All our lives, we’ve been told that beauty comes in different shapes and sizes. And all that sounds good, but only in theory! In real life, media and society have fed us a particular idea of beautiful – thin, tall and fair. But that’s far from the truth and nobody deserves to feel the shame of not being able to match up to people’s idea of ‘perfect’. Thankfully, there are some women out there who’ve never been scared to be themselves and show the world that beauty is what lies inside and ain’t nobody has enough f*cks to give!
1. Lakshmi Agarwal
Lakshmi, an acid attack victim, is one of the most inspirational stories of our times. After her attack in 2005, when she was only 15, instead of giving up, she went on to speak for the rights of acid attack victims that earned her the International Women of Courage award by US First Lady Michelle Obama for her NGO Chhanv. By gathering 27,000 signatures she was also able to move her petition for curbing acid sales to the Supreme Court. If that’s not courage, then we don’t know what is!
2. Nandita Das
Not only is Nandita Das an icon because of her movie choices, it’s also because she made a name for herself in an industry where fair is lovely. She has been a staunch supporter of ‘Dark is Beautiful’ which urges people to stop discrimination on the basis of skin colour. She has previously said “Even in the [Indian film] industry when a makeup man or a cinematographer would come and say can you lighten your skin a little, especially when you are playing the middle class educated character.” We’re in the 21st century, can we stop this already?
3. Harnaam Kaur
As a lady, having hair is the biggest crime. But Harnaam Kaur, who was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome at the age of 12, has not cared for this rule even a little bit. One of the effects of PCOS is hirsutism or growing excessive facial hair and even though she, initially, tried to remove them, she’s now grown to love her appearance, with the ‘flaws’.
4. Gauri
In a country where being a woman is difficult, imagine being a transgender woman. Having realised that she did not fit in a world of men, Gauri went on to embrace her real self.
5. Neha Parulkar
In India, even size 8 is considered fat. And it’s high time that stopped. Neha Parulkar, a plus-size model is taking it upon herself to help bring about the change. Even when she still isn’t treated as other, more conventional models are, that hasn’t stopped her from wanting to change things!
More power to these women who aren’t afraid to be the change they want to see in the world!