Sonali Bendre on body-shaming: ‘I was told you were not a woman if you were not voluptuous enough’

Sonali Bendre talked about 'beauty standards' of the 90s and opened up about her journey after recovering from cancer.

Sonali Bendre opened up about body shaming. (Photo: Sonali Bendre/Instagram)

Opening up about how being ‘skinny’ was never a requirement in the 1990s, actor Sonali Bendre revealed that being ‘voluptuous’ was considered the standard of beauty back then. In an interview, the actor recalled being ‘skinny shamed.’

While speaking with Bollywood Bubble, Bendre said, “Being skinny was definitely not the standard of beauty, so voluptuousness was the standard of beauty, and I was told you were just not a woman enough if you were not voluptuous, you know which it shouldn’t be.” She continued, “I do agree body shaming should not have any part in our society and especially little girls and the kind of ideas they are growing with and the crazy dieting people are doing. People are forgetting that it is not holistic.”

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A post shared by Sonali Bendre (@iamsonalibendre)

Recalling her cancer recovery, the actor said, “I wanted to do this shoot and I wanted to do it with this scar showing because I was scared to show it. I did not know if I could step out without a wig. But then if you’re afraid of it, crush it right there. I was beginning to what was the scary part was, as you know the bloated face, the scar, and the baldness and especially when the hair just starts coming it’s just the most ugly sight.”

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She also revealed how important it is to speak about certain things. “Doctors told me that I had stage 4 cancer and my chance of survival is 30% percent. At one point, Goldie (Behl, husband) sent me a photo of a newspaper’s headline stating that after my news came out and after I started speaking about it, the testing went up and many people went up to get tested.”

Bendre was last seen in the show The Broken News.

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