Mumbai: After facing relentless body-shaming, Swara Bhasker has hit back at trolls, calling out the constant scrutiny women’s bodies are subjected to.
The actor spoke about the unrealistic expectations and often sexualised gaze directed at women, especially those in the public eye, after childbirth.
Reflecting on her postpartum journey following the birth of her daughter, Raabiya, in 2023, she highlighted the barrage of comments about her body.
Swara also recently shared a throwback photo from 2018, which attracted several distasteful and body-shaming remarks from online trolls.
On May 1, Swara shared a screenshot of one such message on her Instagram Stories that read, “Kaha se kaha tak aa gayi ho tum, you were such a great actor… don’t know why???”
Responding to it, she added a text overlay on the story that said, “Love the zero self-awareness of people when they type messages like this.”
After this, Swara took to Instagram on May 2 with a strongly worded post, criticising the double standards and unrealistic expectations imposed on women. She stressed that an actor’s talent is not defined by weight loss.
Her post included a collage juxtaposing a 2018 photo with a recent picture of her holding her daughter Raabiya, captured from behind.
Clapping back at trolls, she wrote, “This is a hill I will repeatedly die on! The kind of rage and anger I’ve encountered in the last few years because my body has changed after childbirth and because I refuse to lose the weight on the timeline of strangers on the internet..is bizarre!”
Swara further said that life changes a lot after becoming a parent, and there is no going back to how things were before.
She added that she chose not to focus on losing weight, and instead wanted to give her time and attention to her child.
“I want to say it – again and again…Women’s bodies have more purpose than sexualisation and being hangers for glamour. After I had a baby (now 2.5 years ago) I chose NOT TO BOUNCE BACK. Because once you have a baby – there’s no back – you are a parent for the rest of your life. Life changes fundamentally and that’s okay,” she said.
She added, “Of course we miss our old life, our young and free version, our thinner and tighter bodies but to mindlessly keep idealising our younger thinner selves – to force our bodies to bounce back or here and there and fit into versions of your past that are gone, is a kind of cruelty. Our bodies have conceived, carried, nurtured, delivered and nourished a whole other human being. Of course they will change and that’s okay!!!!!”
Describing the constant shaming of women for not losing postpartum weight as “both unintelligent and nasty,” she said, “Women should live their lives the way they want. And no, this is not an argument against fitness. Or health. This is an argument to honour our bodies and stop forcing ourselves to remain in boxes we’ve outgrown. Life is an onward forward going journey. It’s okay to give our bodies that grace too.”
Further, emphasising that talent and the ability to perform have no correlation with body weight, she added, “P.S. and to the ‘but you are an actor’ gang- weight and acting ability have zero correlation…Don’t fall into the good looks are essential for actors trap. They are not. Craft and ability are important to be a good actor. Most of the best actors this country has produced were never conventionally good looking!”