In Singapore, plus-size actors take center stage

SINGAPORE-"I dare you, watch me as I undress," sings actress Ross Nasir in a Singaporean musical comedy about dating as a plus-size woman, highlighting a nascent fat acceptance movement in a city-state that once forced children to join weight loss programs.

"Fat-shaming"－discrimination based on weight－is still common in Singapore and across Asia, activists say. But there are signs that the traditional view that only slim can be beautiful is being challenged.

"It just took a longer time for people in Asia to get used to fat acceptance, but it's growing," explained the 35-year-old Nasir, whose show Big Brown Girl shines a light on the prejudices that curvy women face when looking for love.

"There's more representation now."

Activist Aarti Olivia Dubey, who started plus-size fashion blog Curves Become Her and has more than 30,000 followers on Instagram, said shows such as Big Brown Girl are also a sign that society's attitudes are slowly changing. Dubey is among a new generation of influencers on TikTok and Instagram reaching a global audience with body positive messaging.

"When it comes to our unconscious biases, when it comes to weight stigma, it's still very much a problem," she said.

Big Brown Girl is based on the experiences of Nasir, co-writer and director Melissa Sim, and other stories they have gathered over the years.

"When you think of dating or love story or romance, you don't automatically think of it from a perspective of a bigger person," Nasir said.

"When we don't see someone who is similar to our shape and size and color, you begin to think that maybe these things don't happen for these sorts of people－but they do."

The success of Big Brown Girl follows the 2021 hit show The Other F Word, a one-woman autobiographical show by plus-size actress Miriam Cheong.

The 27-year-old grew up during the time when the Singapore government enforced its Trim and Fit scheme, which saw children undergo physical assessment and ordered to do compulsory regular exercise if they were regarded as overweight.

"I thought it was something that I deserved in essence, because I was a fat kid and I was unfit," she admitted, but felt she was being "shamed" for being overweight in hindsight.

While officials credited the program with helping reduce childhood obesity, critics linked it to psychological problems and eating disorders among participants, and it was eventually halted.

A long way to go

Dubey, who became a fat liberation activist after struggling with eating disorders for years, said the fact there are a growing number of shows and discussions around body image and society's unrealistic expectations is a sign of progress.

But the 40-year-old warned that there is still a long way to go.

"People will wonder, well why is this an issue? … That's because fat-shaming is definitely still one of the most acceptable ways of discrimination," she said.

Agencies via Xinhua