In this episode of Dear Body, we explore the politics of the dupatta, not as a piece of fabric, but as a symbol shaped by history, culture, gender, and power.

Across South Asia, clothing has never been only about fashion. Jewellery, fabric, and covering have long carried meanings of identity, honour, belonging, and respectability, often written on the female body. From Mughal courts to modern classrooms, what women wear has been read as a reflection of family, morality, and culture.

Today, these same symbols travel freely across the world. Dupattas appear on global runways, in luxury campaigns, and in Western fashion editorials, celebrated as heritage and elegance. Yet in everyday life, many women still experience clothing as expectation, judgement, and negotiation.

Drawing on cultural history, feminist scholarship, and personal reflection, this episode looks at moral policing, honour culture, modesty norms, and the paradox of autonomy, why the same object can be seen as beauty in one space and control in another.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts and follow me on Instagram @saroshibrahim or @thisisdearbody for more conversations on body politics, culture, and identity.

The Politics of the Dupatta | EP 25 | Dear Body

In this episode, Sarosh Ibrahim discusses Arsalan Attar’s Forty Days of Mourning and examines the layered complexity of its protagonist, Saleema.

Set across pre-Partition and Partition Hyderabad, the novel presents a woman whose life is shaped by family, marriage, and social surveillance. Rather than framing her story through morality, this episode explores the importance of resisting quick judgment and instead understanding the structural and emotional forces shaping her choices.

What makes this debut novel compelling is its refusal to silence its female protagonist. Despite societal constraints, Saleema is given interiority, contradiction, and voice.

Why Women Learn to Stay Quiet? | Arslan Athar’s Forty Days of Mourning | EP 24 | Dear Body

What happens when a Mughal heirloom appears on a Hollywood red carpet, but the woman who once owned it is left unnamed?

In this episode of Dear Body, Sarosh Ibrahim examines the resurfacing of the Taj Mahal Diamond necklace, worn by Margot Robbie in 2026, and traces its journey back to Nur Jahan, the 17th-century Mughal empress whose authority shaped empire.

This episode explores:

• Epistemic violence and historical erasure

• Why colonialism governs memory, not just land

• How women from the Global South are turned into symbols instead of subjects

This is a conversation about power, naming, and why reclaiming women’s histories is not nostalgia, it’s political.

The Woman Behind the Diamond: Nur Jahan, Hollywood & the Politics of Visibility | EP 23 | Dear Body

Pakistani cinema often presents love through the male gaze—where women are written as fragile, childlike, and in need of protection, while male persistence is framed as romance.

In this episode of Dear Body, I analyze Neelofar as a case study to explore female representation in Pakistani films, the infantilization of women, and how cinema shapes ideas of desire, consent, and power. This episode connects body politics, gender studies, and media criticism to ask a larger question: what kind of love stories are we being taught to accept?

When Love Needs Women to be Fragile | EP 22 | Dear Body

The “mother-in-law vs daughter-in-law” trope is deeply ingrained in South Asian culture, but it is not harmless.

In Episode 21 of Dear Body, we examine:

 * How this dynamic is produced by patri-local family systems
 * The different forms of violence daughters-in-law face from in-laws
 * What South Asian research reveals about intergenerational abuse
 * Why celebrity opinions on national television spark such intense public debate

This episode is not about individual blame.
It is about understanding how patriarchy sustains itself, and why recognizing these patterns matters if we want to stop repeating them.

The Mother-in-Law vs Daughter-in-Law Cycle | EP 21 | Dear Body

What do we learn when women are repeatedly told, on national television, how to “save” their marriages?

In the latest episode of Dear Body, I reflect on the recurring advice given to young girls on morning shows in the name of marital happiness, advice that often centers women’s obedience, compromise, and silence, while leaving out the equally necessary responsibilities of men.

Instead of reducing a recent TV appearance to a villain narrative, this episode explores the deeper complexities behind such statements, the generational conditioning that produces them, and the quiet harm they cause.

This episode is an invitation to think beyond soundbites, and sit with the discomfort of what these conversations reveal about marriage, gender, and power.

 Is Saba Faisal a Villain, or a Product of Patriarchy? | EP 20 | Dear Body

What is the cost of education and financial independence in our country? Before you answer this question, I want you to think about yourself, especially if you’re a woman, a girl, when was the first moment it hit you that the rules are different for you because you are a female?

Imagine today’s episode as a roundtable conversation with lots of people filling up the whole room. You are sharing stories with one another about what it was like growing up in your home, what did education mean to you, what your relationship with your parents was like, and where you are in life now.

I will be bringing you stories from women who wish to remain anonymous but have poured their heart out to me. Some parts of these stories are too intense, even I broke down more than twice listening to them. So, let’s begin.

You can find me here: 

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/pk/podcast/dear-body/id1642998095 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dearbodypodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dearbodypod 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saroshibrahim/

Why do girls grow up so fast? | EP 19 | Dear Body

Every year, we find ourselves having the same conversation about smog. Even though we know that Lahore’s smog isn’t limited to October through January, its visible haze is enough to jolt us, physically and emotionally. Deteriorating health, shrinking social life, and a growing sense of uncertainty make us question the future of our city.

This year, I spoke with citizens of Lahore to understand how smog is reshaping their lives, what they’ve experienced, what they’ve observed, and what, if anything, has changed. Some are battling serious health conditions; others are documenting the crisis through research and advocacy. But one emotion connects them all: hopelessness.

You can find me here:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/pk/podcast/dear-body/id1642998095

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dearbodypodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dearbodypod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saroshibrahim/

Substack: Dear Body [https://saroshibrahim.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips]

Is Smog Political or an Environmental Concern? | EP 18 | Dear Body

This episode of Dear Body explores the physical and emotional transformations women experience during perimenopause and menopause, phases that are rarely talked about but deeply affect how a woman feels, thinks, and connects with her world.

We talk about the exhaustion that doesn’t go away with sleep, the hot flashes, the headaches, the brain fog, and the growing irritation that no one seems to understand. But most of all, we talk about what it means to go through all of this alone, in a culture that celebrates a woman’s youth but silences her body as she ages.

This isn’t just biology, it’s identity, emotional labour, and survival.

Let’s break the silence around menopause, hormones, and women’s health in Pakistan and beyond. Because understanding these changes means understanding the women who raised us, nurtured us, and continue to hold everything together even when their own bodies are falling apart.

You can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saroshibrahim/

#DearBodyPodcast #WomensHealth #Perimenopause #MenopauseAwareness #SouthAsianWomen #HormonalHealth #BodyAcceptance #EmotionalHealth #PodcastPakistan

What Really Happens to a Woman’s Body After 30 | EP 17 | Dear Body

In today’s episode, I open up about a world beyond social media, the 9 to 5 world. The world where being a Pakistani working woman means living by a different set of rules.  We talk about body image, feminism, workplace bias, mental health, and the weight of expectations women carry in professional spaces.   

Through real stories, this episode explores the unseen struggles of women navigating careers within patriarchal systems, from labels and rumors to the quiet ways our workplaces fail to support us.  

Tune in if you’ve ever felt unseen, unheard, or underestimated at work.

Why Workplaces Still Fail Women | EP 16 | Dear Body

Hello everyone, my name is Sarosh Ibrahim, and you're listening to Dear Body, a show where I, your host, unpack our stories, our experiences of living as Pakistanis in today’s world, in the social, domestic, political, and cultural space.

If you have any thoughts on any topic or issue, or you just want to get in touch with me about the show, find me on Instagram @saroshibrahim