How Body Shaming Left A Teenager In Trauma

Brut India

She was never conscious about her body until she heard the mean comments. Eventually, she lost weight and also her confidence. Harshita Gupta, who narrates her story in this Tape A Tale video, has just one request: Listen, think and stop body shaming.

Transcript

00:00There was a girl.

00:02And she had only one mistake.

00:04That she was fat.

00:06She didn't think so.

00:08But the world made her feel it.

00:11School, family functions, relatives' houses.

00:14Everywhere people used to say strange things to her.

00:17Don't ever sit on this bike.

00:19If you sit, you'll get a wheelie.

00:21How many stomachs do you have?

00:22One, two, three?

00:24Of course, third included boobs.

00:27One day she went to a function

00:29and sat quietly in the corner.

00:31Then an aunty came to her and said,

00:34Oh dear, you've become so fat.

00:37That's fine.

00:38She's the one who's going to give competition to my daughter.

00:41Her daughter had thyroid.

00:44Back then,

00:45that girl didn't buy clothes herself.

00:47Whatever her mom used to get,

00:49she used to wear.

00:50One day she was getting ready to go to a party.

00:53She looked at herself in the mirror.

00:56She wore a top.

00:58And the tires were clearly visible.

01:01Whenever she used to look at herself like this,

01:04all those comments used to run in her mind.

01:08She took off the top,

01:10wore a night suit,

01:11and told her mom,

01:13that you guys go to the party.

01:15I won't go.

01:17And without saying anything,

01:19she went to sleep quietly.

01:21That girl got so cautious about her body,

01:25that she stopped going to parties,

01:27stopped getting ready,

01:28and even stopped talking to boys.

01:31Because she always felt,

01:33judged,

01:34unwanted,

01:35and not pretty.

01:37She loved the stage.

01:39But so many eyes,

01:41more than her talent,

01:43would consume her body.

01:46She was scared of this.

01:49She started wearing kurtas.

01:51Hashtag traditional love,

01:52hashtag ethnic love.

01:54Not to do this.

01:56But someone had told her,

01:58that wearing indian clothes,

02:00makes you look less fat.

02:02Whenever someone used to comment on her,

02:05she used to come home and cry alone.

02:08And she didn't say anything to anyone.

02:11One day she came to know,

02:12that she is suffering from PCOD.

02:15This disease has different symptoms,

02:17on different parts of the body.

02:19She had excessive weight gain.

02:22The doctor told her,

02:23no matter what happens,

02:25you have to control your body weight.

02:27Otherwise, the disease could get serious.

02:30More than that doctor,

02:32she had to answer some people in life.

02:35She had to answer some comments.

02:37She had to answer those judgmental eyes.

02:41This was 2011.

02:43She stopped eating out,

02:45sweets,

02:46fried,

02:47breads,

02:48in short, all her yummy food.

02:50And started doing regular workouts.

02:53After two years,

02:54she was not size zero.

02:56But she was in such a size,

02:58where she was confident to stand in the crowd.

03:01She thought she won.

03:03But no.

03:05Even after 13 years,

03:07that is, even today,

03:08if she is romantically involved with a boy,

03:11she is very insecure about her body.

03:14She judges her own body,

03:16and is afraid,

03:17that some boy,

03:19like her childhood,

03:21would comment on her body.

03:23According to society standards,

03:25she has lost weight.

03:27But all those stretch marks on her body

03:29still remind her of those comments.

03:33She has accepted her own body.

03:36But even today,

03:37what others will say about her body,

03:39it bothers her somewhere.

03:42By the way,

03:44I have heard that that girl

03:45has started going on stage again.

03:47Now, she faces the camera.

03:50And today,

03:51she is standing in front of you

03:53and narrating a story.

03:55But I am just waiting for that day,

03:57when the bike will pass in front of me,

03:59but I will not think,

04:01that Harshita,

04:02don't sit on that bike,

04:04or else you will get dizzy.

04:06Maybe I will win that day.

04:09And all those people will lose,

04:11who have made me feel,

04:13that I am less than anyone.

04:16And next time,

04:17if you comment on someone's body,

04:20then remember this story.

04:23And if possible,

04:25then stop.

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