Erica Fernandes Was Told She Is "Very Skinny": Does Body-Shaming Know No End?

Film and television actor Erica Fernandes recently recalled how she had been body shamed for being "too skinny". The actor revealed that she was advised to 'pad-up' for a role in a South Indian film which made her question her appearance. But do we really need our women to feel insecure about their own bodies just to cater to the male gaze?

Whether it's gaining weight, or being skinny, women are subjected to body shaming for everything. You can't have big breasts but you can't also be flat-chested or else you will need to wear pads to look fuller, as actor Erica Fernandes was advised once. What is this obsession of society with dictating women's appearance and bodies? A woman's body is not an object that can only be deemed "perfect" when it conforms to certain sizes and shapes.

Erica Fernandes Body-Shamed: " Started Questioning Myself"

Erica Fernandes started her career with South Indian films like Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu and Ninnindale. Later she joined the Hindi TV industry and is popularly known for her role of Prerna Sharma in Kasautii Zindagii Kay and Dr Sonakshi Bose in Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi:Nayi Kahani. 

In an interview with ETimes, Erica Fernandes revealed that she was told to be "padded up" for a role in one of the movies as the interviewer asked if she was ever told to look a certain way. She said, "I was very skinny back then. I was 18 year-old when I started doing South films." The actor further added that the makers wanted more "mass" on her and for that, she "had to be padded up to get into the character they wanted to portray".

Erica Fernandes also mentioned that the body shaming took a mental toll on her as she started questioning the way she looked and it played with her self esteem. "It played a huge part in making me an introvert. A lot of things happened in my growing years that made me an introvert, made me stay away from people because I didn’t want to hear a certain thing," she said.

Earlier, actor Ananya Panday, too, opened up about dealing with body shaming as she was often called out for being flat-chested during her childhood. She said, "When I was younger, I would get teased by some people in school saying that “oh, you’re a flat screen” you’re this, you’re that."

The actor also spoke up about sexism in Bollywood and how female actors are often advised to seek treatments in order to look a certain way. "As soon as I started working, people started saying things like, you should get a boob job or change anything about your face," she mentioned in an interview.

Is this what we have reduced women's existance to? Is this how we want women to feel about themselves: low on self esteem and deprived of confidence about their own bodies? Why can't we let women be happy with who they are rather than burdening them with expectations on what they could be? It's high time we drop our double standards and let women be happy in their own skin. Our chest size, our hips, or oven our double chins don't determine our beauty.

Views expressed are the author's own.