Are large women sexy too?

The latest issue of international fashion magazine V is dedicated to skimpily clad, large and curvy female models flaunting their flabby tummies, powerful thighs and fleshy midsections. The editors of the publication mean no insult to large-sized women but instead want to prove a point — that everybody in this world is beautiful. This issue has stirred up a debate worldwide and while some have praised the decision to highlight larger models as bold, others have criticised it. DNA asked Mumbaikars what they think…

Keep it thin

Perfect women models on our magazine covers have a great aspirational value attached to them. Other women tend to look up to them. It could be a risky business proposition if you want to feature large-sized models. It’s not the right time for India as a market to experiment with such a thing. Maybe few years down the line, when the market is more mature, people will be open to seeing a large model on the cover.
- Dabboo Ratnani, photographer

It’s actually disgusting to see a round and bulky model! As a model it’s a crime to have flesh on your body. If you are large you should be like Cindy Crawford who is 5’10 and yet she looks great in photographs. The case is the same if you have a model like Deepti Gujral. Their bodies are very large but are in exact
proportion to their height. A bulky model is a big ‘No’.
- Atul Kasbekar, photographer

The best part of being slim is that all kinds of clothes fit immaculately on the body and enhance your appeal by leaps. It’s the same reason fashion designers across the world prefer slim to showcase their designs. It has an impact on the saleability factor of the business. Moreover, it’s quite unhealthy to be large-sized. Any woman is better off being slim than being large.
- Queenie Singh, jewellery designer

Being slim is a trend which has caught on in the Indian film industry in the last decade, all thanks to Hollywood. At least now and for the next few years to come, you will not see bulky women featuring in Hindi films unless it’s a definite requirement of the script.
- Madhur Bhandarkar, film-maker

Bulky is sexy

All Indian men find the idea of large women quite sexy…just walk on the road and you will know. The average Indian woman has always been curvy and voluptuous by nature, maybe due to lack of exercise or the Indian diet. Most of the women in South Indian movies are still big and they look so hot! I think this obsession with slim bodies is not at all an Indian idea. It seems like a forced Western idea which is being fuelled by the media and advertising all the more.
- Ash Chandler, comedian

I have a fond liking for large and voluptuous women. Marilyn Monroe is the finest example of large and formidable beauties. Personally, I prefer curvaceous bodies because they tend to have a sex appeal which exudes a kind of confidence. Being slim is only a trend which will not last long. 
- Malini Ramani, fashion designer

Men like flesh. Look at the Kamasutra or go to Khajuraho. You will not find a single Indian woman who has been portrayed as slim. All of them have voluptuous and large bodies. Even today when people see a slim woman, the first question they ask is, ‘Arre khana nahi khaate?’ Till a decade ago all Indian heroines like Sridevi, Madhuri (Dixit), Raveena (Tandon) were large. Even when Bipasha (Basu) starred in Jism, she was voluptuous and not slim. Today something has corrupted the minds of women and they have gotten obsessed with slim figures.

- Pooja Bhatt, actor-turned-film-maker

This entire image of slimness which has been created in our country is purely fictional. If you turn around you will find that large-sized women are the reality. Frankly, it doesn’t make the slightest of difference to most men if a woman is large. Men will always find a woman sexy if she can carry herself well.
- Vir Das, comedian