It seems that the British not only colonized the world and made English a global official language but also left traces of their culture from clothes to etiquettes to beauty standards.
I am a millennial Asian, Indian, from the far east of the country. I am a petite mesomorph with wheatish skin, a staple by all means in this region.
Of course, I did my research to understand my body type and race. The pressure of being attractive is so much these days that one is bound to read, learn, and apply knowledge about physical health and appearance.
The generation before us had a separate standard set for them which had far more margin for flaws as compared to what we have today. So, they may not understand what we go through.
The truth is even if you feel like living in an inclusive world, you are not free from societal and gender stereotypes. So no matter how much you try to make sense of yourself, you always get stuck where the world places you.
My struggle in this world is like billions of you. I find myself in and out of the acceptance zone every passing day. The reason is my health, my hair, my skin, measurements, height, and everything that is supposed to match what they set these days in the beauty contests.
According to some, I am fat and short, though my BMI is completely normal. They compare me with what I was in my teens to what I am in my late 20s and choose their adjectives accordingly while describing me. No one is aware of the fact that adolescence has its own growth factors like puberty. So, yes my hips are supposed to be more rounded and my jawline and face might be wider than what they used to be a decade back.
They simply want us to be skinny from our teens to menopause expecting us to carry the same body with no signs of aging. To defy this, we are being forced to adhere to all sorts of tactics, from work out to surgery.
I have seen so many people get frustrated for not being able to reach their fitness goals. The problem is the majority of the people around us are less or half-informed about the issues they talk about and lack of awareness leads to crap talks.
I am not here to speak up for imperfect bodies. I am here to talk about giving room for flaws.
It is indeed necessary for each individual to focus on their health but sometimes striving for perfection gets too much. Not everyone can achieve the ideal measurements, especially when belonging to India or any other non-European country. Our genes can never match the European standards, that is, being extremely fair, tall, and skinny. Of course, medical procedures and extreme workouts will give results but then there is a limit.
Each one of us has our own frames and ideal body weight and shape that can be attained. Just because I am fitting into medium clothes, doesn’t mean I am healthy. There are bone and muscle weight that is often overlooked. Small framed people can easily adhere to small-sized clothes but how does one churn one’s own bones to be slim?
It is truly a daunting task to put sense into people about these topics so you should just expect to get bashed by idiotic comments. But on a personal level, you know how much effort you make and to what extent you can invest yourself to be a fitter version.