Samantha Akkineni shares Sameera Reddy’s video against body shaming: ‘No tricks, no make-up, just me owning it’
Samantha Akkineni showed support for fellow actor Sameera Reddy, who had posted a video on , her struggles with weight and skin colour and how she became body positive.
Actor Samantha Akkineni on Thursday shared a video of fellow actor Sameera Reddy, where the latter is speaking against body shaming. Samantha also added a red heart emoji along with it.
Samantha took to her Instagram stories to share Sameera’s video. Earlier, sharing the video, Sameera had written: “I had a message from a mom who says she feels ‘fat’ ‘ugly’ and ‘not beautiful’ with her post baby fat . She said she looked at me and felt dejected . OMG!!! So here are my morning swelly eyes . No tricks no make up just me owning it! And I’m hoping that this enforces a positive spin on our own expectations of ourselves . I feel coming back to the public view in a way that I feel no pressure for my own mental health has helped me stay focused on being a good mother and a person who is self accepting that makes it a healthier space for all around me . Don’t dwell on what you are not and what you don’t have ! Let’s focus on the good we are all #imperfectlyperfect #loveyourself #justthewayyouare #keepingitreal.”
The actor said ‘fat and ugly’ are the “words that I fight against. I try to be fearless and show exactly how it is. I don’t want people to follow me to compare. I grew up always being compared to my stick-thin sisters and then I went into the industry where I was compared to everybody.”
Many industry colleagues dropped messages of encouragement. Actor Shamita Shetty dropped appreciative emojis, while designer Anita Dongre dropped black heart emojis. Tisca Chopra wrote “Huggs” in the comments box.
An Instagram user dropped a sensitive note on lack of appreciation growing up. She said: “I have always been studious and did extremely well during school. But when it came to recognition it always went to beautiful girls like pics in school magazines, news paper ads and performances. How much can a young heart bear? So, I eventually gave in thinking being smart didn’t really mattered that much and beauty is all that matters. I was depressed and gave up studies at some point and didn’t really have someone to talk me out of this shit. But somehow I overcame it and feel much confident now. Thank you for normalsizing that looking beautiful isn’t the penultimate of a woman’s life. We have Countries to lead, planets to explore, glass ceilings to shatter and beyond a beautiful heart to do anything and everything that we put it to. Love you Sameera.”
Sameera has for long advocated against any kind of discrimination that people, more so women, face with regard to their skin colour and pregnancy related weight gain. She has often spoken about the pressure emerging from the need to conform to society’s stereotypes.
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