A woman always thinks what is wrong with her body or what she needs to change. A plussized woman has to face a lot of elitist attitude on heavy body. Reason why India does not have a lot of plus-sized models and brands is because of the lack of opportunity and appreciation. In our country,16.9%-36.3% people are obese, which is why it is important to put light on this topic to open people’s eyes and make them aware about the importance of body positivity.
A major need of body positivity is to address few effects that our body images have on our mental health and well-being, not only in women but also among men. Having a healthy body image helps in gaining confidence and knowing your self-worth. According to a research, body negativity is associated with an increased risk for mental conditions like depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders.
The formation of body image starts from an early stage of life. Even young children go through body dissatisfaction due to peer pressure in school. Therefore, it is important to teach about body positivity to children from school level.
People judge beauty on the basis of their skin colour, body weight, hairs, height, etc. These judgments have their own consequences which affects the mental and physical health, so it is very important to learn to accept your body and explain people that there is nothing wrong in being plus-size.
Today, being sexy does not mean having a zero-figure body, it means having a great personality, confidence and self-love. A lot of plus-sized fashion influencers of India have come forward to shape the mindset of the society and inspire women to wear different clothes of their choice irrespective of their body shapes, sizes and colour:
- Sakshi Sindwani- Sakshi is one of the most inspiring plus-sized models in India. She has also got featured in many international magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, etc. Sindwani is the queen of confidence and encourages everyone to wear clothes of their choice without worrying of the criticism. She is also a model for plus-sized fashion and lingerie brand and has walked the ramp many times.
- Neha Parulkar- Neha is a great influencer who is proud of herself and loves creating body positivity through her content. She creates a lot of fashionable content to empower plus-size women. Parulkar handles a YouTube channel where she talks about the issues plus-sized people have to deal with and their solutions.
- Aashna Bhagnani- Aashna shares awesome content on her Instagram created by her on body positivity and spreads the message of body comes in all shapes and sizes. She attracts a lot of audience not only from India,but also internationally.
- Varshita Thatavarthi- Varshita is a plus-size model who models for famous designer, Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Sabyasachi saw the beauty and approached her for a modelling assignment. The assignment was a huge success and Varshita had become one of the most representative face for the whole plus-size women community of India.
- Neelakshi Singh- Neelakshi is a person with many roles. She is a full-time influencer, has her own blog ‘Plump to Pretty’ and teaches fashion styling at Pearl Academy. She accepted that she is perfectly imperfect compared to the beauty standards that our society, that’s when she realized
she wants to speak about body positivity. Neelakshi has amazing self-confidence in her and wants others too to believe in themselves.
Fashion Intern:- Rashi Trivedi
REFERENCES
• Cherry, K. (n.d.). Why Body Positivity Is Important. Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-body-positivity-4773402
• PR;, A. R. (n.d.). Prevalence of obesity in India: A systematic review. Retrieved from
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30641719/#:~:text= The prevalence of obesity in,and
16.9%-36.3% respectively.
• 10 Plus-size fashion influencers in India you must follow in 2021. (n.d.). Retrieved
from https://www.influglue.com/blog/10-plus-size-fashion-influencers-in-india-youmustfollow
IMAGES
1.https://media.vogue.co.uk/photos/5ed0e3c28b4f53a8714e44a1/3:2/w_3000,h_2000,c_limit/001-Body-Positivity-vogue-280520-courtesy-Universal-Standard.jpg1
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3. https://www.influglue.com/files/medialibrary/154962e7267f786d02f9e180183af157.jpg
4. https://bookofachievers.com/images/profile_pics/neha+parulkar_830.jpg
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