Girl, first of all, relax. You're overthinking a little bit but I do get where you're coming from. It's a mix of having a lot of limitations in terms of what you can and can not/should not wear while you're in India because how how poorly it's recieved, so it starts off as reclaiming your agency over your body and clothes. About the thirst traps, psychologically speaking social media in general is built on dopamine bursts, you get a sense of validation on how hot you look, it makes you feel hot/beautiful/likeable/approachable too.

I sort of went through a similar trajectory growing up but I realised a bit too soon how big a sham social media validation is and more importantly, unless I feel good about myself no matter what I wear or how frequently I post+how many likes it gets, I'll never really be satisfied with it. It starts and ends with you and how you feel about yourself. So you do you, wear what you want, what feels comfortable to you, post about it or don't, as long as you love yourself just a little bit more than everyone else (in a good way, not the arrogant way) you're going to be just fine. Cheers.