To Bikini or Not to Bikini

Summer is here and the "Bikini Bod" is in high demand. Here is an interesting read:


Happiness is a state of undress: why it’s time to stop worrying and love the bikini ...

You know the dream where you are at the office, or walking down a busy street, and you suddenly realise you are completely naked? The dream is supposed to be about shame and inadequacy, but I’ve long suspected that it’s really about beach holidays. They can strike an unseasonal chill into the female heart, because—unless you’re a cabaret artiste or a model—a bikini is the most revealing thing you are ever likely to wear in public. For many women, the prospect of a beach holiday is like getting an invitation to a wonderful party with fantastic people in a beautiful setting, and then seeing that it says “dress: underwear”.

Read the full story here
Rebecca Willis is Associate Editor at Intelligent Life. Illustration: Bill Brown

Mustache speaks up

Women have an antagonistic relationship with their facial hair. While facial hair make a man A MAN. Facial hair make a woman a man also. Or so women are to believe and hence spend their entire lives fighting this "home-grown terrorist". 

What if our facial hair could talk to us? Ever wonder how our mustache feels? I think he might say something like this..........

Hello ladies! I am The Moonch. I surround your luscious lips. I give definition to your lips. When the gentle sweet breath from your nostrils touches my every pore…in and out. In and out. I bristle with excitement. And when you have a runny nose I protect your lips from a direct hit by your nasal fluid. I take a hit for you baby. Why you no love me? I am important. I make you look powerful. Women with The Moonch are feared. With all this talk of women’s lib why do you not want to embrace me?

A few of you wear me with pride. The other day I saw one of you standing outside Traders Joe wine shop. She wore me with inch long pride. She loves me, flaunts me, embraces me. She had the most beautiful smile I've ever seen on a woman. If that woman is in the audience tonight, I LOVE YOU.

Then there are those of you who go to this place which can only be described as a butchery for facial hair. There they have tools like threading, tweezing, bleaching, waxing, creaming etc....

Then there are those of you who try to commit infanticide on me in your homes. Your tools- creams, razors. You see I'm not safe anywhere. Even a hint my existence sends you into a tizzy. You go kamikaze on me. With those extra magnifying mirrors you sit down under harsh light with tweezers in hand. If I didn't know better I would think you're looking for Osama in the mountains of Afghanistan. Not that your skin looks rough like the mountains.....

You keep looking for ways to kill the innocent, well-meaning me. But my nature is such that I try not to take it personally. I forgive and continue to force myself to grow even though I’m unwanted. Do you know how it feels to be unwanted, unappreciated, unloved? I don’t think so. Because you are not The Moonch with an N. It’s a good thing I have a tough skin and I don’t die so easily. I get reincarnated. I suppose I am more Hindu than Hindus. They believe in reincarnation, they think it exists but they have never really experienced it themselves. I am a living proof of reincarnation. I live incarnation. I live IN incarnation. I might as well be a Hindu God.

But I digress. Look I'm here to make peace. You have found many ways to attack me but I've been quiet. Patient. But resilient. My resilience may remind you of Shahrukh Khan in Darr. My love for you is like his love for Juhi Chawla or like Glenn Close’s love for Michael Douglas.

I love you. So I'm here to plead with you. I've heard that you've come up with a new tool to get rid of me. And apparently this one is a sure shot at killing me. I don't want to die. Please...no electrolysis. No..... LASER! No ELECTROLYSIS!

We can work something out. I will grow slowly- how about that? So instead of dealing with me every other day, you'll have to deal with me only once a week......ok once in two weeks....ok once a month but I can't slow down any more than that. What do you say?
Silence? Silence?...Sounds like your resolve to kill me is resolute. Fuck! Come on don't push me. I'm desperate. I need you to want me, to keep me, to nurture me. Ok may be not nurture but……. Come on....I’m not so bad.

