Zero/Plus

Shiven Jain
Sep 3, 2023
4 min read

Updated: Oct 20, 2023

By: Shiven Jain

Illustration By Devyani Pandey

TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of sizes & measurements

The year was 2007. Bollywood Star Kareena Kapoor had just finished shooting two of her upcoming releases: the iconic sleeper-hit that was Jab We Met, and Tashan, a film that was positioned as her “big release” for the year but ended up being a major box office bomb. Much of the latter’s promotional campaign was driven by the actor’s body transformation. In an interview, Kapoor said, “I was 68 kilos, and she [nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar] brought me down to 48, which is when I gave that bikini shot for Tashan. I took up that project as a challenge. Adi [producer Aditya Chopra] told me, ‘You need to be super fit to be in this movie. Will you be able to do it?’ And I said, “Of course.” To which he said, “You're quite a heavy girl.” But I was determined. I was ready to challenge my genes, stand there in a bikini and show him that I can have amazing abs."

Kapoor’s size zero look became an instant national sensation. Everyone wanted a body like hers. Everyone wanted to look like her. While the actor has always been cheery while addressing the transformation and its impact on her body, the sheer popularity of this new fad she unknowingly started in the country has played a key role in perpetuating unrealistic body standards, especially among women.

One cannot fault her for it. To lose weight is every human’s right, just as it is to gain weight. One may wonder, how did the trend even come into existence? The obsession with attaining a “size-zero figure” originates from the West. In fact, the trend dates back to 1966, when the term was first used to describe British supermodel Twiggy, popularly known for her delicate features. 2 Equivalent to a UK size 4, a size-zero outfit has a girth that would just about fit an average eight-year old girl — a waist size of just 23 inches.

The size-zero trend has perpetuated eating disorders — especially anorexia nervosa — among women, especially aspiring models in India. And yet, existing research claims that no Indian model has died of anorexia, unlike in the West. There is limited statistical evidence to gauge just how many women in the entertainment and modeling industries are affected by this disorder. The problem is fundamental, and it lies in our vocabulary.

Many aspiring Indian models are simply unaware of what the term means. An article published in The Print says, “some used the word ‘anorexic’ as a synonym of ‘thin’ to describe the preferred body type in the fashion industry, without realizing that it was a reference to a medical condition or an eating disorder.” How then are people going to understand the symptoms of a disorder they don’t even fully recognize?

Symptoms of eating disorders are often disregarded because of commonly used euphemisms such as “dieting.” This unclear demarcation between staying fit and losing weight is also another contributor to why people fail to recognize the symptoms of an eating disorder, often equating being thin to being healthy.

The reason why this happens is fathomable — both begin with a longing to lose weight. Moreover, the decision to go on a diet is frequently motivated by the desire to appear more attractive to others rather than a genuine concern for improving one’s health. It doesn’t help that the conservative environment prevalent in countries like India exacerbates this pressure on young women, pushing them to the brink in their pursuit of weight loss. An interview-excerpt of Harnidh Kaur, a plus-size poet and writer, in the BBC, explains the situation with a great deal of articulacy. The excerpt reads as follows:

Fat shaming, [Kaur] says, is rampant because “most Indians have no idea about boundaries and in our families everyone comments on everyone else's appearance” and although it's “gender agnostic”, it affects women more “since a woman is judged on the basis of how marriageable she is and a fat woman will fall way down on the totem pole”.

Therefore, seeing a lack of representation of plus-size actors and models in the entertainment industry only worsens this sense of alienation felt by people whose body doesn’t necessarily conform to the set societal standards. Bollywood, for instance, has a knack of using overweight characters as a tool for cheap gags and below-the-belt jokes. Take for instance the widely-panned Kabir Singh, which was also among 2019’s biggest box office hits. In a scene, the film’s titular protagonist says, “Fat chicks are like teddy bears. They are soft and loyal. Fat chicks and good looking chicks are a good combination.” Such problematic, fatphobic dialogues only perpetuate the stereotypes against plus-size people, thus furthering

the problem of eating disorders.

While there isn’t enough correlational data between media consumption and eating disorders within an Indian context, according to the National Eating Disorders Association of America, “numerous correlational and experimental studies have linked exposure to the thin ideal in mass media to body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and disordered eating among women.” Even an overview of Indian research does suggest that “culture bears a strong influence on the presentation of ED in India.”

However, slowly but steadily, our country’s media landscape is changing. For instance, in November 2022, we saw the release of Double XL, a comedy led by two plus-size protagonists starring Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi. While the film was a critical and commercial failure — wrapping up its net domestic collections at a mere 60 lacs — it served as a much needed conversation starter. We still have a long way to go; many have argued that the film, despite its positive intentions, ended up fetishizing the very bodies it was talking about. While this is not encouraged, considering the times that we live in, every little step counts. Amidst an industry that thrives on false beauty standards, any form of representation

that cuts through the clutter is a refreshing and welcomed change.

Bibliography:

Overview of Indian Research.” PubMed Central (PMC),

Aug. 2019, doi:10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_461_18.

“Media and Eating Disorders - NEDA.” NEDA,

www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/media-eating-disorders

Kabir Singh. Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, performances by Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi,

T-Series Films, 2019.

Pandey, Geeta. “Double XL: Why Toxic Fat Shaming Is so Rampant in India.” BBC News, 23 Nov. 2022,

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-63699428.

Bhattacharjya, Manjima.

“Behind India&Rsquo;S Glamour Industry: Anorexia, Size Zero and the Elephant in the Room.”