Rytasha Rathore
For overcoming her memories of hating the way she looked and spreading awareness on body positivity
The 28-year-old Mumbai-based actor says her video on body positivity was difficult to post because it wasn’t easy for her to watch. It took Rytasha back to when she was 20 and thought she was undesirable. “There’s a lot of unkindness that young adults show themselves. I’ve worked hard in the last four-five years to make sure
I’m in a good place overall. And of course, that I don’t hate the way I look,” she says.
The look of things
The importance of women looking a certain way has unfortunately been part of society forever. “Women are only worth something when they are young and beautiful. This is true among the educated too,” says Rytasha. “I hope parents allow young people the freedom to explore all facets of their personalities and not just look good in order to get married.”
Making ‘body positive’ content wasn’t her original idea. Rytasha loves swimming, so it was natural to upload pictures of herself in swimwear. When she started to become famous at 22-23, she realised that people would pick on the fact that she wasn’t skinny, yet posted pictures of herself in swimwear. “I realised people are interested and care about this side of me – how I am fat but still living my best life,” she says.
Body positivity & self-esteem
Of course, there was trolling. “I block trolls, because why use your energy to feel bad about something when you can use it for something positive?” she shrugs. But this body positivity video was one of the last in the theme, she reveals.
“I am exhausted of it and sick of getting calls for projects because of the way I look. It’s now become clickbait for brands, so much so that it’s lost its purpose. I am not even a body positive person! I think body positivity is an extension of self-esteem. This needs to be taught at school and at home!” Education boards, are you listening?
“BODY SHAMING HAS NOW BECOME CLICKBAIT FOR BRANDS, SO MUCH SO THAT IT’S LOST ITS PURPOSE.” —RYTASHA RATHORE