Looks like you are not going to stop your assault on me. Well in that case I have no choice but to go rogue. You are turning me into an extremist. It’s the fight for survival. I finally understand those terrorists. They are left with no choice just like you are leaving me no other choice. Enough, I say enough. That’s it. I am going rogue. I pledge to grow SO fast and furious that you will not be able to keep up with me. As you grow older, I will grow stronger. You can try to eradicate me baby, but I am a lover gone crazy. My love for you is till death do us part. Like Patrick Swayze I will haunt you. Like Shahrukh Khan I will stalk you. And like Glenn Close I will boil your pet rabbit. I am your Bunny Boiler baby! Bring on the lasers! The Moonch is ready for you now. Proceed with caution!

The Ugly Meter

Now there is an App for i-phone that will tell you if you are ugly or not- according to "it".

Did you know that from the late 1860s until the 1970s, several American cities had ugly laws making it illegal for persons with "unsightly or disgusting" disabilities to appear in public. Some of these laws were called Unsightly Beggar Ordinances. The goal of these laws was seemingly to preserve the quality of life for the community, similar in spirit to current homeowners association regulations and by-laws. Here's the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_law

I don't even know what to say.According to a news report on NBCDFW.com The New Face of Anorexia is Older Than 30. A Dallas doctor says he's treating more people who are older than 30 for anorexia than ever before. Watch this:



While at the same time today on the news I saw that eating disorders in young kids and teenagers have been reported to have increased 50%.

This is why I wrote Bodylogue.

Diet & Depression

By Dr. Christian Reichardt

The Problem: Depression

The Cause:
1-Trans-and saturated fats can prevent the brain's neurotransmitters from working properly.
2-Low-carb, high protein diets cause a drop in serotonin, which are the "happy" neurotransmitters that are produced by low -index carbs!

Sounds like the diets that were very popular over the last 15 years can contribute to depression, one of the leading health issues in our society! Coincidence? I think not!!

That is why I recommend as many fresh, low index carb foods as possible! It keeps the body balanced and is good for the brain!! This is an aspect of health that is relatively easy to implement into your daily life!

Back to the beginning or Starting in the reverse

I am 1 week shy of completing 4 months without blogging here. Thought about writing many times but somehow I just didn't make it. So then why now? Well, I have little more perspective on things and feel like I can write something more cohesive than I could have before.

So much has happened that I don't know where to begin. I have not been dieting for a little over a year now. It was my commitment to my play, Bodylogue. I just couldn't in good conscience. Things have shifted a bit. I am now in Los Angeles. This city intimidates the hell out of me. After doing Bodylogue in NYC I thought I have a better handle on my body-image issues. Well, no better way than to test it than to go home for a wedding and having to get blouses altered because they were stitched when I was dieting. The good thing in India is that you can be a bit over weight and wear shalwar kameez and still look trendy. This all changes when I come to the US. Here I can't really wear Indian clothes all the time. Not that I don't want to, but my profession is such that I cannot.

So, back to wearing jeans. And in the past year I have realized that I don't enjoy wearing jeans. They are the most uncomfortable clothing item one can possess. If they are not fitted jeans you can't wear them. If they are fitted, they look good and easy as long as you are standing. The moment you sit down the waist-band and the button digs into your stomach and no matter how thin you are, it gives you a nice roll of fat. And god forbid if you were wearing a fitting top. Now in the sitting position all you will do is pull and tug on your top to make sure your newly acquired roll of fat can be hidden. Not to mention the discomfort of the waistband and the button digging in. I acquired a pair of prego jeans sometime ago (no I am not pregnant). And they are the most comfy jeans I have ever.....EVER worn. My god....why can they not make those kinds of jeans for all women?

Anyway, I digress. So, here I am in Los Angeles and guess what? As we say in Hindi "mere confidence ki to watt lag gayi hai". For non-Hindi speakers, it means my confidence has gone to shit. For the month that I have been here I have been trying to avoid accepting the fact that I feel this way. But enough is enough. I cannot deny anymore.

