How bad is body shaming?

There's something I feel strongly about, and that is shaming or ridiculing someone for their looks/ weight/ height/ colour of skin/ age/ social standing/ English speaking abilities and sundry other reasons.

I have faced weight shaming in my adolescence, and it has left quite a mark on me. I was called moti, or plump, and wasn't included in hip circles. 

In college, I used to dress in salwar kameez, so I was labelled a behenji. When I donned skirt and top for a role in a college play, the girls went wow at my open hair, hip look. What a transformation, they said. Why don't you always dress like this? 

Because I value comfort over looks, I wanted to say. Because my mother only buys me traditional clothes. Because I travel to college in a DTC bus where leers and sundry "touching" were the normal routine. And even after covering up so much, I feel so exposed.

But I couldn't say all this, and just kept quiet, gloating in the praise and acceptance of my trendy classmates. It mattered so much that they thought I was hip too!

Today, I have accepted my flaws, and am confident in my skin. I don't feel the maddening urge to ""belong". 

But, you know what I face now? 

Age shaming. "Ohhh you are so old?" "Ohhh, poor thing, you don't have much stamina!" "At your age, even I would feel tired". You get the drift?

So, at whatever state or position or age we are in, criticism and sarcasm are a given. And unfortunately, it is we women who do it. 

As we come to the end of a festival worshipping Shakti, let's pledge to be kinder to each other. 

More accepting, more open, less judgemental. That will be true Devi worship.

Hail, Ma Durga!

#durgapuja

#worshipofshakti

#randomthoughts