Social Media Star of The Week: Rytasha Rathore

For calling out the over-sexualisation of a woman’s body and the pressure to conform to a chauvinist idea of beauty

When Rytasha, who regularly addresses body positivity via her social media, shared a post comprising a frontal angle of a man and woman’s torso to address the over-sexualisation of a woman’s body, it was a reminder for her of her own conditioning, “because it is such a dumb thing we do as society”.

A societal problem

“I recently came across a woman talking about modesty culture. She said that the more a culture tells a woman to cover up, the more any part of her body that shows becomes sexualised—even ankles and foreheads. In countries where women aren’t policed for what they wear, there’s less sexualisation of a woman’s body,” she shares.

The over-sexualisation of a woman’s body as well as the idea of the beauty of a female body is a patriarchal construct that has dictated to women for centuries on how they should look and behave, the millennial adds.

Rytasha, who regularly addresses body positivity via her social media

“A breast is a breast. In a woman, it’s more of a mammary gland. And yet we have qualms about breastfeeding in public,” she says.

What’s aesthetically pleasing is defined by the beauty industry and the media. “How will capitalism profit if women start loving themselves for exactly how they are?” Rytasha questions. “Also look at the fact that women are told from a young age that they need to be good looking, keep family members happy, etc.”

Gen Z wokeness

Rytasha worries about Gen Z. Gen Z shows real body and people representation in social and digital media, but it’s also the filter generation.

“Everyone looks like they are channeling one of the Kardashians, or Bella and Gigi Hadid. And these are educated, privileged teens,” Rytasha observes.

But wokeness will stop this, she concludes. “Even if five people who follow me can relate to this, it’s great.”

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From HT Brunch, February 6, 2022

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