The 1990s was the golden era of Bollywood. This decade gave us legendary films, fashion goals, iconic dance moves, and so much more but there was a dark side to this era. Back in the 90s, the film industry was obsessed with voluptuous women and those who didn’t fit in the mould were shamed. Recently, Sonali Bendre opened up about how she was skinny-shamed at the time.
In an interview, Sonali shared, “Being skinny was definitely not the standard of beauty, so voluptuousness was the standard of beauty, and I was told you were just not a woman enough if you were not voluptuous, you know which it shouldn’t be. Having said that, there are definitely a lot of things that need to change but we’ve also become a bit too sensitive about things now. I think we are losing that balance we needn’t be on that other side where things are going so bad that you can say anything to another woman and body shame her.”
The Hum Sath Sath Hain actress added, “I do agree body shaming should not have any part in our society and especially for little girls and the kind of ideas they are growing up with and the crazy dieting people are doing. People are forgetting that it is not holistic.”
Well, kudos to Sonali for talking about how body shaming was an issue in the past as well. Unfortunately, skinny-shaming is still a widespread issue in Bollywood. Earlier this year, Gen Z stars like Ananya Panday and Athiya Shetty spoke about the disturbing comments they receive on social media, criticising their appearance. While we have come a long way and body positivity has actually become a thing in India, there is a lot that still needs to be changed. The question remains— when will society finally let a woman be comfortable in her own skin?
Being a woman has nothing to do with your physical attributes and it is high time we break free. So, thank you Sonali for keeping it real about your journey, it is inspiring!
Featured Image: Instagram
