Quote of the day
Don’t measure the distance in miles covered or hindrances faced, rather take an account of what has been achieved and what yet to achieve. That would keep you moving.
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Body Shaming, Our New Entertainment!
It was almost a sabbatical for me on this site.
I remember watching this famous comedy show (The Kapil Sharma Show) on television. It was all grand and pompous with celebrities adding to the glitter. The host had an impeccable comic timing but one thing that never got down well with me (and seriously who cares 😀). The host of the show would continuously take a dig at the fellow artists’ appearance. Calling them names like Fastso, Buffalo, hot air balloon, chimpanzee and what not. And he successfully managed to evoke gags from everyone present in the studio and those watching the Idiot box. How sensible was that is my reservation. And sadly bullying in the name of comedy or entertainment isn’t reserved for one odd show. It’s omnipresent almost everywhere.
Movies, Tele serials, advertisements, social media – whatever the form of media or stage it is, body shaming is more and more increasingly used as an entertainment and a marketing tactic.
Even we are guilty of using physical attributes as an adjective to address someone at some point of time (sometimes just to have a good laugh at one’s expense) – that girl with buck teeth, that fat boy, that short man….. Whether a human tendency or not, body shaming is acquiring a monstrous form, let’s accept it.
Off late I came across many posts on Facebook wherein picture of a person who is not physically attractive is posted and people are asked to tag their friends who could be sharing their future with them. And beneath such posts there’s a huge number of likes and emojis depicting how funny people found it. Then there are posts depicting people who have confidently embraced their lives but don’t fit the bill of standardised beauty norms of the society, and that made them unacceptable for the rest. People don’t refrain from unleashing their insensitive side via their mean comments shaming the appearance, from being sarcastic to abusive, they use it all. And ironically this isn’t inhumane but just an “Opinion”.
So what is beauty as per our “Hypocrite” society which ironically matters to us?
- Lean = healthy, attractive, beautiful
- Fair = beautiful and a shortcut to success
And this very idea of “Beauty” and “Health” is relentlessly propagated by the best thinking heads whom we call creative geniuses or to simply put it – “marketing team”. An advertisement showcases a woman in distress because her husband finds her unattractive because of her weight issues, he feels humiliated to take her out because she is not 10/10 figure. But suddenly she comes across some magic medicine that would turn her life upside-down miraculously. Shrinking inches would widen the smile on her face and infuse lost love in her life. Going by this manipulated definition of both Love and Health, we find them to be very shallow aspects in our lives measured by a common denomination of few pounds or inches.
Such powerful is the impact of these marketing gimmicks that the number of people willingly investing both time and money in bogus and more importantly hazardous products has seen an unprecedented upward surge which is beyond imagination. Millions taking up crash diets, gulping down protein shakes, omitting carbohydrates completely – all this in the wake of attaining that desirable svelte figure or six-pack abs. And no heed is paid if its healthy or not, literally no one cares. I remember a young neighbour of mine died of a massive heart stroke thanks to his intensive but improper workouts and equally imbalanced# hazardous diet plan. He was hardly 24 years of age.
Why this pain is taken after all? That’s the only way to be accepted and appreciated. We are living in superficial times where looks score over brains and other intangible positives. Bizzare and at the same time sad, do you have a counter opinion? Reserve it in comments.
*An important note : Here I am not supporting obesity or unhealthy lifestyle but concern should be health rather than just weight management. Weight could be a result of many other complications – genetic, hormonal dysfunction, stress than just binging on junk. Correct diagnosis is very important. But alas! ignorance rules. Anyways, this is leading towards another discussion but the underlying point is body shaming is nothing less than cruelty. Blabbering about someone’s weight ( for that matter any other physical attribute) without having an iota of knowledge about “what’s the real issue is” is simply idiotic.
Do you know why the “plastic” beauty industry thriving like never before off late? It’s the pressure of looking and living the image perceived of you. Especially among women (a clear-cut case of gender inequality) are under immense pressure of not looking their age. Society wants them to be perfect. Wrinkles on face, messy hair, unkempt nails – nothing is pardonable. Why? Even in the matrimonial columns the requirements for a future bride reads “Fair, slim, Good looking, Educated“. Clearly education is not the foremost quality sought after. And God forbid if the bride doesn’t fit the bill in terms of “Beauty” she assumes the position of “Centre of Discussion” for every XYZ who claims to be the well-wisher of the family, ironical isn’t it? Swelling business of beauty business ( working against nature) is a result of our fears of being panned for our looks.
