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by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

I think quite arguably, there is a shift in perception with regard to the concept of beauty in the fashion industry at least as far as photographic modeling is concerned. The meaning of beauty is no longer as straitjacketing as it was and is now more inclusive, more broad (pun unintended) and more comprehensive, encompassing a wider variety of body types and sizes. However I didn’t think that this shift in perception had carried over to ramp modeling, where I felt that the hanger variety of model still reigned supreme. Continue Reading…

by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

The next must-see film on my agenda is this documentary called America the Beautiful by Darryl Roberts. It reportedly deals with the issue of America’s obsession with beauty. It mainly tells the story of a 12 year old model who obviously does not really remain a child in the cutthroat world of the fashion industry. When you talk about America’s obsession with beauty you obviously have to touch upon America’s obsession with being thin and the attendant insecurities it breeds among people. It then follows, that mention must be made of plastic surgery, which is a huge industry in the US. The documentary also talks about a website called beautifulpeople.net, a dating service which accepts members based on their aesthetic appeal. Continue Reading…

by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

In recent times, there’s been a lot of column inches and TV minutes devoted to the newly thin Kareena Kapoor, one of India’s top actors. Apparently she decided she wanted to be uber slim for her action role in the movie Tashan, and she has been at pains to tell everyone that it was yoga (and nothing extreme or surgical) that was behind her ‘transformation’. Her journey to size zero has been rather too well documented by the media. Continue Reading…