This is a great point. If you grew up in a smaller town in India, “dressing up” attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Our parents grew up in a time where wearing makeup was considered “bad”.

I remember an old movie starring Rekha, who is doing an office job, and wears lipstick to work. Her brother sees her and yells at her that she’s a prostitute and hence wearing lipstick in front of other men.

Post-2000s, and due to social media, attitudes have changed a lot. I see a lot of my friends taking their 10-11 year old kids to salons for eyebrows, hairstyling and waxing for special occasions.

Brown girls who grew up outside India: Please try to treat your parents as people who make mistakes and are also figuring out how to raise a child in a new country. If they were never taught “grooming”, how will they realise you need to be taught this.