Suhana Khan, the daughter of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, turns 22 today, and is known for speaking her mind on issues such as misogyny and body shaming.
She has been trolled and despised since she was a child simply because of her dark complexion. She has been constantly harassed by trolls on social media. But she never lets the hatred get to her, and she always attempts to convey herself in a productive manner.
Here are some instances when Suhana Khan spoke about important issues.
When She Shared Her Experiences With Colourism and How She Is Proud of Her Height and Complexion
Suhana Khan took to Instagram to criticize India's obsession with fair skin and the stigma attached to dark skin. The then 20-year-old spoke about how she has been called ugly because of her skin tone since she was 12 years old.
This post was also directed at internet trolls who kept making comments about Suhana's skin tone being lighter than usual in a recent photo. She also shared screenshots of some of the messages she received.
She went on to say that hating one's own people is a sign of insecurity, and that height or skin colour should not be used to judge someone's beauty. "I hope it helps to know that I'm 5'3" and brown, and I'm proud of it, as should you be." She signed off the note with the hashtag #endcolorism.
When She Advocated Self Love
Being a member of the Khan family isn't always fun and games, and Suhana admits that dealing with the trolls is the downside of fame. She spoke about how despite having everything at home, there are still challenges she has to face outside. It's still difficult for her because people assume they can judge her. In particular, on social media.
"There are so many people talking about you. They don’t know you, and they don’t know what they’re talking about, but they’re just talking. And that can mess with your self-confidence. I keep telling myself that haters are going to hate, but I can’t honestly say that I don’t get upset by it. It’s annoying, but I keep telling myself other people have bigger problems," she told Vogue.
She spoke out against racism and self love in a social media post and said, “There’s a lot going on right now and this is one of the issues we need to fix!! this isn’t just about me, it’s about every young girl/boy who has grown up feeling inferior for absolutely no reason."
When She Spoke About Unwanted Media Attention
In an interview with Vogue, the 21-year-old discussed what it's like to be Shah Rukh Khan's daughter and how their relationship has evolved over time to the point where they are now bestfriends who discuss everything from last-minute exam prep to boyfriends.
Suhana added, when asked about her father's stardom, "I realised quite early on that it was different for us. But I never really thought about my dad being famous. When I was about five, he would come and drop me to school, and people would point and stare. He wasn’t being addressed as Suhana’s dad, which is what I wanted. It confused me. He would want to hug me, and I would push him back in the car. I hated the attention, it made me very self-conscious.”
“I realised if I wanted to hug my dad, he’s my dad—I’m just going to hug him”, she added.
When She Urged People to Stay Safe During COVID-19
COVID-19 has caused havoc in India for the past two years. Every day, there was a new high in coronavirus cases across the country. Suhana Khan, seeing the rise in cases, took to her Instagram stories and had urged everyone to stay safe. Suhana had posted a graph of rising coronavirus cases in the country, along with the words "Stay Safe" and a heart emoji.
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