The confluence of social media and the entertainment industry has contributed to a degree of toxicity within Bollywood. As actors lead very public lives, the addition of social media has only added to their woes. Veiled behind anonymous accounts, trolls who actively body-shame celebrities have become the new normal.
Immaterial of how old or young, new or established, actors have not been able to escape this kind of trolling. While we can only imagine how traumatic the experience of constantly being critiqued for your body can feel like, we need to ask the more pertinent questions: have body shaming trolls become the new normal for all celebrities?
Credit: Giphy/Idea
Escaping the noose
Ever since our country embraced social media in all its glory, we collectively signed away every celebrity’s right to a respectful social media presence. As celebrities are expected to lead public lives, trolls took it upon themselves to remind them that even their bodies are up for discussions.
From commenting about people’s weight to downright associating their downfall with it, Bollywood celebrities have heard it all. The problem here is that this kind of trolling follows no particular pattern—from a skinny girl like Tara Sutaria speaking out to Vidya Balan’s words on the same issue, there seems to be no escape.
Even if a celebrity limits their comment section—which a lot of younger celebrities like Suhana Khan and Shanaya Kapoor are resorting to—the comments are still persistent on other platforms sharing their content.
Credit: Instagram/SuhanaKhan2
So, what is the reason?
One of the biggest reasons behind this toxic trend is the anonymity that social media offers. With zero real world consequences, individuals are compelled to leave their thoughts paying no heed to the fact how it would impact the person on the other end.
Additionally, most of us believe that a celebrity is not even reading their comment section so why not just leave a scathing remark anyway? This not only comes from a place of insecurity but also a place of poor social media etiquette.
Credit: Instagram/ShrutiHassan
What is the solution?
Since most Bollywood actors have signed up for the exposure, a lot of them are dealing with the issue in commendable ways. By speaking up about body shaming and its effects, and taking trolls down through sarcasm and wit, we have to agree that Bollywood has risen to the occasion.
Do you think body shaming has become the new normal? Let us know in the comments below.
Lead image credit: Instagram/SonakshiSinha/TaraSutaria
