Sonam Kapoor
Sonam Kapoor

In a heartfelt essay for BuzzFeed India, Sonam Kapoor recounted the various instances of body shaming girls and women have had to deal with everyday. Here are some of the most inspiring and heartwarming excerpts from the article –

On her many insecurities and casually being called ‘kaali’ at a family gathering –

Like every girl, I spent many nights through adolescence leaning into my bedroom mirror, wondering why my body looked nothing like it should. Why does my belly crease? Why do my arms jiggle? Why am I not fair? Why are there dark patches under my eyes? Why am I taller than boys my age? Do stretch marks ever go away? Will this cellulite stay forever? “Itni lambi, itni kaali,” a relative casually let slip at a family gathering. “Shaadi kaun karega?” It confirmed that my greatest insecurities were well-founded.

On the unhealthy measures she took to become ‘thin’ –

Nobody lines up to buy tickets to see cellulite. So I embarked on a series of unhealthy behaviours. I dieted serially; sometimes South Beach, other times Atkins. Once, in desperation, I tried a diet that had me eating pineapples all day. I pushed myself too hard at spin classes, did power yoga for hours at a stretch, and developed an unhealthy relationship with food. Some weeks, desperate to drop a couple of kilos, I would simply not eat.

On how her female friends have always got her back –

The problem is in mainstream culture’s rigid definitions of female beauty. The solution, for me, has been in the women I know. It’s been a decade since I entered the film industry with my awful self-esteem in tow and, thanks to the female support I’ve had throughout, that self-esteem is in a healthier place now.

Thank you for this Sonam, I hope you know that thousands of girls have smiled after reading this essay.

You can read the entire article here.