Sameera Reddy Says She Didn’t Feel Good Enough Because Of Bollywood’s Unrealistic Beauty Standards. She’s Constantly Dismantling Stupid Notions Of Beauty

Just like every girl my age, my idea of beauty was defined by what I saw on television, in movies or on magazine covers. In my eyes, women who were tall, had perfect symmetrical facial features, were extremely fair, thin, slender and had long hair were the most gorgeous women. But as I grew up and started to fill in the gaps in my half-baked knowledge, I understood that no woman can perfectly fit that description. Those are nothing more than unrealistic and ridiculous notions of beauty that Bollywood has always followed. 

Actresses were told they had to look and behave in a certain way in order to check every box on that list. In fact, if they didn’t fit those categories, they were insulted, discouraged and told that they would never make it. These beauty standards were imposed upon every woman who wanted to work in front of a camera. Although, there has been a drastic change in Bollywood, when it comes to beauty standards, in recent years. People’s minds have broadened and now there is room to grow out of these typical moulds of beauty. 

Speaking of moulds of beauty, in a recent interview, Sameera Reddy spoke about the beauty standards that exist in Bollywood and how hard she tried to fit into them. 

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She said, “I was told I was too dark, too tall, too broad. I didn’t fit into that girl next door look. I had to constantly try and fit in it and it really exhausted and tired me. I don’t regret it because that was my learning to learn to come to this point of loving myself unconditionally. You have to go through a point where you actually hate yourself because when you come to this point of hating yourself so much and break into pieces, you can put yourself back together in the most beautiful way possible.” 

She further added, “It was not discrimination. More than that it was more of you have to look a certain way, whether you have to pad your chest or hips. There was always something that I had to fix.” 

I can’t imagine working in an industry that breaks you and causes you to hate yourself. When are people finally going to see that the only woman who fit into these beauty standards was Barbie. And that is cause she ain’t human. Seriously, why are people always trying to put women in boxes and label them? 

Sameera, like so many actresses before her, has talked about how these unrealistic beauty standards that Bollywood thrust upon them were so difficult to cope up with. And we are just so glad that actresses are actually talking about how these notions of beauty affected them. We need to grow out of this and not try to define what a woman should and should not look like. 

Also Read: Sameera Reddy’s #ImperfectlyPerfect Campaign Is Real About Everything Motherhood- From Weight To Breastfeeding

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You know, personally, I am a huge fan of Sameera’s candid attitude. She is constantly breaking stereotypes, debunking myths and her Instagram page is a real treat. From talking about post-partum depression to addressing body-image problems, Sameera has been constantly trying to start dialogues on topics that people often overlook or consider taboo to talk about. She has never shied away from calling a spade a spade and her non-diplomacy and enthusiasm have really made her one of our favourite social media personalities. 

Coming back to those ridiculous beauty standards. I think, just because something has been practised for so long doesn’t make it right. There is no one way or correct way of defining beauty and I really wish, sooner rather than later, people start to see that.

https://thehauterfly.com/beauty/vidya-balans-said-eff-your-beauty-standards-and-we-couldnt-agree-more/