Do you love your eyes and hate your knees? Or do you sometimes wish your XXX were different? Replace XXX with any body part of your choice. We have all been there \u2013 griping, never satisfied, and never owning our own beauty. How do we perceive and evaluate our own bodies? What do we love? What do we loathe? And why?<\/p>\n
The idea of the \u2018perfect\u2019 body has changed through history and has been different in different cultures and epochs. All sorts of bodies, shapes, sizes and colours have been embraced as well as detested. Today, consumerism and globalization are narrowing the idea of beauty into an illusion that no one can measure up to. But still, fortunately, we are not plasticine creatures to be moulded by the vagaries of the latest fads.<\/p>\n
In the Issue in Focus,<\/span><\/a> <\/b>Bishaka Datta gives us an interesting and empowering viewpoint, based on reflections on two films, Breasts<\/i> and Fat Girls<\/i>, about what can shape body image and how we can reclaim our own power. Along similar lines, Pramada Menon, in an interview<\/span><\/a>, talks about her inspiring work and life as well as her stand up performance \u2018Fat, Feminist and Free\u2019. Pramada<\/a> and Ekta Oza<\/a> write about being the \u2018wrong size\u2019\u2013 from two different ends of the spectrum \u2013 in the I Column. Independently conceived and developed, their articles intersect and play off each other, both ultimately asking, \u2018Who owns our bodies?\u2019.<\/p>\n It is intriguing to see how our \u2018own\u2019 body seems to be affected and altered by external forces the most. In Voices, Parigya Sharma<\/a> writes about her experience at a Turkish hamam that made her revel in her nudity and celebrate the idea of body positivity, shunning conventional ideas of morality and shame. Vikramaditya Sahai<\/a> looks at the lived experiences of the non-normative body as an important category of analysis, rejecting the rigid binaries of resistance-subordination, \u00a0in the wake of the recent National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India\u00a0& Ors<\/i><\/a> <\/i>verdict <\/i>on the rights of the transgender community in India. On the same theme, we present to you an excerpt about Gazal\u2019s life from Nirantar\u2019s publication \u2013 Khulti Partein: Younikta aur Hum<\/i> in the Hindi<\/span><\/a> section.<\/p>\n The non-normative body has also been seen as the \u2018freak\u2019 body. Shweta Krishnan, reviews<\/a><\/span>\u00a0the representation (and the gaze that views it) of \u2018abnormality\u2019 in Freak Shows that dominated the colonial period and that continue to persist as a form of entertainment. Brushstrokes<\/span><\/a> features Sakshi Bhatia\u2019s work on how bodies have been commodified in the name of entertainment.<\/p>\n We <\/b>bring you a trailer of the latest video<\/span><\/a> from the Killing Us Softly<\/i> series by Challenging Media, highlighting the damaging stereotypes propagated by advertisements. Check out what Kate Winslet has to say in it\u2026<\/p>\n Yes, there definitely is considerable pressure to look a certain way. But there is also a growing awareness and acceptance of one\u2019s self as well. \u2018Love yourself\u2019 has become an empowering mantra of sorts. Let\u2019s draw inspiration from the campaign\u00a0\u2018Love Letter to the Body’. <\/i>Yamini Deenadayalan, a co-creator of the campaign, shares excerpts from it in the Voices<\/span><\/a> section and urges us to write a love letter to our bodies. Are you wondering what you would write to yours? Why not get started now?<\/p>\n Look out for the new content for our brand new widgets \u2013 The Food Corner<\/span><\/a>, The Tech Corner<\/span><\/a>, FAQs<\/span><\/a> on the 10th<\/sup> of this month. And also check out the\u00a0blog roll\u00a0section on the 15th<\/sup> of the month to read articles sourced from other blogs.<\/p>\n We look forward to your feedback on the blog as well as your contributions to future editions.<\/p>\n The TARSHI Team<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n