The Male Feminist: DCW Chief Swati Maliwali Was Once Told To Quit Sports Because She Was Fat
The fat shaming led to body image issues!
Society expects women to look a certain way and be a specific size. As a thin woman, I’ve been skinny-shamed for the longest time but I’ve still been in a privileged position, unlike the plus-sized women who have been looked down upon and bullied like there’s no tomorrow. In a recent conversation with Hauterrfly on The Male, Delhi Commission For Woman Chief, Swati Maliwal told the host Siddharth Aalambayan, about her childhood, facing gender discrimination in school and being fat-shamed.
Speaking about gender discrimination in school, DCW Chief Swati Maliwal recalled a time when a teacher body-shamed her and told her that she was not fit enough to play sports. “During my schooling time, I felt that teachers gave preferential treatment to the boys, like if girls wanted to play sports and go ahead in that, people had reservations about it, there was an attitude that boys anyways will play sports and go ahead in it so, girls can do something else instead. Someone once told me that ‘no, you’re not very slim, you’re a bit fat toh tum mat karo and let the other boy do it’ and that kind of stuck,” said Swati Maliwal.
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Also Read: “I Went Through The Worst Victim Shaming”: DCW Chief Swati Maliwal Recalls Harassment Case
The DCW Chief further spoke about how that fat shaming affected her and left her with body image issues. “Even in my early childhood and even later on, I used to constantly feel that I’m fat and I wasn’t very comfortable with my body type. Par agar aap dekhenge aaj bhi, aaj toh hum bade woke times mein hain lekin fir bhi aap dekhoge ki Bollywood mein bhi, aapke schools mein bhi, colleges mein bhi, aapke aam baat cheet mein, ye baat badi common hai. Koi agar aata hai toh sabse pehele aap usko yahi bolte ho, ‘arey tumne 5 kilo gain kar liya’, ‘arey tumne 5 kilo kam kar liya’. It’s as if the entire person is of no value and it’s just those 5 kgs of plus or minus which is of value,” said Swati Maliwal.
Also Read: ‘The Male Feminist’: Swati Maliwal Says Everyone Mocked Her For Being Youngest DCW Chief
DCW Chief Swati Maliwal further spoke about how matrimonial ads and sites also further these body image issues while calling out gender-based discrimination. Watch the complete episode of The Male Feminist to know all about her life story and her journey from witnessing domestic violence at home to becoming the youngest DCW Chief.
