MANASVI SHARMA BAWA

While I was growing up, I was always that gawky teenager who would hunch and try and hide from the World. I always felt “not so confident” in my body. I would ask myself the usual questions, why do I have to be tall while all my friends aren’t? Why do I have boobs? Why do I not have a bigger bum? Why is my hair so long? Why are my eyebrows so bushy? WHY!!!!

A whiny little thing, aren’t I? When I would complain to my friends about my sudden “growth spurt” the usual answers would be, “oh, stop complaining, you are so lucky!”. Uh, well. The grass is always greener on the other side, eh? Remember when you were 12 and growing mosquito bites for the first time and were so absurdly proud of yourself? And then, bam! You from throwing water balloons at the boys to sporting them on our chests or backsides in a little over a summer.

Also, WHY IS LINGERIE SO EXPENSIVE? What the hell man! IT IS A BASIC NECESSITY and yet, it costs me a kidney and some extra cash in hand to buy one! I mean, I have to plan my lingerie shopping to make sure I am not left bankrupt at the end.

Speaking of lingerie, have you ever wondered how difficult it is for women with larger sizes to shop for themselves? When we do land up with something that fits and doesn’t feel like a cage, we don’t get a choice of color. I mean, is it because women with big boobs are  being punished for being the way they are? The color choices for us include, white, black and a beige. Sometimes we get an off red in the mix but that is rare. Thank you boob police, you make your point and hate very clear.

I digress.

The number of ‘whys’ in life are plenty. I have felt the why’s almost all of my 27 years. But it does make me step back and think, should I be ashamed of my body? I have stretch marks from suddenly gaining height, I have boobs, I have a special school for zits on my face (cheers hormones!), I don’t have a big bum and nor do I have a flat tummy (just a matter of time, I tell you. Sigh). I don’t look like either of the Hadid sisters and well, I might never be able to look like all those glossy magazine models.

Fun fact: I don’t want to. Neither should you.

Not everyone fits a certain mold society has made for womankind. 36-24-36 is achievable, yes, but it is not the only thing we should be craving for!

What I do want is for the fashion industry to change its standards of “thin” and “not thin”. I want to see more body positive ambassadors out there!

From personal experience,it is preposterous to go shopping for a person like me. I am inverted triangle shape. Which means big on the upper half and measly on the lower, do I ever get clothes my size? HELL NO! It is either too loose because obviously, a woman with bigger boobs will have a bigger waist size or it’s all too small. Duh!

I know, I know. My problems are nowhere close to the issues a LOT more women face when they want to either shop for large or even small sizes. The situation is horrible.

The fashion industry needs to understand that they need to make amazing clothes for ALL SIZES.

They also need to stop telling women what to wear and what not to. This trend about what women over 30 should wear and under 25 shouldn’t is just worthy of rolling your eyes.

My life long dream is to make women all shapes and sizes feel fashionable. Someday, it will be a reality. Until then, be fashionable. Create your own niche and OWN IT.

Until then. Stay Tangled! xx