Writings on reading (Part 3)

My skin is extremely sensitive. I was eleven years old when a pimple first popped into existence on the epidermis of my temple. In no time the little red speck had quite a few friends all clustered across my rather narrow forehead. A dermatologist diagnosed me with acne and ever since then, I have been conscientiously caring for the largest organ in my body. It was an uphill effort with seemingly no end in sight and I remember being filled with anguish every time I looked around and saw children who were lucky enough to be blessed with less dramatic skin. In fact, I don't think it was a subject anyone as old as me discussed at the time and I recall feeling extremely out of place because I genuinely cared about the health of my skin and was consequently conscious of what I ate, the products I used and my medication. 

I believe that a lot of what I felt can be attributed to the common perception of skincare which may not necessarily be accurate. When you google 'skincare' and proceed to the images section, the entire screen is filled with pictures of women cleaning their faces or applying lotions and creams of various kinds. Skincare usually comes with the connotation of being frivolous, superficial or unnecessary which is often at the cost of discounting very real skin conditions which might require medical attention. I would like to clarify at this juncture that I am not a student of medicine and the content in this piece is based singularly on my individual experience over the past ten years. 

Given that a lot of the information I absorbed at the time was from reading, the absence of any reference to the acne condition seemed rather odd to me. Even in academics, I recall one of the segments in our Biology syllabus was about the various organs of the body and each organ had a chapter dedicated to it. However, the chapter on the skin was the briefest and I don't think it dealt with any of the skin conditions that several children were probably experiencing around puberty.

In fact when any work of fiction introduces you to its characters, they're often described as having great skin amongst other things. Personally, I find this extremely hard to believe because the journey that the book takes them on subsequently and the stress and tension that might induce is enough to cause a minor breakout at the very least. I understand that maverick characters with unusual hours of functioning and multiple vices add colour to a narrative. However, on hindsight, it seems quite unrealistic that there are no consequences of any kind on their bodies and this aspect is often glossed over.

For a couple of years when I was around fourteen or fifteen I developed self confidence issues and was unable to look into a mirror. It did not help that I had my hands full with things to do then. I came to detest trial rooms and washrooms and you can't really stay away from them, can you? With a great deal of patience and my mother propping me up like Atlas holding aloft the heavens, things became better and I came out of the spiral armed with an astute understanding what works best for me.

When I was in class twelve, we studied one of Susan Hill's plays called 'On the face of it'. The plot revolves around Derry, a young boy who is ashamed of his face ever since acid had accidentally burned it away and the friendship he forges with an old soldier with a broken leg. I loved that it did not in anyway invalidate anything Derry felt and was not an obvious moral lesson on inner beauty being more important. It acknowledged that it's not easy to realise that inner beauty is indeed more important but also that it's not wrong if you are unable to do so at first. Another thing that struck me was that the entire conversation was between two men - this was so refreshing in the face of the awful misconception about skincare being largely the concern of the fairer sex.

A little over a year ago I was talking to one of my friends when he suddenly told me that he's begun caring about the health of his skin and I remember being so astounded because that was really the first time I was having a conversation about this with someone in my age group. Since then, the subject has popped up in many a chat with many a friend and I often see myself as an experienced soldier who has seen the world lending a ear to one newly initiated into the battle.

I have consciously steered clear of representation in films, advertisements and television because that is an entirely different subject. Having said that however, there has definitely been a tangible effort towards inclusion of all skin types in visual media in the past few years and that definitely puts a smile on my face!

Funnily enough the concluding piece of the ongoing series has me writing about what I have not read and an invitation to anyone reading it to hurl recommendations my way if you've managed to find something about these experiences! So keep them coming, I’d love to listen to you :)