Mindy Kaling is no stranger to internet vitriol. In the last year, her name has been a trending topic on both TikTok and Twitter several times, with one common thread: She’s not the representation we need her to be, many have said.
After she made an appearance at the Oscars on Sunday in a white corseted dress that accentuated her thinner body, the comments began to flood in again.
While some praised the 43-year-old writer, comedian and actor for her new look, others bashed her for changing what many saw as a body that challenged the industry’s norm. Now closer to the standard of her Hollywood peers, some say Kaling is no longer the body positive icon that they posited her to be.
It’s a critique that media and body image experts find problematic, mainly because Kaling didn’t ask for any of it.
Critics point to the fact that no one person should be put on a pedestal as the beacon of body positivity or representation, and no one person can shoulder the criticism of a deeply rooted issue like fatphobia in the entertainment industry. Women of color in the spotlight don’t owe the world perfection — however it may be defined in that moment, they said.
“How is this a question about body positivity if we are shaming someone who chooses in their own way to be positive about their body,” said Harleen Singh, an associate professor of South Asian literature and women’s studies at Brandeis University. “I am befuddled.”
While audiences root for people of color like Kaling to break into the mainstream, once they get there, they’re often held to twice the standard and face double the condemnation of their white peers, Singh said.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” she said. “We want women of color, we want South Asians to be in positions where we can look at them as role models. On the other hand, as soon as you gain that prominence in public life, you are immediately subject to a certain kind of irrational expectation, and especially so for women of…
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