The mini series Who Do You Think You Are aired one episode in particular, starring British radio and television presenter Anita Rani, which was especially moving. We watched as she explored her family’s history, which made her realise how lucky she is to be the first generation in her family to have choice in her life.

On the show, she learned about how her ancestors lived during the partition of India, discovered that her grandfather’s first wife, along with other women, ended their own life when the village came under attack.

“I discovered all of this outrageous stuff about how little say women had in their own lives, so it really empowered me to want to use my platform and my voice. And I’m really lucky that I’m living at a time when this is all on the agenda, and about time too really,” she said.

“We need more women in positions of power, that is what absolutely needs to change,” she added.

In her two-part documentary, My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947, she explored her history in depth. She describes her experience as “so extreme and so raw, and deeply personal, and horrific”.

“It was a just pure emotion that I probably wouldn’t have shown in my real life,” she admitted. “I had the most remarkable response to it and that in itself was really heartening, everyone saying ‘my god, thank you for showing that story’.

The decision by BBC One to air her documentary was immensely appreciated by Anita. And now that she is so acutely aware of her roots, she is welcoming 2018 by ending this year on a positive note. Her new campaign calls for companies to create an equal dress code for all genders in the workplace.

“I didn’t have a lipstick until I started working as a presenter,” she said, discussing how working on television affected her self-image.

“The first time I got a lipstick was when I got my first TV job, because I felt that’s what people do, you wear makeup on television. And I often got it wrong, [with] the stress I put myself under, just thinking about what to wear for different jobs I had in the past. It’s got better now as I’ve got older, but it can still be very stressful.”

Pointing out the very stigma of society that pressurises a woman to follow the norms, Anita pointed out the detrimental habit of people to comment on a woman’s appearance.

“Women have just got on with it in the work environment and learnt to deal with comments, but actually they can be very detrimental,” she said. “They can hurt your feelings, knock your confidence, make you feel confused. All sorts of reactions can come off the back of one flippant comment.”

In recent times many have raised their voice against the blatant neglect of the negative effects body shaming has on an individual’s confidence and Anita Rani is another powerful voice joining them.

H/T: Huffington Post