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Actor and artist Naimal Khawar doesn’t understand why people feel so empowered to talk about a woman’s body.

In an Instagram story shared on Saturday, she reshared a post claiming she looked ‘unrecognisable’ at a wedding, speculating whether she was pregnant or had just gained weight.

“It’s honestly fascinating and sad how comfortable people have become commenting on a woman’s body. Yes, my weight can fluctuate. Yes, I don’t look the same as I did five years ago. Yes, motherhood changes you in ways you can’t imagine,” she wrote.

Khawar, who is married to actor Hamza Ali Abbasi, gave birth to a baby boy in 2020. She has spoken publicly about the emotional toll postpartum blues took on her and how she wasn’t able to paint for three years because of it.

“Women’s bodies change with age, hormones, stress, health, lifestyle, and yes, sometimes pregnancy too,” Khawar wrote. “None of these things are invitations for public commentary. And to the women reading this: you don’t owe anyone the same body you had five years ago, last year, or even last month. Your body is allowed to change without becoming a topic of entertainment.”

The commentary on Khawar’s body is nothing new — Pakistani entertainment pages and netizens love commenting on a woman’s body, especially if she’s in the spotlight. They’ve been known to comment on women’s hair, faces, noses, weight, clothes, the possibility of plastic surgery (of which they are firm believers that every female celebrity has had), and everything in between.

This preoccupation with women’s bodies often comes from a sense of entitlement over female celebrities and a staunch belief that being in the public eye means being subject to degrading criticism. Most male actors are, of course, not subject to the same scrutiny.

As Khawar said, changes in a woman’s body are not an invitation for public commentary. If only the Pakistani internet would figure that out.