14 DAY TRIAL // Despite winning the Miss World title many years ago, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai is still considered the world's most beautiful woman – or was, until recently when fans went up in arms against her for refusing to lose the pregnancy weight.
Rai gave birth last November and, unlike other celebrity moms, she's not stressing about losing the weight she gained while pregnant saying that she would rather “enjoy motherhood” instead.
Be that as it may but her fans are not happy, the Daily Mail informs. In a strange twist of events, they're actually turning on her to accuse her of letting them down by refusing to slim down.
As they see it, she is a celebrity first and foremost and, as one, it's her “duty” to bounce back into shape right after giving birth, no matter what.
“Commentators have been unkind, lambasting the star for letting her fans down,” the Mail reports, adding that there's been furious speculation on Rai's upcoming appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Many have gone a step further, suggesting the star has a 'duty' to her fans to regain her pre-pregnancy figure,” the same media outlet reports.
“One website posted a video of the star looking less than her usual svelte self, flicking between photographs of her pre-birth, and photos now,” adds the Mail.
The comments to that video are just as unkind, with a woman saying on voiceover it was time Aishwarya hired a trainer to help her regain her figure.
Aishwarya's case has opened a debate in the country on celebrities' duty to do right by the fans who support their career, the aforementioned publication notes.
“Aishwarya is like a goddess. She is held up as the ideal of beauty and so there is an expectation on her to look perfect at all times,” showbiz columnist Shobhaa Dé is quoted as saying.
Motherhood is no exception, it turns out.
“The role models being held up are Angelina Jolie and Victoria Beckham, but our body frames are different – we have wider hips and curves – so this whole business of looking desperately skinny two weeks after giving birth is a western import,” Dé adds.
We will refrain from posting or linking to any of the videos mentioned above but we've seen one of them and, trust us, it's upsetting.