Award-winning journalist and author Radhika Sanghani has come to be known for her wit, humor, and candid style of writing. But Sanghani is also the propeller of a body positivity movement that began by chance. “I started a #sideprofileselfie movement where I encouraged people who didn’t like their noses to take a photo of them in side profile and share it on social media,” she recalled in a piece published on Glamour Magazine. Within days, the hashtag went viral, and Sanghani became the unofficial “big nose queen”.
But things weren’t always that simple, and Sanghani road to self acceptance was a long, meandering one. “I had a nose that completely went against society’s definitions of beautiful,” she says. “And so, for my teen years up into my twenties, I always believed I was lacking in the looks department.”
According to Sanghani, her change in attitude began with the rise in body positive movements on social media. “I started to realise that I didn’t have to hate the way I looked; I could learn to love it instead.” Other people followed suit, and the big-nose movement was on its way.
Most recently, Sanghani gave a TedX talk called “How to love yourself”. A body positive campaigner, her third novel titled “30 Things I Love About Myself”, is loosely based on her own self-love journey, and will be published in January 2022.
“The truth is that now I finally find myself beautiful, I’m so much freer, and I can actually enjoy dating rather than living in constant fear that they’ll think I’m not good enough,” says Sanghani. “I don’t need a man to validate me – I just want someone who’s going to add to my life. And if someone doesn’t like my nose, or the fact I’m so vocal about self-love, then I have no qualms in saying goodbye.”
Her uplifting spirit and witty approach towards a heavy loaded subject are worth noting. Follow her social media pages for more updates.