What does Body shaming do? It simply kills the confidence to say the least.
What’s really worrisome? Handing over this hollow and shallow society to our future generations. Bullying in schools and educational institutions with physical attributes as premises is a mirror to what we are training them to be.
Just think about it.
Here’s a video that I came across on Facebook which explains the times we are living in perfectly:
A COURAGEOUS PERSON
Quote of the day
Acceptance of being guilty and wrong requires far more courage than fighting an obvious enemy.
COMPULSIVE LIAR I WAS….
*Note: I wanted to narrate an embarrassing and awkward situation where I was locked in a toilet as I goofed up between Push and Pull but since my friend Pradita penned such a hilarious incident around Toilet, I didn’t want to repeat myself, so here I go…
Before you jump your guns let me finish the title. I “WAS” a compulsive liar as a child when it was about home work (that’s it). I loathed it. I preferred scanning books and digesting the content rather than filling pages (I wasn’t an environmentalist either😂) except for mathematics, because that’s the only way to practice that practical subject.
In that wake my notebooks were always (more or less) incomplete. For example if an exercise had five questions I would submit the work with three. Rest decoration scores. But I had a trump card up my sleeves that I…
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LEARN TO APPRECIATE
Quote of the day
Sometimes a good remark reminds you of your own importance in your own life.
GRANDPARENTS – PAMPERING AND MORE
Your views are invited!
Hi Everyone,
Jaane bhi do beta, bachchein hain” (let it go dear they are kids) often heard my grandparents say this and my in laws and parents saying this whenever my anger is about to erupt at my kids. I am sure all of you must have. “Grand” parents – this generation is always closer to their third generation i.e. “Grand” children.
Grandparents always shower their grandchildren with love, more love and gifts too because they always feel they have been miser in “showing” their love towards their kids. So it is their chance to spend all that they have kept in themselves. And we call it pampering. What do they expect in return? Nothing but time with their grandchildren. They want to relive their childhood walking hand in hand with their third generation.
So do grandparents stand synonym to pampering only? Pampering is just like seasoning on a delicious…
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MEDIA- IT MAKES IT HAPPEN
Hi Everyone,
We all have been watching movies/ advertisements since childhood. Not only that, many bits from this virtual world of media have etched a deeper place in our hearts and minds. A memory saved, a habit acquired, a style followed, imitation or emulation or simply given a thought about something that has been seen, it could be anything but not ineffective. Isn’t it true?
Since we are talking about community cleanliness I want to talk about how media both print and electronic could influence/ rather influencing the efforts in this direction.
Media be it any form-print or electronic impacts our lives in one or other way. I am not talking any rocket science. But how could media act as a catalyst in instigating a change, be it a thought or a process. It is simple. It is the reach media have that makes it an important player when change…
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LEARN TO LAUGH
Quote of the day
Learn to laugh at your own follies and miseries, then you won’t have an audience mocking at them.
DO WE LIVE BY CHRONOS TIME OR KAIROS TIME?
With the second month of the year almost drawing to an end I might look too late to share this fabulous piece. But then the very essence of the message delivered in this article shouldn’t be missed, therefore here it is. Penned by friend Chiradeep (Charlie of Candles Family 😀) definitely deserves your time. Take a look:
CHRONOS and KAIROS are two Greek words which have been used to describe TIME. Chronos refers to the chronological time and Kairos refers to the indeterminate moment or the opportune moment that is right for something to occur.
A new year doesn’t bring any changes to our life. It is just a part of the Chronos time which begins when another calendar year finishes. That’s why Sreepriya testified, for her, a New Year came and went as yet another normal day. There was never a celebration or a get-together. It was just a normal day to look forward to. Even for me this new year didn’t bring anything good apart from a reason to thank the Lord for letting me step into it.
A date, a time really can not take away our sorrows and bring joys into our life. In fact, the day or time we experience joy is the day or…
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Silence Isn’t Golden In An Abusive Relationship
It’s almost a regime for me to talk to my bestie. We share our deepest darkest secrets, hearty laughs, saddest moments day in and day out. Few days back amidst such exchange of emotions she told me about a brawl that broke down in the premises of her husband’s office following a missed call. You […]
via SILENT ISN’T GOLDEN IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP — Candles Online
