Jersey and Sita Ramam actress, Mrunal Thakur, has always been vocal about body confidence and owning the skin one is in. We, at iDiva, caught up with her and had a conversation about body-shaming and took down notes on how to be confident in oneself, so-called “flaws” included.
Mrunal is not hiding her cellulite and neither should we
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There are so many different things about our bodies that we are taught to dislike. Some of us are conditioned to feel insecure about our stretch marks, some about our body hair, some about our size.
Mrunal got real about how she deals with those who try to point out what she should hide or be ashamed of: “I have a lot of cellulite and I flaunt it. There are times when I am shooting and lot of times people say that don’t turn around because you have cellulite visible and it’s not good and I’ll be like – ‘I am comfortable, I don’t want to fix it.’”
Mrunal got real about not shaming others for their choices
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We see so many news articles talk about how an actress worked on getting a “bikini body.” This actually spreads the idea that only people with specific body types can take pride in their bodies when they are clad in a bikini. What does this say about beauty standards, and shaming those who don’t fall into the rigid niche created to make people feel insecure about themselves?
Mrunal was brutally honest about her views on the matter, and got candid about why she thinks people body-shame others: “I have met a lot of women who have body-shamed me for wearing a bikini or something like that. I always question them that just because you don’t have the self-confidence that I do, is it even necessary to body-shame me? Just because you can’t wear it doesn’t mean I can’t wear it either.”
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At the end of the day, what we wear is a matter of personal choice. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable in a certain type of clothing, not wearing it is their prerogative. But why knock another human being down for making choices different from yours? Why not live and let live?
Talking about how this vicious cycle of shaming can be broken, Mrunal said, “We should just come together and just like support each other and make sure that, you know, there are small little things that are beautiful around us. We should just start embracing ourselves and others. I think that’s very important.”
Every body type is different and fine the way it is
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When asked about whether ongoing body trends lead to unfair pressure on women to ascribe to current standards, Mrunal said, “Yeah. Bodies are always judged. In fact, it will be judged. But first of all tell me, what is the definition of a perfect body? Do you have one? Flat chested? I think it’s absolutely normal.”
This stance is so important because it is a reminder that whatever the judgements about our bodies, everyone’s idea of normal, good or beautiful is different. As long as we practise body-neutrality and realise that there is no such thing as perfection and that’s okay, the world will be a lot more content. After all, our bodies are all different and fine in their own way. Obsessing over it is counter-productive because physicalities shouldn’t matter this much.
Lead image credit: iDiva
