Monday’s Met Gala may have been all that the media could talk about, but Padma Lakshmi’s Sports Illustrated cover is all that certain people (it’s me, I’m people) could think about. The multi-hyphenate — best-selling author, TV host, and model — debuted her first ever Sports Illustrated cover on May 1, much to the delight of fans and celebrities alike. And unlike this year’s Met Gala theme, it’s very much worth the hype.
“Padma’s list of accomplishments is as stunning as she is, and it’s an absolute honor to feature her in the 2023 issue,” SI editor MJ Day said in an article about the shoot. “At 52, she has curated a life that represents who she authentically is: a powerful, beautiful, brilliant, accomplished woman in her prime.”
The headlines surrounding Lakshmi’s photoshoot all emphasize posing in a chic, skimpy swimsuit at 52. Lakshmi herself has even brought up the subversiveness of it. “I want everybody to see this pictorial and understand that sometimes a whole new phase that’s even more exciting than anything you’ve ever experienced before can happen well over 40,” she told the magazine. If anything, 2023 has affirmed Lakshmi’s sentiment, considering Michelle Yeoh’s historic Oscar win at 60 and Viola Davis’s EGOT status at 57.
But there’s more to celebrate about the cover than Lakshmi’s age. For brown folx everywhere, the most revolutionary part is witnessing the perpetuation of what Lakshmi does best: unwaveringly and unapologetically honoring her autonomy, her desires and her body. This doesn’t always come easy for those in the diaspora because our culture is rife with body policing and respectability politics that imply that women that show a lot of skin are, simply put, worth less.
Shame (I knew it as “sharam”), especially around sexual expression and body positivity, remains a vehicle of patriarchal oppression in South Asian cultures. How women present themselves is judged on an invisible scale of…
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