Olympic medalist P V Sindhu posing for a photo shoot for JFW (Just for Women) magazine has yielded astounding results.
She looked extremely gorgeous. You can be the judge, by having a closer look at the incredible collection of the photographs from the photo shoot. It was refreshing to see our ‘Badminton star’ in a different light. It has indeed been an amazing transformation, since we saw her win the silver medal in Badminton at the Rio Olympics 2016.
When it comes to high beauty and fashion standards, rarely do we see women from the Indian sports fraternity being highlighted in media, advertisements and photo shoots except for a few, like ‘Tennis star’ Sania Mirza. They are not given much exposure and credibility, other than their achievements in the sports arena.
This is not the case with the Indian sportsmen. We see them in almost all varied advertisements ranging from health drinks to fashion brands, especially the Indian cricketers.
Over the years women in sports have been broadly perceived as being masculine and male-like. This notion has been ingrained in our society too – that women who are involved in physical activities are male-like. That they are not feminine. Sportswomen are perceived as athletic and being athletic is closely associated as being masculine.
This notion has got embedded in our perceptions too. Even today we tend to perceive Indian sportswomen as being masculine and we believe that they will not be a good fit for any domain other than sports.
These were the traditional gender stereotypes that women in sports had been subjected to, year after year. More so if they have been actively participating in sports that are largely considered to be male dominated like cricket or football. So how could their personalities be synonymous with beauty or how can they be looked upon as beauty or style icons? This according to me is the prime reason why women in sports are not given the kind of exposure they deserve in media and advertising.
P V Sindhu’s photographs establishes that Indian sportswomen are equally capable of looking glamorous like any other celebrity from the glamour world and they can be inspiring style icons too, if they tap into this aspect of their personalities. Even famous celebrities have acknowledged that it requires sheer hard work and effort to look good in front of the camera. If they can do it, so can our Indian sportswomen. They just need the right opportunities.
It’s commendable of JFW magazine to feature P V Sindhu as the cover girl of the magazine to break common stereotypes that sportswomen in India are often subjected to.
Watch this video to see glimpses of the photo shoot where she seems excited and her interview where she speaks about her Badminton journey.
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Diana has worked as an Editor/Writer and Content Manager for various digital platforms and hopes that each word written in this space supports, motivates and inspires her readers in India or across seas. Besides read more...
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(Trigger Warning: This story delves into a documentary about alleged suicide/murder and may be triggering. Spoilers ahead).
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