Social media would have you believe that Indian baddies – gorgeous girls grooving at a Tyla concert — are finally having a moment. But do you have to be skinny to be considered a baddie?
Your waist size doesn’t dictate your worth. Representation pic/iStock
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a baddie as a woman who is confident, stylish, and attractive. The Internet last week defined it as the girls in a now-viral video that shows skinny, model-looking gorgeous girls dancing to Tyla’s song Push 2 Start, at the singer’s recent Mumbai concert. The world seems to be shocked at the existence of Indian baddies — shocked that Indian women can actually look like this.
It shows a complete lack of awareness and I am embarrassed on behalf of the world which didn’t know that Indian women looked like this. But, no offence to the girls in the video, they are not the only Indian baddies. Not by a long shot.
They say that the term baddie started being used in 2010, and was a newer version of the term, bad bi**h, and they both originated in African American slang. Journalist Kenyatta Victoria said in Essence magazine in 2024, “In the late 2010s, being a baddie meant you looked good, got to the bag and stood on business if things got tough.” Basically, it translated to being a self-sufficient woman who isn’t afraid to put her best foot forward as she asserts herself. Now, that’s a baddie I can get on board with.
To me, a baddie is (should be) a woman who is unafraid, full of swag, bindaas and living life on her terms. She also is happy with however she looks — short, tall, skinny, curvy, dark, fair, anything that may be. Ask me to list my favourite baddies, and it would be Vidya Balan — at ease at playing Silk Smitha, and also playing Shakuntala Devi; or Sonia Gandhi — graceful in the face of so much criticism; or Farah Khan — crafting a new career as a social media creator.
It’s unfortunate that being a baddie has been reduced to how the girls in the video girls look. And even sadder that the girls are not an inclusive representation of how many Indian girls look like. Many of us are not skinny, or tall, or rock minis. Many of us are curvy, short, stocky, and rock saris and denims. The girls themselves are beautiful, but hey Internet, the Indian baddie exists in every girl who is making it on her own.
It makes me hope that more diverse Indian women get global recognition, so that the world can see different sides, shapes and sizes of us. Of course, we have had the beauty queens — with Priyanka Chopra still being a household name in America — but how about a Richa Chadha or Konkona Sen Sharma or Huma Qureshi grabbing a substantial role in a Hollywood movie? Maybe, the next Instagram head will be an Indian woman. Or maybe, the next Indian Prime Minister is a woman.
We can hope and we can manifest. But for young women reading this column, know that a baddie is when you completely own who you are, and are brave enough to live life the way you want to. That’s it. Your waist size doesn’t dictate your worth, or your baddie status. It’s all about that attitude you wear on your sleeve. Now, go out there and kill it. You got this.
See you next week.
Ranting and raving about all that’s trending on social media, Aastha Atray Banan is an author, creator, podcaster, and the Editor of your favourite weekend read, Sunday mid-day. She posts at @aasthaatray on Instagram.
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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