Perfect : To be or not to be

 

I looked it up,

the meaning of ‘perfect’.

It said, absolute or complete,

it said, having all desirable elements.

 

I am human.

The very core of me demands

that I evolve,

that I change.

 

How then,

can I go against my nature

and be absolute,

be complete.

 

How then,

you tell me,

is perfection

at all desirable for me?

 

 

For the purpose of this blog, I went ahead and searched online “who is a perfect woman” and I wasn’t even surprised to find article after article describing the perfect woman, most of which were only talking about the perfect face or the perfect body.

There was one in particular that I found very interesting(read: laughable). It was an article by Daily Mail titled ” The beauty formula: Scientists reveal what makes the perfect woman.” So science had nothing better to do so they went ahead and examined the arithmetic and geometry of a woman’s face and figure.

Let me list them out here for you.

1. High cheekbones. A face longer compared to it’s width.
2. Doe eyes. Eyes at a distance from the ears so as to form a heart shaped face- a golden triangle.
3. Long legs. 30.5 inches to be precise.
4. Curvy body. Because that makes them able to have babies.
5. Hourglass figure. Small waist in proportion to her bottom.
6. Cute nose. A woman’s nose should be 10 per cent smaller than a man’s.
7. Perfect symmetry. Both sides of the face must exactly match.
8. Sweet smile. The mouth should be no less than 50 per cent the width of the face.
9. Big boobs with perfect shape.
10. Curvy spine. It accentuates the bottom.

Waow!

And then you question why there are so many insecure women in the world?

Personally I have had a very long battle with these constructs. I have struggled with the idea of perfect all my life. I have been insecure all my life. First it was my dark skin but slowly that is becoming more acceptable but now white women are becoming insecure because they want to be tan. Then it was wearing glasses and now that has became a fashion statement and everyone has started buying glasses. Then it was my unshapely wavy/curly hair and well now every straight haired girl wishes something more for her hair, wants curls. Then it was my absolutely flat figure but then size zero came about and made that okay but perfectly fit women started starving themselves.

The idea of perfect keeps changing and so the chase never ends and that renders us perpetually insecure.

But the thing to remember is that we are not mathematic solutions. We are not absolute. And nothing is ever constant. Change is the only constant. Through the years, the idea of  perfect will change. Your body will change and so will your personality, your priorities. Even the way you think about yourself, the way you love yourself, will change but the one thing that should never change is that you do in fact love yourself inspite of all the variables in and around you.

When Amy Mehta, the extraordinary woman behind the camera, told me her vision for this shoot, honestly I was equal parts excited and terrified. I have always been very vocal about self love, body positivity, insecurities and mental health but even after all that, being a part of shoots like this does make me feel vulnerable and exposed. But the idea of expressing through my body and creating art is stimulating for me on so many different levels. And looking at the pictures I know this was totally worth it.

To be perfect may be unattainable but feeling perfect can start now and my imperfections feel pretty damn perfect!

This is one of my most favorite clicks from this series. I have very big and prominent ears and I have always been mocked because of them. I don’t care anymore!

This was a project done in collaboration with Ethel Da Costa and Think Geek Media for their upcoming book ‘Eve’s revenge’. It seems to me that the book is going to prove to be a great initiative to break the stereotypes and standards of beauty and perfection and make us fall in love with our own skin.

To all the women out there, You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be! And that is good enough.

May we always remember to love and respect ourselves and extend the same love and respect to others!

A very very Happy International Women’s Day to you!!

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