Bollywood actress Mrunal Thakur, who has been in the news thanks to her film Jersey with Shahid Kapoor, recently opened up on why she thinks twice before posting bikini photos online.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, the 29-year-old Love Sonia actress spoke about how body-shaming is the deterrent in question: “I need to gather courage to post a picture in the bikini, with the body type I have at the time and I am comfortable with it. I am just gearing up.”
Image credit: Instagram.com/mrunalthakur
Mrunal attributed this sense of self-doubt to the way people react to different body types in bikinis: “I feel India has not entirely normalised bodies. We still think if you are going to a beach you have to have a perfect body.”
Mrunal is of the view that all bodies are bikini bodies
Image credit: Instagram.com/mrunalthakur
One shouldn’t have to be a sample size or model-thin shape in order to own a swimsuit look, and that’s what Mrunal is trying to normalise: “But, that’s not how I want to inspire girls out there. It’s okay to be bloated, and to have celluloid (cellulite). You need to be fit within and not necessarily have six-pack abs.”
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Mrunal has been body-shamed in the past, too
Quite recently, Mrunal was body-shamed while she was working out. People on Instagram wrote mean comments about her body below pictures of her exercising. How reductive is that, when you can see that a person is already trying to be healthy? What value does that kind of commentary add to a conversation about health and wellness?
Image credit: Instagram.com/mrunalthakur
Mrunal is someone who is quite fit, often works out, and has talked about her desire to be healthy and fit, as opposed to being a certain shape or size. But clearly, many people don’t understand that fitness is an ongoing process, not a one-time activity. Is it any surprise then, that most people think starving oneself or hitting the gym before big events is the way to live life?
Let’s ditch the idea of a “summer body”
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People crash diet, work out hyperactively, and just generally fixate on their waistline when summer approaches. Much the way weddings make everyone feel like they need to lose weight, the desire for a “bikini body” also makes people count calories and “get in shape.”
But what does that even mean? What shape are we all trying to get into? What is this elusive “bikini body?” Aren’t all bodies bikini bodies? The idea that we can only do certain things or wear certain clothes if we are a specific weight or size, is extremely detrimental to one’s mental and physical health, not to mention, a poor approach to wellness.
Image credit: iStock Photo
That’s because these ideas come from a place of dissatisfaction with one’s body, not a place of love for it. If one were to approach one’s body from a place of love, the focus would be on health, nourishment, feeling good, and using exercise to move and refresh oneself. Negativity towards one’s body can never lead to one treating it well, can it?
So, it’s necessary to remember Mrunal’s words, and understand that accepting our bodies, and wearing what makes us comfortable, is the best way to live life.
Lead image credit: Instagram.com/mrunalthakur
