The Body Monologues

My university in Ann Arbor, USA recently hosted an event called 'Body Monologues', greatly inspired by the popular Vagina Monologues series. An empowering venture, the event showcased spoken word poetry and speeches about body image and issues from a diverse group of people. Adding hilarious jokes, the performers shook the audience into laughter as they talked about appearance issues they have battled with during their lives such as for being anorexic, homosexual or someone of colour.

However, the first part of the show impacted me the most because it was opened by a Bengali American girl. Shy and yet eloquent, she stood tall and proud on the stage and talked about how as a Bengali living in America, she had constantly been the target of body shaming for not showing enough skin in front of her friends and always feeling like the outsider in school and society. I could greatly relate to her issues, having faced similar situations. I applauded her strongly when she ended by talking about how she always incorporated her cultural values into her appearance even if they were deemed outside the usual fashion trends. Our culture is not oppressive, she added vehemently, but it certainly taught her to be unique in a field of American faces and traditions. It helped her become herself, she concluded. It helped her live life as a Bengali in America.

Samiha Matin
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor