It all started with a

conversation
between two women
struggling to like their own bodies...

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Inspiration for 'Untamed'

Glennon Doyle opened her book ‘Untamed’ describing a visit to the zoo with her daughter, wherein they witnessed the zookeeper train a cheetah to fetch a stuffed bunny like a dog. Watching this, Doyle wrote:

“Day after day, this wild animal chases dirty pink bunnies down the well-worn, narrow path they cleared for her. Never looking left or right. Never catching that damn bunny, settling instead for a store-bought steak and the distracted approval of sweaty strangers. Obeying the zookeeper’s every command, just like a dog she’s been trained to believe she is. Unaware that if she remembered her wildness— just for a moment—she could tear those zookeepers to shreds.”

As cis-women, Anvita and Saumya could relate to Tabitha, the Cheetah, who’s been tamed by the culture to believe certain “truths” about our nature.

“Good girls don’t eat that much — control yourself.”
“Fair is lovely. Thin is beautiful. Taller is better.”
“Don’t wear that — it doesn't suit your body.”
“Smile more; no one likes a serious woman.”

We, too, have been chasing the elusive feeling of being worthy, attractive, and good enough to secure the final piece of meat in the form of approval for our physical beauty. Completely unaware that if we remember our wilderness, which goes beyond the confines of these societal norms, we will come closer to our invincibility.

OUR STORY

Saumya Garg

Somatic & Relational Psychotherapist

"..I couldn't look in the mirror for 2 years."

This is my story as a young girl who was called conventionally pretty because of her fair skin colour, dark brown hair, like that of a westerner, and petite body shape and size.

Although this beauty of mine was adorned by a skin condition popularly known as acne, which irked people. I constantly heard comments around my skin looking 'bad', unsolicited remedies to fix the pimples and make the marks vanish, and matter-of-fact statements around how much prettier I'd be if my skin were clear.

All through my teenage years, I heard these statements from relatives, neighbours and the media. What started as a feeling of being conscious eventually turned into a hate towards my skin. I felt disgusted looking at my face, so much so that I couldn't look in the mirror for 2 years during college.

I hid myself, the ugliness of my face, to avoid getting one more comment around it. I couldn't bear it.

While life went on, with missed opportunities as I spent much time thinking about fixing my acne. It was when I met Anvita that I gathered the courage to share my body image journey. She was surprised, a common reaction from people whom I'm able to deceive with pretence confidence, veiling my insecurities successfully.

To my surprise, she narrated her story, which felt awfully similar, like she was painting the same picture with different colours.

This moment brought us together to begin Untamed, to spread the feeling of support, love and understanding we were able to offer each other through a vulnerable conversation.

Anvita Sethi

Integrative Psychotherapist

"No matter what I did, it was never enough."

Fitting into unrealistic beauty standards was once second nature to me. Growing up, I was constantly told to conform, to strive for an ideal that never felt quite within reach.

I was always the 'fat child' who was cute but was constantly told that I would look pretty like other girls only if I lost weight. No matter what I did, I never fit in with my peers, always being the last one to be chosen for sports activities, annual functions, and dance competitions.

Exposure to critical comments about my body at a young age negatively impacted my relationship with food and movement, leaving me unable to truly hear my own body's voice. Dealing with feelings of underconfidence and fearing rejection at every corner of life, I grew up scared to be seen.

Years later, as a psychotherapist, I witnessed countless women echo the same struggle. In the last two years of Untamed, we’ve

nurtured a supportive community where women come together through group work and sharing circles to speak openly about body shaming and reclaim their self-worth. Our mission is simple: to build a generation of women untamed by beauty standards, women who rewrite the beauty rules and live on their own terms.

Our Philosophy

From a young age, women are conditioned or tamed to believe that we must look a certain way to be worthy, loved, and successful.

Untamed was born from the desire to break free from these limiting beliefs, to feel whole in one's being, and to have an unconditional relationship with our bodies.

This is not just a project — it’s a movement.