RANDOM MUSINGS

I recently saw a wonderful English movie where a fat girl enters a beauty contest and faces many problems, mainly disbelief, from all around. The mother, who is a previous winner of a similar contest, is shocked that her daughter even thinks of entering the contest. It is unfortunate that being thin has become such a normative ideal. Many people, especially the growing children, do not confirm this and are fat for many reasons. There are many factors involved and it is not a simple equation of excess diet added to a lack of exercise. The advertisements, brandings, models, movies, celebrities, and the society almost bombards on a constant basis that being thin and fair is the only way to be beautiful. What would explain celebrities endorsing fairness creams and slimming agencies? The whole society stacks against many young growing minds with this propagation of what beauty is as per normative standards. Is it really a responsible society? A healthy society and a healthy individual are what we are seeking. It is important to understand the difference between ‘being fit’ and ‘being healthy’. One can be extremely fit and yet be having major blocks in the blood supply of the heart. There have been many cases of athletes and fit individuals who have collapsed suddenly. It is true that sedentary lifestyles, excessive indulgence in digital devices, unhealthy eating habits, and easy access to junk foods by a click on the app, are all responsible for causing problems of obesity and overweight. There is an urgent need to address these issues on a larger scale where everyone in the society needs to get involved one way or the other. However, it needs a massive readjustment at many levels to stress that being beautiful is not being thin and fair. We need a shift from the message, ‘Beauty is Fitness and a Fair Tone’ to perhaps ‘Health is Beauty.’ 

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