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Fat Shaming is one of the biggest curses of today's society that is adversely impacting women's physical and emotional well-being. It needs to stop ASAP!
Fat Shaming is one of the biggest curses of today’s society that is adversely impacting women’s physical and emotional well-being. It needs to stop ASAP!
I live in a generation where women are supposed to be able to do two things very well: Look pretty and look thin. And whether I like it or not, society tells me to do it every single day. My mum tells me off for having a pimple on my face, I feel bad about sweating so much, and I am always told to eat fruits and vegetables to maintain my ‘healthy’ diet.
The notion of looking your best has also been fueled, in a very large way, by Bollywood actresses and how ‘thin’ they are. Several Hindi film heroines, including Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone are known for having a size zero figure, an image that is slowly disappearing from Bollywood only recently.
The real reason as to why fat shaming is not OK, is because girls should be allowed to be themselves without any conditions.
They should be allowed to wear what they want, feel good about how they look, and wear a beautiful, proud smile every day.
I think it’s time to stand up and assert our rights as women.
Fat-shaming is defined as “the action or practice of humiliating someone judged to be fat or overweight by making mocking or critical comments about their size”. Fat girls often receive snide and degrading remarks about their weight. They are made to think that being fat is a “problem they should get rid of”.
A reason as to why fat-shaming became such a big trend in the first place is because society tells us it’s wrong to be fat. We all see thin girls walking down the ramp, but we haven’t heard so much about plus-size models, have we?
A particular reason as to why the youth, particularly girls, are being affected by fat-shaming everyday is because we are told to eat less, work out more, and be on a constant diet. No one wants to understand that it takes time to look like that, and that being fat is not a problem. Some girls want to be fat, and pudgy. It’s fine. You don’t have to look like a model all the time. You just have to be you.
Several Indian and international celebrities have criticized the fact that everyone needs to have a thin waist, including Tyra Banks, Sonakshi Sinha and Selena Gomez. One of India’s leading actresses, Vidya Balan spoke out against fat shaming in a recent interview. When a reporter asked her, “We’ve seen you mostly in women centric movies, but do you plan on sticking to such movies in the future or have you planned on losing weight and doing some glamorous roles as well?” Vidya shot back, “I’m happy with the roles I’m doing. Maybe, it is you people who need to change their mindsets.”
A recent study conducted by Pennsylvania University also shows that people who have been fat-shamed are also more prone to health risks, and heart diseases (in particular). It can also lead to stress, high obesity rates, and less self-confidence. The very fact that this needs stating is in itself quite sad.
As a final thought, I personally feel that the people who tell us, “Oh, you’ve put on some weight. What happened to you?”, or quietly talk behind our backs saying “Moti ho gayi hai thoda, hai na?” are the ones who need to think about what they are saying, and what they are doing.
To make sure that we develop a strong sense of our self, we need to appreciate everyone, be it short, small, tall, big, fat or thin.
We need to tell ourselves, “Hey, you’re looking good today.” Only then can we truly understand our true worth and become better individuals.
Image Source: Still from The Dirty Picture
I am a student at Mount Carmel College, currently pursuing a course in Communication Studies. I love writing and proofreading! read more...
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I wanted to scream with excitement that my daughter chose to write about her ambition and aspirations over everything else first. To me, this was one of those parenting 'win' moments.
My daughter turned eight years old in January, and among the various gifts she received from friends and family was an absolutely beautiful personal journal for self-growth. A few days ago, she was exploring the pages when she found a section for writing a letter to her future self. She found this intriguing and began jotting down her thoughts animatedly.
My curiosity piqued and she could sense it immediately. She assured me that she would show me the letter soon, and lo behold, she kept her word.
I glanced at her words, expecting to see a mention of her parents in the first sentence. But, to my utter delight, the first thing she had written about was her AMBITION. Yes, the caps here are intentional because I want to scream with excitement that my daughter chose to write about her ambition and aspirations over everything else first. To me, this was one of those parenting ‘win’ moments.
Uorfi Javed has been making waves through social media, and is often the target of trolls. So who and what exactly is this intriguing young woman?
Uorfi Javed (no relation to Javed Akhtar) is a name that crops up in my news feeds every now and again. It is usually because she got trolled for being in some or other ‘daring’ outfit and then posting those images on social media. If I were asked, I would not be able to name a single other reason why she is famous. I am told that she is an actor but I would have no frankly no clue about her body of work (pun wholly unintended).
So is Urfi Javed (or Uorfi Javed as she prefers) famous only for being famous? How does she impact the cause of feminism by permitting herself to be objectified, trolled, reviled?
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