to be “virtually approachable”. “I wanted women to think ‘she looks like me’ when they see the page, and feel represented in every way,” she says. But Pardesi has also launched a website since its foundation. This is because “many women contributing felt restrained by the Instagram caption limit and the whole point is to amplify their voice”, added Kaneeka.
Pardesi’s Instagram gives space to many South Asian women by regular Instagram story take-overs and reposting their work while also tackling bigger issues in explanatory carousels of graphics.
Unlike many online publications, Pardesi has no requirements of experience to write for them. In fact, Kaneeka wants it to be as inclusive as possible.
“If you have a voice, we want to share it”.
Kaneeka Kapur
Boss Betis
Founder Aashka Piprottar also launched her online platform on Instagram during the first lockdown. Boss Betis is “a community-based approach to achieving financial freedom for brown women”.
“I have always realised that the relationship I have with money as a South Asian woman is influenced by the fact that I am a woman, and I am South Asian,” she said.
“I feel like growing up, I was always aware that South Asian culture does not welcome women into conversations about money”
Aashka Piprottar
Aashka works in finance and started her side-hustle because she wanted more women to be empowered by money rather than be left out of those conversations: “I feel like growing up, I was always aware that South Asian culture does not welcome women into conversations about money and I didn’t see myself in those conversations because the relationship I have with money is so fraught with guilt and shame. There is such a strong cultural component to it, and I want to change that,” she added.
Instagram was always her first choice, because it was “the most accessible”. She spoke to me about how she was inspired by other South Asian women using the platform to experiment with their own creative talents: “It was so nice to see people make graphics that break down these complex, really inaccessible topics into things that are nice to look at, and easy to understand,” she said.
In a world where we are constantly having to overcome barriers because of our race and identity, “the barriers of making Instagram or Twitter are so easy”, she added.
We wrapped up our conversation talking about the importance of representation in all sectors of society. “The face of wealth is becoming increasingly diverse and yet the industry that serves that demographic is still really white and male- so I want someone who looks like me, and someone who understands me as a client,” she said.
British Bindi
British Bindi was founded nearly five years ago by four best friends: Amani, Kiran, Jasmeen & Tanisha, in a “sweaty Pure Gym”, Kiran told me laughing over the phone: “It began as a blog to discuss and share what it’s like to be a young, contemporary British Asian.”
“We’re all British, Asian females. We’re all similar ages, early 20s at the time, and we thought- there’s not any representation that really reflects us,” said Kiran.
Although they still post on their blog, they have recently turned to Instagram since microblogging has become a bigger thing, and they wanted to expand their reach. “It’s kind of like a vision board for how we visualise, British Asian women. We’re not just one dimensional, we’re multifaceted. We’ve got history to celebrate, we’ve got culture to build, we’ve got our lives to talk about,” she explained.
The blog really hones in on the aspect of community and friendship while still giving anyone a platform to discuss issues affecting British Asian females. They welcome new writers on their blog and give them a helping hand to publish their pieces: “if we feel like it’s the right fit for our audience, and our community, we like to work with other writers” while also promoting small businesses by WOC.
“I wish I had seen more platforms like this when I was growing up”
Kiran badyal
One thing that was common among all the South Asian women I spoke to was the importance of just existing in the space so that others could also see that it was there. Kiran told me that she wished she “had seen more platforms like this when (she) was growing up”, and although there has been a “big change” she explained, quoting shows like Never Have I Ever and Indian Matchmaking, she still thinks “there’s still a lot of change to happen”.
“That’s the key with representation- when you see people doing stuff, then you can visualise it more. When you see people in films, or you see something represented in a documentary, it’s more relatable so then it helps people who are of that background to feel seen.”
Kiran Badyal
She also said it was important to address the responsibilities that come with it, saying: “it’s great to see positive representation but you then also need to pull out some of the stuff that we should challenge and not be silent about.”
Instagram has always been a popular social media platform with “67% of consumers expanding their use” during the UK lockdown, according to a survey by Bazaarvoice’s Influenster. It provides a platform to voice your opinions and to visually express yourself, so it is no surprise that so many South Asian women have started to claim its digital space to take representation into their own hands.