Athiya Shetty Reveals She Was Body Shamed In Her Childhood; Took A Long Time To Regain Her Lost Confidence
All through my college life and even now, I’ve been on the heavier side. And because of it, I’ve been body shamed by even those who had no idea who I was. I remember this one time, a friend and I visited this shop and asked for a dress in my size. The shopkeeper looked me up and down thrice and said that they don’t sell clothes for women my size and that I should reduce so that I could get more options. Of course, I ended up leaving the store after giving him an earful on how to talk to women. But as I left, there were two things that were going on in my head – one thought where I was constantly degrading myself and the second thought was the audacity that man had to say something like and then not even feel remorse. Needless to say, the first thought overpowered everything else and I refused to go ahead and shop more. Looking back on that incident, I realised how one comment from a complete stranger broke my self-confidence to bits. And this is something most people go through when they are body shamed for the way they look – a part of them chips away every time it happens. It has been years since the incident and I can say that I’ve come a long way since then in terms of self-confidence, but I’m still a work in progress and it ends up affecting me.
In fact, I’m not the only one who gets affected when body-shamed for the way they look. In a recent interview, actress Athiya Shetty opened up about how she was body-shamed in her childhood for looking a certain way and that took a toll on her confidence. She even opened up about it taking years to regain that confidence.
Talking about being a victim of body shaming, Athiya Shetty said, “Yes I have fallen into the category of body shaming when I was young. People need to realise that body shaming is not only associated with being overweight but also with being skinny. I have always believed that commenting on someone’s weight, appearance or anything that can make them less confident is something that is inappropriate.”
Athiya Shetty further went on to say how one should be careful while choosing their words. As someone who is body shamed, she believes that the words people use for others have an impact on them and in their everyday lives. She further emphasises that people should be more kind, understanding, and mindful of what comments they pass about other people.
Also Read: Athiya Shetty And KL Rahul Made Their Relationship Official On The ‘Tadap’ Premiere Red Carpet. Such A Handsome Couple!
The Hero actress also talks about the notion of beauty in our society. She says that there are a lot of false adjectives of beauty going about and that is a scary thing since it makes people want to look a certain way. And this thought, according to Athiya Shetty is highlighted through social media which catches people at a very young age.
As per Pinkvilla, Athiya Shetty even goes ahead and talks about her healing process after she was body-shamed. She said, “I used to be very, very conscious of my body and I still am, but I am a lot better because I am a lot more confident about myself and who I am as a person today.” She further goes on to say that everyone has flaws and that is what makes them human. She believes, “Being imperfect is your own perfect, it is important to help society understand that not everyone is the same so I think it’s more spoken about for women rather than men to have different body types. All men don’t need to be muscular and look a certain way because it is tough to sometimes be a certain way and you shouldn’t need to feel that.”
As someone who has been and still is body shamed, I agree with Athiya Shetty. We all have imperfections but that is not all there is to us. Our definition of beauty is flawed and the day we accept it, is the day we as a society will become inclusive and more accepting of people.
