The Battle Against 'Body Shaming'

The battle against body shaming.

- Shreya Sethuraman

  

She was the only member of her family who tested positive on a test conducted at a health camp in November 2011. Rhema Mukti Baxter was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland does not make enough of the hormone. If one doesn’t have enough one’s body processes slow down, which results in less energy, and one become sluggish. To overcome this, Baxter’s doctor prescribed a pretty strong dose of the hormone. A former student of Delhi Indraprastha College for Women, she gradually began to gain weight. People who have hypothyroidism need to exercise twice as hard, given their low metabolic rate. As she had always been slim the gradual and stubborn weight gain hit her hard.

Not everyone was kind to this change in her appearance. That she was still as witty, retained the mischievous glint in her eyes and would flash her toothy grin didn’t make any difference. Some people without even saying ‘hello’, would immediately comment on how ‘fat’ she’ become, not caring about how it mad her feel. Baxter wore black, had pictures taken at a certain angle in the famous hands-on-waist posture—anything to feel better. People still flung the three-letter adjective at her, and it hurt. “Being called ‘fat’ is never a nice thing As a kid, ‘