“She Was Never Plastic” reclaims the term “plastic,” a word historically wielded as a weapon against women, equating them with fakeness and disposability. In the work, the blow-up dolls act as stand-ins for the tired, one-dimensional standards that have been forced onto women: hollow, silent and molded for other’s pleasure. 

Against them stands the model, who is no longer just an individual but a representative of real women everywhere. Her presence is layered, vibrant and self-possessed. She is not defined by the shallow, static roles around her; she transcends them. The dolls reflect the sameness and limitations of society’s expectations. Their existence is a quiet echo of the ways in which women have been told to perform: to be charming but not too assertive, accommodating but not powerful, always present but never fully seen. 

Yet she is none of those things. She embodies the complexity and depth of real womanhood: agency, humor, boredom, power. She is fully alive in a space designed to flatten her. By placing herself in the same frame as the plastic dolls, she reclaims control of the narrative and exposes the absurdity of the standards imposed on her. 

“She Was Never Plastic” is both a critique and affirmation. It challenges the reduction of women to objects while celebrating the fierce, quiet strength that refuses to be shaped by anyone else. In every gesture and every glance, the work insists: she was never plastic. She is everything beyond it. 

Creative Direction, Photography, Editing: Aimee Lewis

Model: Zairah Musa

Makeup: Diksha Malhotra