Actress Raavee Gupta says that unfortunately she has gone through body shaming many times. She says that this is shameful, and needs to stop.
“Body shaming is indeed a reality. It’s shameful the way we look and judge people, I mean it’s not just about males or somebody looking at another person and having an opinion, but the fact that we feel we are entitled or justified enough to offer an opinion and even to that said person is unbelievable,” she says.
She adds, “I have faced it, I still do a lot of times. When I was younger, being a not-so-fair person despite my mother who happens to be exceptionally fair, with blonde hair; many family members would say, ‘Although she has nice features, but she has failed to have her mother’s skin colour.’ That was devastating to be very honest as a child. It was sad and for a very long time, it stayed with me. They called me very thin and lean. It kind of formed my inherent complexes and somehow it still stays with me even though I am a mother and a professional, self-made person so to speak. But still, all these things remain with you especially when you are a young child, these are your formative years, they form your core memory, your perception of your own self. It is a shame that we still do it.”
She says that no matter if a person is thin or fat, she will be criticised. “Living in post-colonial India post-colonialism, where, unfortunately, fairness is equivalent to being fair and lovely. I have faced it and I still do sometimes, which is such a shame. When I was a teenager, I was too thin, perhaps thinner like a lot of growing children are. And I was criticised for my thin body. It really affected me negatively and still does. Like post Agastya, I put on weight and I did not go out of my way to lose a lot of weight. I did not immediately start working out and lost a lot of weight. I took my time and it took me about two years to get healthy and fit again. So, during those times, I was asked why I still have not lost my post-pregnancy weight. Even though things have changed a lot they haven’t changed completely. Initially, I remember being made to look fairer by a makeup artist. So, these things are still prevalent and haven’t changed yet,” she says.
