MUMBAI: Body Shaming is a reality. Not only the female gender, but their male counterparts also have to deal with it. Sad that even in today's day and age people are being judged for the wrong reason and that is affecting their mental health. Actor Sonal Panvar, who has worked on projects such as Woh Apna Sa, Piya Albela, Faceless, Maya 2, Candy and currently a part of Happu Ki Ultan Paltan, talks about it.

“I feel extremely bad for everyone who experiences these insecurities. No matter how strong a human is, deep down it always leaves a mark when someone reminds them of the flaws they have. It’s very common these days to pass comments like “you gained weight". It’s okay to say that, but you should always realise when you are telling this you are reminding them of their journey of gaining weight, it could be very sensitive. You have no idea how it made them feel or how they are feeling right now. I have seen boys and men also dealing with the same insecurities. They are also being told to have a gym freak body and to be in good shape, I feel it’s pretty bad. Any human is much more than how they look, there are a lot of things to discuss other than appearances,” she says.

We as a society and nation unavoidably look at the looks/appearance of a person. Even darker boys and girls are stared at and commented upon in schools, colleges, offices and even in the entertainment industry.

“I have no idea how they define beauty with the idea of being FAIR! Beauty is that we all are blessed with beautiful skin, different complexions, and textures, which should be appreciated because that’s the uniqueness,” she adds.

This is a worldwide truth that your appearance is your first impression, no matter what, and Sonal feels sad about this. “I have experienced so many comments on my height, heard people calling me short, some of them insulted and some of them made a joke more lightly. But it never felt good, it felt bad as I come from a family of people where everyone is tall, but I am not. However, now I look at myself the way I want to and not how they want to. The reason is I made my weaknesses, my strengths,” she says.

In all professional sectors including the entertainment industry people react in a similar pattern. “I believe we should appreciate the uniqueness of a person, especially in the world of art, where we celebrate uniqueness, we should be more aware of this. People are beautiful just the way they are,” she ends.