TURNING PASSION INTO ACTION – SHALINI
The first time I decided I could be a model was when I was 14. I was scouted at a mall in Mumbai, and my parents immediately said, “No, you’re not modeling. You’re too young. You’re going to stay in school.”
All of high school, that was all I could think about. I started modeling locally in Vizag, India, as soon as I was done with high school. I started modeling professionally in Hyderabad when I was 21.
The girls at castings that were getting selected were all very, very skinny. And so I put a lot of pressure on myself to be that girl because I wanted to succeed. And I developed anorexia and bulimia.
That lasted five or six years, and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I realized I had a problem.
I think that there are definitely times when agencies ask their girls to lose weight, and that is a problem. But I think a lot of it is just inherent to the industry because sample sizes are so small, and because the thinner you are, the more celebrated you are.
Every day that you’re working as a model, you’re objectified somehow. You know, if it’s just a simple term of you being a ‘mannequin’ or a ‘model,” like you’re not a person and you’re just a vehicle for the clothing or the makeup or the hair.” I’ve had pressure to change my look. I can recall comments about my skin or comments about my size or comments about my hair. The hair thing used to come up so much. It was insane: “Why don’t you just relax your hair, or why don’t you just perm it straight?” And I just said, “No, I have curly hair. I love it.”