Swara Bhasker hits back at postpartum trolls: My body isn't your business

Swara Bhasker has responded to trolling over her postpartum weight after sharing a throwback post. She said she chose not to "bounce back" and criticised the pressure on women to meet beauty standards after childbirth.

In Short

• Swara Bhasker’s latest post brought together her response to trolling
• She shared a screenshot of a troll questioning her transformation and career
• Bhasker said motherhood changes life fundamentally and bodies need not revert

Actor Swara Bhasker has spoken against body-shaming and the expectations placed on women after childbirth, saying she has faced repeated criticism over her postpartum weight and has no intention of “bouncing back” to meet standards set by strangers online. Bhasker, who welcomed her daughter Raabiyaa in 2023, said women’s bodies should not be reduced to appearance, sexualisation or glamour.

Her remarks came after she shared a throwback picture from 2018 and received insensitive comments on social media. She also posted a screenshot of one such message, which questioned her transformation and career. Bhasker criticised what she described as the lack of “self-awareness” behind such remarks and the casual cruelty of online trolling.

What Swara Bhasker said

Bhasker shared a collage of an older photograph alongside a recent picture of her holding her daughter. Raabiya. Reacting to the backlash, she wrote that the anger directed at her for not losing weight on other people’s timelines was “bizarre” and said women’s bodies have a greater purpose than meeting beauty standards or serving as “hangers for glamour”.

“This is a hill I will repeatedly die on! The kind of rage and anger I’ve encountered in the last few years because my body has changed after childbirth and because I refuse to lose the weight on the timeline of strangers on the internet.. is bizarre! I want to say it- again and again. Women’s bodies have more purpose than sexualisation and being hangers for glamour (sic),” she wrote.

Speaking about her journey after motherhood, Bhasker said she had consciously chosen not to “bounce back”, adding that life changes fundamentally after having a child. She said many women may miss their earlier selves, but trying to force the body to return to a past version could amount to self-cruelty.

“After I had a baby (now 2.5 years ago) i chose NOT TO BOUNCE BACK. Because once you have a baby- there’s no back- you are a parent for the rest of your life. Life changes fundamentally, and that’s okay. Of course, we miss our old life, our young and free version, our thinner and tighter bodies, but to mindlessly keep idealising our younger, thinner selves- to force our bodies to bounce back or here and there and fit into versions of your past that are gone, is a kind of cruelty (sic),” she added.

On postpartum scrutiny and trolling

Bhasker also described the constant scrutiny of women’s bodies after pregnancy as “unintelligent and nasty”, and said a woman’s appearance was nobody else’s concern. Addressing those who linked her looks to her profession, she said acting talent had nothing to do with weight or conventional beauty.

“Our bodies have conceived, carried, nurtured, delivered and nourished a whole other human being. Of course they will change and that’s okay!!!!! This constant pressure to look desirable for the camera or internet or strangers, this incessant shaming of women for carrying postpartum weight, the judgment of women for not losing or not wanting to lose weight it is both unintelligent and nasty. It’s nobody’s business. Women should live their lives the way they want. And no, this is not an argument against fitness (sic),” she wrote.

The actor has also been outspoken on various social issues and often uses her platform to engage with her audience on questions around societal norms. She was last seen in the show Pati, Patni Aur Panga, and her last film was Jahaan Chaar Yaar (2022).

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