We all want a world that’s more tolerant towards other people’s choices. Which is why this very recent incident whern Instagram pulled down pictures of plus-size Indian bloggers in bikinis is so counter-intuitive. What agitates us even more is that Instagram is filled with images of (white) plus-sized women in bikinis, like model Ashley Graham, and that seems to be perfectly okay! But the one time that an Asian plus-size blogger posts her aesthetically shot bikini pictures, Instagram thinks it inappropriate? So we’re counting two issues here, which is two issues too many.
This obviously didn’t go down well with the bloggers either: Aarti Olivia Dubey from the blog Curves Become Her and Rani Dhaschainey and Ratna Manokaran (who also has her own blog called Sapphiresplendour.blogspot.in), who both co-own the brand The Curve Cult.
A few months ago Aarti was approached by Cleo magazine to feature in their Body Positive special, which required her to pose in bikinis. Aarti was initially apprehensive, but later she agreed when she was promised that the pictures would be aesthetically shot. She also roped in her friends, Rani and Ratna, to help build on a more body positive community.
These three women shed their inhibitions and posed for the camera, which captured the real beauty of women – not “plus-size” women, but WOMEN. When the magazine released this special edition, the bloggers celebrated by promoting their photo shoot on their social media platforms, only to be shocked when Instagram pulled down one picture.
We love the photo shoot and the entire concept that showcases what real women and ALL bikini bodies look like. What troubles us is the societal we seem to always have to tackle whenever we try to make positive changes. Aarti, in one of her Instagram posts, mentioned that she dreads wearing a bikini now because of the abuse she had to face. They keep coming to her mind as after posting the pictures, she had to spend hours deleting mean comments, blocking haters and replying to emails only because she dared to wear a two-piece.
Well, the good part is that the deleted post gained a lot of solidarity from the online community, which participated in the outrage by reposting the deleted picture. Instagram sent her an apology, to which she sent back a fitting reply.
Aarti in an earlier interview with Cleo magazine, published in June 2015 said, “Asia is not a kind place for plus-sized girls. You go to a mall and someone smiles at you and hands you a brochure on why you should lose weight. Or you walk into a store and the first thing the assistant tells you is, ‘There is nothing in your size.’ The night of my 30th birthday, a stranger pointed at me and told his wife, “See? You’re not that fat.” The ordeal changed Aarti. She believes in living a body positive, healthy life and that’s the message she wants to give other plus-size women too. Love your body no matter what size it comes in.
