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India. The country has a set Moreover, the marketing agencies
hierarchy where the fairer the skin bombard us with advertisements
the better off the girl is in terms of like those which Sita encountered
making choices, receiving love, that further reinforces the idea that
privileges and acceptance in the fair is lovely & dark is ugly. The
society. While the girl is judged by brunt of body shaming is equally
her skin color, the boy‟s height is severe, if not prevalent, among
of prime importance. It's therefore men. They are constantly criticized
rare to find the wife taller than her for their bald heads, short height
husband in India. Thus, both and weak build. Thus, where in
genders have to face the social matrimonial advertisements you
disgust, most of the time, on will find words like "slim" & "fair"
account of those characteristics for suitable bride, the word "tall” is
which they never chose for quite common for suitable groom.
themselves but inherited from their
families. A group which is most vulnerable
and a constant target of body
One may wonder why skin color shaming remarks is that of
matters in a country where people, adolescents. The constant criticism
since ages, have been faced by teenagers of today,
predominantly brown. To an whether for their body weight or
extent, we Indians have inherited shape, forces them to make way for
this prejudice from our colonial dieting or binge eating. No wonder
masters. Years of subservience in the children from a very young age
the past made us think on their develop a chronic illness like
lines. It left an indelible impression diabetes and suffer from
on our minds where whites are the depression, anxiety & under
superior followed by others. Thus a confidence. The future of the
question arises, are we truly country appears bleak when looked
independent or our independence is at from this perspective.
a sham? We are free but still bound
by the chains of discrimination So, how to deal with body shaming?
based on caste, class, color, gender, One certainly cannot sew the mouth
religion etc. of narrow-minded and insensitive
people. What then? The solution is
However we too are equally, if not ACCEPTANCE. One needs to
more, to be blamed for this accept one‟s body. The logic behind
prejudice. A woman would worship is simple and clear. If one cannot
Goddess Kali but still would want love and value one's own body, then
her daughter-in-law to be fair. This how one could expect others to take
is a classic example of double a different route. Both Sita and her
standards that exists in our society. father resigned to the set social
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