But this isn’t entirely our fault. Born in a society that places so much emphasis on appearance, it’s in our conditioning to always seek for beauty in the physical sense, that too, with reference to media-fed definitions of what’s beautiful and what’s not. [break]
Dipandita Basnet, 19, was 63kgs about nine months ago and after eight months of exercise and diet control, she now weighs 45kgs. The decision to join the gym was upon the insistence of Basnet’s mother, who wanted her to be fit. Basnet shares that she wasn’t very conscious about her weight earlier, but she now is. She however, isn’t after the perfect zero size figure. Rather, she wants to be healthy.
Having said that, Basnet does share some of the insecurities she had when she was plump.
“I love shopping. But there were times when I felt uncomfortable telling the salesperson my size. I also felt especially bad when I couldn’t fit into the clothes that I wanted to buy. I also used to feel as if no matter what I wear, I wouldn’t look good in them,” shares Basnet.
Today, she says that she feels more confident and has gotten rid of her insecurities. Also, she feels she’s grown up and that her perceptions have changed. “When I was a teenager, I felt like I wasn’t pretty and wanted to be beautiful like other girls. But now, I don’t feel the need to make an effort to be beautiful or appealing,” she says.
“There’s this notion that being a woman means being ‘beautiful’. Beauty is perceived as having the perfect look or the perfect figure. Instead, I think the emphasis should be on having a pleasant personality,” she continues.
Negative body issues can have deep impacts and it certainly did in the case of Aasna Singh, 15, the Horlicks Whizkid of 2012. Her obsession with her weight, which she later found out, had developed into an eating disorder, started when she was in grade eight. “I wanted to have the perfect 36-24-36 measurement body,” admits Singh. “I was a little flabby then and whenever people used to comment about my weight, it used to get on my nerves,” she says. Singh wouldn’t even eat three proper meals a day and would throw up after eating at times. “I’d reached a stage where I thought that even drinking juice would make me fat,” she says.
Her dissatisfaction towards her body led her to feel depressed and often angry towards her family and friends. However, today, almost two years later, Singh has overcome her negative body issues.
“I was surfing the internet when I came across this MTV documentary of the singer Demi Lovato through which I found out about her problems with her body and how she overcame them,” shares Singh. “After watching her interview, it inspired me. I didn’t feel alone and I got the strength to overcome my disorder as well,” she says.
Although, still today, she sometimes has those moments where she is angry at her body, on the most part, she is satisfied with herself and no longer believes that one’s body defines their beauty.
Dissatisfaction towards one’s body doesn’t only come from weight issues.
Dark in complexion, or ‘chocolaty’ like she herself puts it, Anuja Khadka, 21, felt discarded at a small age due to her skin color. “When I was in school, there used to be ramp walk shows and dance programs that I was really interested in, but I was never chosen,” says Khadka.
Growing up, she never let herself be too worried about her skin color and instead accepted it. “People are bias and think that only fair skin is beautiful. Advertisement that suggests this should be highly discouraged,” adds Khadka. No one is born the same and its useless trying to look like somebody else, is her viewpoint. Hence, she suggests that everyone should worry more about being beautiful inside rather than outside.
Related story
Make-up tricks for a chubby face
