Well, technically, I don't consume media, I sort of just lick it. It's 2016, media is all around us. Images, pseudo events, values, etc., everything media perpetuates is around all of us. To claim that media doesn't affect us, or that we can avoid media, is rather ridiculous at this point in time. And the reason I say I lick media is because, had I consumed it, I could conclude that the media I consume forms my identity. However, this is only half of the truth. The media I consume has provided a sort of no fly list in my head, "Don't-do-any-of this-(unless-you're-watching-The-Food-Network)."
When I watch the news, I see constant images of things that aren't true, images of people that I am not, or people that I know don't exist. If a penny fell from The Empire State Building and hit an ant, a Muslim probably did it. If there's E coli in Chipotle, ISIS is the problem. If I wear a headscarf, I was probably forced and I'm trying to seek refuge in American ideals of liberation. When I watch Indian soaps or Bollywood movies, I'm supposed to invest my time and money in pasty fairness cream. I'm supposed to sleep with a full face of makeup and everyone and their mother's jewellery on. I'm supposed to be modern (aka wear mini skirts and American flag crop tops), know how to rock a saree at the same time, know how to cook every food from every country, know how to handle my mother in law (no matter how evil she may be), know all the principles and constructs of the English language (or whatever that is), and still know the Indian national anthem by heart. And most of all, I must forget my native language, because bad English is always better. But then again, the good girl that always gets the guy, is the most Indian thing (excuse me) you could find. The point is, my identity is a shape that is evolving, and the media I consume only serves as a faint outline to this shape. 
I'm Nida. I'm Muslim. I'm brown. I wear shalwar kameez everyday (yes, in public). I own two pairs of jeans (from the 8th grade). I think in Urdu and if it was up to me, I'd speak to you in Urdu even if you didn't understand a word I said. I wear the hijab. No, I'm not oppressed (what does that even mean). I like to cook anything that hasn't been on The Food Network, but I just watch The Food Network because it's fun. I don't know anything about American music (unless you're a song on the Rock Band playlist). I don't watch American movies (unless you're animated or superhero or Christopher Nolan). I don't know a thing about American celebrities (unless you're a politician, if that even counts). I'm half Pakistani and half Indian. Oh, and I was born in Connecticut.
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