Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu was heavily trolled for putting on weight, during her ramp walk at the recently held Lakme Fashion Week. She has come out to defend herself and has revealed that she has celiac disease.
Adaa Khan
I haven’t ever been trolled for my weight however, I think we all should collectively not respond to body shaming to extinguish this thought process. In a world of such high competition, making someone uncomfortable with their looks is the worst thing one can do.
Dipna Patel
It’s really sad that actresses are trolled for their weight. This means putting their talent aside and making a judgement based just on something superficial. I was very skinny when I applied for Femina Miss India, I was told my arms are too thin while I was prepping for the pageant. I was also not the tallest at the pageant so I always felt the need to work harder than the other girls. And I’m happy to share that I won the fitness round and 2nd runners Up Title, In spite of the taller girls who were 5.10 5.11 and more, that gave me the confidence that it’s not just about the physical features but about beauty with brains. Harnaz has made us so proud by bringing the crown home after 21 years amongst 79 countries. That’s incredible. We should be proud of our fellow Indians and not focus on petty things. Especially if she has a health condition, we should be more compassionate towards her. Sensitisation is required in today’s times, in our country and the world.
Pragati Mehra
This will happen till we will consider, ‘Hey you look good ..you lost weight’ as a compliment ..weight shaming is going to be around. Generally trolling/shaming comes from people who themselves feel they are lacking something. I haven’t been trolled but have been fat shamed on some occasions, generally behind my back. Once a very fat creative head of our industry asked her assistant not to cast me as I had put on weight! How I wish I can name and shame her here. On another occasion a costume stylist and creative of another show put it across that I should shed weight. Having said that, men are shamed too, for loss of hair/ weight gain. Also stereotypes that a fat person has to be comic are some things that are irritating as hell! Does it bother me? At times, yes. Does it impact my life? No! I deal with a lot of dimwit thin people on a daily basis, it’s all a part and parcel of living .
Ginnie Virdi
Body shaming is something which I do not support, I feel people who cannot talk good about you, can also not do anything good for you. So I don’t care what people say, I don’t hear such stupid things and no women should. I support women and feel that every woman is beautiful.
Maninee De
First and foremost, it’s nobody’s business. Of course, we are in the business of vanity and beauty and I do understand it’s a very cruel business when it comes to a Women’s body size, unfortunately. I don’t know why we still live in that world where one has a right to attack a woman, be it after her post pregnancy or a disease or it’s a hormonal issue. People who have not gone through this should thank their stars for it. But, at least, don’t be cruel to other people. You cannot minimise her as a human being because of the weight that she have put on I mean it’s really sad. Yes, she’s a reigning Miss Universe and, yes, she’s looked upon for her fitness but it’s not in her hands to get that disease, right? I mean the least we can do is support her completely, empathise with her, encourage her and love her completely and stand with her. Why do we, women, have to defend ourselves? These are our bodies. Why are we to be defined by other people’s opinions and perceptions? Even though we are in a business of vanity, I feel that people need to be more kind and practice kindness towards other people. I mean how does your life get affected if someone has put on weight? Why does one have to be so uncivilised about somebody’s weight, it’s so easy for people to comment on someone’s weight, even women do it and it’s shameful. This should not be normalised, commenting on someone’s weight. Even though I’ve always been fit but there was a time when I looked bigger than what I’ve always been, obviously, it’s a body and it will change. We have hormones, we have lots of stress and it all affects the body. I’ve been commented for my body and initially it affected me very badly but then I honestly stopped reacting to it. But when it gets very personal or bitchy, then I know how to give it back also. So, I don’t think people should get very comfortable talking about somebody’s weight, somebody’s marital status, somebody’s sexual orientation etc. Nobody wants to not be fit unless somebody is very lazy. Harnaaz is still so beautiful, people can be surprised to see her but imagine what she must be going through. It’s kind of a emotional and mental trauma that people are putting her through, it’s not right and it’s very unfair and I completely stand with her.
Namita Lal
The showbiz industry is very mean, it’s a lot about looks and body and the way you carry yourself. It’s shameful to have so trolling, but it’s a reality. For me, I’m very conscious of the way one looks in this industry be it the body or the age. But I think having self confidence and loving the way we look and loving ourselves is most important and that’s what I do. I do not troll myself at least and that’s what’s important to not look at yourself badly and to enjoy every aspect of the way you look. I think women are prone to do a lot of self-judgment, we don’t like our arms, we don’t like our thighs, we don’t like our tummies and I think we cause a lot of harm to ourselves by judging ourselves so we need to look at ourselves first and give us the love we deserve because the way we treat ourselves is the way the world treats you.
Sunidee Chauhan
I heard about her incident recently. And that’s really lame to comment like this on an individual. Girls at their growing age face all kinds of changes in her body which is natural, there is nothing so big to criticise someone on that. I don’t know why people exaggerate so much on such topics. Weight gain is one major issue which every woman faces from time to time and that can be rectified also with patience. But that doesn’t mean a woman should stop herself from going out or not working or not attending events/award shows. I mean, come on, she is Miss Universe, she is the representative of our country, a respect should be given to her and accepted the way she is now. I loved the way she represented our country in the competition, the way she handled all the questions, that was fabulous. Although there is no need to give explanations on such conditions, sometimes I guess it feels better also to shut mouths. Yes, I too have faced all such comments.