Oh a little tangent here: my lovely husband has been losing weight this summer and guess what I have had a tough time being happy for him. I felt pretty awful that I didn't rejoice in his joy right away. Instead I felt jealous and .....well you know how it goes. So....as we say in Hindi this is like "jale pe namak chidakna". For non-Hindi speakers it means to put salt on an open wound.

Okay back to me now. So, now that I am done denying that I feel not-so-presentable to the world, what next you might wonder....Well, I have decided to go on a "diet" again. Yes I know......wrong from many many perspectives. But here is how I have justified it to myself.

Most important is to feel confident. I don't know what Los Angeles is like. I still only have preconceived ideas about its people who all are (as a douche-bag agent likes to call them) God-send. When I walk around here in my "keep-it-real" NYC clothes I feel like one of the Mexican maids that works in rich people's houses here. May be my NYC clothes were not very trendy to begin with, but at least I didn't feel......oh wait....even in NYC I felt shitty....hmmm.....looks like I just got caught in my own trap.

Start again- my big idea is that I will diet and that will make me confident. When I am confident I will go hunt for work. When I get work I will feel more confident. When I feel more confident that will make me relax and I can get off the diet. And perhaps then....I can feel at peace. hmmm....having written it out now .....me thinks this is a shitty plan. But at least it is A plan.

If you are reading, you are one of the very few that do, I am sure you think I have gone crazy. Well, I agree with you. I also think I have gone crazy.

Oh as for doing Bodylogue in Los Angeles......yeah....still need to work on that plan.
Thanks for reading.

Who do you side with? Lane Bryant or ABC/FOX

Below is the latest debate that brings the size of the female body into focus. Read and watch below as you please. Personally, I was out-raged when I read that FOX and ABC refused to air the ad. But then I saw the ad (video below) I wasn't sure anymore. Here's why: the ad IS racy. Just like the Victoria Secrets bra ads are. And I have a basic issue with sexualizing the female body to sell products. So, here is Lane Bryant selling their product by "using" the female body. On one hand it is great because we see that bigger women can also be "sexy". But was saddens me is the narrow understanding of the word "sexy". Why does it have to mean fewer clothes and posing in sexually provocative ways? So,....with these mixed feelings I share the news report and the Lane Bryant ad itself.

Lane Bryant Says ABC and Fox Didn’t Want to Air Their Lingerie Commercial

Plus-size label Lane Bryant created a commercial for their new Cacique line of lingerie, which the label claims Fox and ABC agreed to air but then didn't really want to. Lane Bryant suggests they have an unfair issue airing images of curvy women in lingerie, while they have no problem with Victoria's Secret's racy ads. The company posted a little rant on their blog, alleging that ABC "restricted our airtime" and refused to air the ad during Dancing With the Stars. Meanwhile Fox, they say, "demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final ten minutes of American Idol, but only after we threatened to pull the ad buy."

"Yes, these are the same networks that have scantily-clad housewives so desperate they seduce every man on the block — and don't forget Bart Simpson, who has shown us the moon more often than NASA — all in what they call 'family hour.' ... Does this smack of a double standard? Yep. It does to us, too."

Bryant says the networks had a problem with the cleavage in the ad, which you can watch below. We don't see that it's much different from a Victoria's Secret ad. The girls don't have fans blowing in their faces or vampy shadow effects or sexy jazz hands or aggressive synchronized walks like VS ads do. Sure, they have bigger bosoms. But as far as raciness goes, it doesn't feel more shocking than anything else on TV. The tans and styling on Dancing With the Stars could probably use more toning down than this commercial.

Breathe breathe

Breathe breathe...in the face of racism.
Breathe breathe...in the face of ugliness.
Breathe breathe...in the face of superiority.
Breathe breathe...in the face of priviledge.
Breathe breathe...in the face of ignorance.
Breathe breathe...in the face of ridicule.
Breathe breathe breathe breathe breathe.