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No Fear No Favour

Actress Busts myth of ‘celebrity flawlessness’

No matter how much we decry society’s attempts to pigeonhole us, we’re often our own worst critics.
Sonam has talked about body shaming, stretch marks, the hard work and money spent behind a female celebrity’s public appearance.
In I Didn’t Wake Up Like This; Sonam busts the myth of ‘female celebrity flawlessness’ many teenagers aspire to have. She opens up like never before and reveals personal struggles with negative body image issues while growing up. Sonam reveals how she was once targeted on the basis of her height and skin tone. “‘Itni lambi, itni kaali,’ a relative casually let slip at a family gathering. ‘Shaadi kaun karega?’ It confirmed that my greatest insecurities were well-founded,” Sonam writes.

SONAM KAPOOR

“Like every girl, I spent many nights through adolescence leaning into my bedroom mirror, wondering why my body looked nothing like it should. Why does my belly crease? Why do my arms jiggle? Why am I not fair? Why are there dark patches under my eyes? Why am I taller than boys my age? Do stretch marks ever go away? Will this cellulite stay forever?” she writes in the post.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA

The Quantico actress recently appeared as a guest co-host on The View and revealed her brush with body shaming early on in her career. “Before I became an actor, I met a producer about the possibility of acting. I was a beauty pageant winner at that time, Miss World. And he said that everything was wrong with me. He said my nose was not proportionate, the shape of my body was not proportionate.” Priyanka went on to criticize the standards by which women across the world are judged. “There is such a false perception about what women should look like and what our bodies should look like. Especially when you are in the (film) business, you put on a couple of pounds and people are like..body shaming you. It happens. Christmas happens to all of us. I am an Indian. I have Holi, I have Diwali, I have hundred holidays and my body fluctuates and you know what… I am fine with it.”

DEEPIKA PADUKONE

Deepika has been vocal about the objectification of women, especially actors, by members of the media, especially after she spat with a leading daily. She wrote an open letter addressing the problem. “I have no issue celebrating my body and I have never shied away from anything on-screen to portray a character. My issue is you propagating the objectification of a REAL person, and not a character being played. Sure, dissect my characters if you wish — if it is of so much interest, then discuss the character’s cup size and leg length if it is relevant to making the role convincing. All I am asking for is respect as a woman off-screen,” she wrote.

PARINEETI CHOPRA

Parineeti Chopra was equally lauded and criticized for shedding a ton of weight and getting fit, with the opposing camp accusing her of selling out and changing herself to fit Bollywood’s standards of beauty, as she was one of the few ‘real’ women in the industry. The actress countered all those arguments by talking about how she never asked for that tag and getting fit was something she had done as she didn’t feel good about herself anymore. “I was not happy with the way I used to look. I didn’t have the confidence and the freedom to wear what I wanted. I was always restricted by clothes. I would see how I looked in photographs and on screen and constantly felt, ‘Oh my God, I wish I was looking better’. I always used to feel that and many people used to ask, ‘Are you comfortable with your body and are you trying to make a statement by your body type?’ And I would be like, ‘Please, no, this is what I am’. I was really trying to lose weight, but I never went to the gym. I never worked out; I never did anything that would help me lose weight.”

SONAM KAPOOR

Sonam Kapoor has never shied from talking about her weight loss before joining Bollywood, even going as far as to discuss how magazines had to retouch her thighs because of her cellulite. She opens up about her struggle with body image issues in a piece she wrote for Buzzfeed, in which she wrote about how celebrities and their over-zealous team of make-up artists and stylists present an illusion of perfection that is toxic to young girls who are looking up to them for inspiration.

ALIA BHATT

Alia Bhatt was not conventionally beautiful or thin and that was a problem. This is not us talking, it’s what her first director and mentor Karan Johar thought when he first met her. Even though he was blown away by her confidence and charisma, he still recommended that she lose the extra weight and come back. “To feel healthy from the inside it takes effort. For that, following a basic workout regime is necessary, even if it’s just a daily walk,” she confessed

SONAKSHI SINHA


Sonakshi Sinha admits that she felt the pressure of conforming to society’s standards of beauty and fitness. The Lootera actress once said, “I think actors are under pressure to look perfect all the time. However, it depends on the particular person, on how you feel that pressure. I have always been projected as a healthy body image,” she added, “I know that young girls take us as an inspiration. They follow us in every way. Therefore, I don’t want to give any wrong message regarding health-related issues. What I feel is that you have to be healthy and happy if you want to do something noteworthy in your life.”

JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ

While Jacqueline is inarguably one of the fittest celebrities around; she self-admittedly hates the way her arms look.”I dress according to my body type. I like my legs so I don’t mind showing it off.But I hate my arms and when my arms and when I have a choice, I always go for clothes that highlight my legs over upper body,” she confessed in an interview.

LISA HAYDON

It might appear that ‘fat shaming’ is one of the major issues in the fight for body positivity, but ‘thin shaming’ is also very real, said Lisa Haydon. “People always think that if you’re on the larger side or you’re overweight, then you (develop) a complex. But I think being a really skinny kid (gives you a) complex too. I just remember being picked on for being a toothpick. Really skinny and really tall. Eventually, you fill out and then, you tend to not put on weight when you’re older. But, when you’re younger and if you’re really thin, people just make fun of you,” she admitted.

It’s the only body you’ll ever have, after all, so you might as well appreciate all it does for you.

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