JOIN USToday, the mainstream media and fashion glossies are used to promoting the idea of Barbie and Ken appearances, to the extent that it has become a clichéd commodity. Fashion and mainstream media's bread and butter is to present their content with the utmost sartorial ambition and in the process, we seem to bucket our fashion heroes and subjects into the same old tried-and-tested size sets. The truth is that majority of the body types in India and world-wide are under served.
Indian pop-culture forgets to represent most of us. Our diversities, our odd and even moments of beauty. Because it seems difficult for most of us to breakout of this typecast.
In order to look beyond the pre-existing isolating standards that render most of us invisible in the society, it is important to talk about "body positivity".
Not gender-specific
To start with, it is not confined to gender. We are preconditioned to look down upon women with unshaven armpits and also men with unshaven chests. Some will call this basic grooming. Although, one can see this as mental grooming, too. None-the-less, the body positivity movement humanely celebrates each person's individuality. Breaking away from social and marketing confines.
Start by loving your body. It is a journey. Embrace your size, shape, colour, form, etc., just like your unique fingerprint. It's another way to accept your unique identity.
One might wonder, is this an attack on the conformists then? The ones who propagate fitness, surgeries, diets, etc. Not really.
Awareness is crucial
Body positivity is a movement that focuses on building awareness on body diversity. It propagates healing the relationship with one's body when one faces any oppression. It encourages us to first start by being kind to our own bodies. And then open our eyes to the diversity surrounding us to accept all body types. You may ask why?
Honestly, it's a solution to a lot of violence. If each of us practices body positivity sincerely, we will be a step closer to resolving the devastating impacts of body terrorism. It is a fight against conditions like bulimia, anorexia, addiction, suicide, stigma, ableism, sizeism, ageism, and so on. Out of breath? Including, inter-racial and intra-racial violence, homophobia, transphobia, involuntary sterilisation of people with disabilities, et al.
Train your mind
Don't just train your body. Train your mind. And your soul. Let's focus on reconstructing the broken bond between our mind, body and soul. This is integral to keep our self-esteem and wellness alive. When we don't match up to the social stereotypes. We are scared of exploring new realms. Even if our mind wonders whether to explore "the new". We end up undermining our body - "ourselves". All body types deserve the right to all experiences. Be kind, empathetic and accepting of your body, so that you can wear it with pride. Own your body at every stage of your life. And don't shy away from the next beach party or date because of your cellulite or acne. It's all a mind game. The way you love yourself will teach others to love you.
Make it a lifestyle
It starts as a personal religion and translates into a lifestyle. Celebrate your personal style. Lifestyle brands have become sensitive to the trend of personalisation and size-inclusions, and are offering product customisation across all body types and fits.
Perhaps, our ideas of wellness and illness are all mixed up. Hence, to address both or either, we need to align our mind with our soul. We need to unlearn the preconceived notions about beauty. We need to accept ourselves for every experience that life presents us, to love ourselves. As our body represents our journey, listen to its stories and respect its existence.
Love yourself
Until the mainstream media catches up, we can start dialogues on self-love. While the West already has pop-culture heroes who represent this movement actively across platforms. For example, R&B singer Alicia Keys, who rejects wearing make-up for any shoot, has said, "I don't want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing." American plus-size model Ashley Graham created history by being on the covers of top fashion magazines and brand campaigns and broke modelling stereotypes in the US.
India also has some path-breaking evangelists standing for this cause, who are unapologetic about their ways. Indo-Canadian artist Nimisha Bhanot's edgy paintings represent gender equality. The Instagram wordsmith, Rupi Kaur's unabashed poems revolve around stretch marks and period stains.
Taking cue from these fearless people, it's time we all document our personal journeys with our bodies as the protagonists. There is a need to explore the versatile interpretations of beauty and to create awareness about the different shades of beauty. Let's motivate the media, fashion, beauty, lingerie, entertainment, gaming platforms, etc. to explore new beauty representations. Remember, the importance of the theory - 'trickle up effect?' It gave birth to street fashion.
Grassroot conversations are powerful aids in social media and otherwise. So let's redefine these beauty standards and find variety of pop-culture heroes, so that our future generations grow up with diverse relatable role models. Find your new
normal. Cause beauty is, as beauty does!
(The author is fashion director at CREYATE)