Singapore plus-size actors push back against culture of ‘fat-shaming’
- Discrimination based on weight is still common in Singapore and across Asia, activists say, but there are signs it is being challenged
- A new generation of influencers on TikTok and Instagram are reaching a global audience with body-positive messaging
“It just took a longer time for people in Asia to get used to fat acceptance, but it’s growing,” says the 35-year-old, whose show Big Brown Girl shines a light on the prejudices curvy women face when looking for love. “There’s more representation now.”
While many Western countries have seen diverse body shapes in advertising campaigns and fuller-figured models such as Ashley Graham and Paloma Elsesser, Asia is still perceived to be lagging behind.
Singapore’s controversial scheme to weigh schoolchildren and send those regarded as overweight to join mandatory fitness programmes ran from the 1990s to 2007 – but some feel it reinforced prejudices that linger on today.
Activist Aarti Olivia Dubey, who has more than 30,000 followers on her Instagram account “curvesbecomeher”, says: “When it comes to our unconscious biases, when it comes to weight stigma, it’s still very much a problem.”
And while the anonymity of the online world can encourage vitriol from trolls, social media is also helping drive change.