Meet the women defying their family's expectations to do things their own way

In an ideal world, every single one of us would have the opportunity to forge our own path and choose the lives that we want, as opposed to the lives our families envision us leading.

But, as highlighted by the latest campaign from global cosmetics brand SK-II, Timelines, some parents aren't immediately convinced that their child's dreams and ambitions are the right way to go.

In order to investigate this further, SK-II has released a short film series, led by Katie Couric, which seeks to draw attention to the disparity between the hopes and dreams of four young women and the expectations of their families.

First, we meet Maluca from New York City. Maluca is an American from an immigrant family. In the film, she delves into the pressure she feels from her family to get married, buy a house and have kids, in other words, "the American dream". This expectation is confirmed by her mother who explains that she would love for her free-spirited daughter to "to get married and have a big wedding."

Maluca is described by her mother as a "free spirit" - it's clear that she has her own ideas about the life she wishes to lead, an idea which is explored later in the film, when mother and daughter are confronted with their different expectations of how Maluca's life will progress.

Credit: SK-II

We're then introduced to Maina, from Tokyo, whose mother talks of her hopes that her daughter will find the "right man" and be regarded as "marriage material" despite Maina having expressed that her own aspirations differ greatly from her mother's.

Credit: SK-II

Chunxia, from Shanghai, is also not convinced by her mother's ideas about what a young woman's priorities should be. She admits that she is not ready to have kids in spite of the pressure she feels from her family to do so.

Credit: SK-II

Lastly, we meet Nara from Seoul. Her mother hoped she'd be married by the time she was in early 30s, but it's not the life Nara wanted. "I'm bisexual," she says. "In Korea, it's not possible for two women to be married."

Credit: SK-II

For each of the young women, two timelines were created: one representing the expectations. The other, their aspirations.

"Now that my thoughts are laid out like this, maybe you can understand better where I'm coming from," Maluca tells her mother.

As Katie Couric narrates towards the end of the video, "There's a new generation of women writing their own rules, saying 'we want to do things our way'".

This sentiment is echoed by the other three women as they insist on navigating their own trajectories in life.

To conclude the film, Couric explains that she hopes "the series will get people talking and understanding what it means to forge your own path and choose the life you want."