Navigating towards a ‘Good future’: Significance of appearance in aspirations of Dhaka urban middle-class girls

Abstract

Against the backdrop of rapid urbanisation, appearance has become the core of Dhaka middle-class girl's understanding of who they are and who they want to be. This chapter investigates significance of appearance among thirty-two Dhaka middle-class girls in relation to their envisioned ‘good future'. Findings shows that girls use appearance to navigate between their contradictory roles and to avoid shame. This chapter argues that while middle-class girls can chalk out thicker maps to steer towards a 'good future', they are however, more at risk of experiencing shame due to the repressive sexual norms and a heightened pressure to become modern women