Moral Policing is not a new term for the people of this country; we have seen many such episodes in the past. Last year a video from Delhi went viral on the internet of an Aunty moral policing, a group of girls for wearing shorts.
The woman went on to comment, “You should be raped” for wearing such clothes. Another Aunty can be seen coming in support of the girls, in the same video saying, “Iska kapdo mein rape karo” (Rape her in her clothes), and I don’t see what difference they made there.
It was not long before social media was full of outrage, asking the aunty to apologize. People even went on to spread pictures of her wearing similar clothes that she commented on, threatening her and her family.
No doubt, The girls did the right thing by standing up for themselves, but body-shaming the aunty in return was not the right way to do it. However, the aunty apologized, which was under the pressure of social media and rape threats that she was receiving.
A similar incident went viral on Instagram on Saturday, when a south Indian actress, Samyuktha Hegde posted a live video of a congress leader Kavitha Reddy harassing them for their choice of clothes in a public place. She alleged Reddy for calling them ‘cabaret dancers’ and accusing them of ‘stripping in the public’.
In the video, Samyuktha said, she and some of her friends were in a park exercising. And were practicing hula hoops when Kavitha Reddy approached them saying, “Asshol*s, if you wear such clothes the next time and something happens to you, don’t come crying to anyone.”
Soon after that, about ten men joined Kavitha, they threatened to destroy their careers and defame them. In another video, a man can be clearly seen threatening her that he will tell the media that she was doing drugs. In one of the videos, the Kavitha Reddy can be seen getting outraged and about to hit one of the girls. Not much happened even after the police arrived, it can be clearly seen in the video.
This was when Hedge decided to come live on her Instagram saying, “This is so wrong. I had my pullover on. We came here and I removed it and did my warmup. We were just exercising with hula hoops and this woman (referring to Kavitha Reddy) came up to us and started saying that we were being indecent for wearing a ‘sports bra’ in a public place. We were just exercising and now the people here are saying that we consume drugs. Just because the drug case is being talked about, they are accusing us of consuming drugs,”
She also removed her pullover for the camera and for the police to show them what she was wearing inside. She later posted the videos. She wrote on her Instagram, “THIS IS JUST WRONG… I request you all for your support.”
The video of this incident can also be seen in Kavitha’s Instagram, which does not justify her behavior in any manner. Responding to the claims, she took to Twitter to write,
https://twitter.com/KavithaReddy16/status/1302172929132826625
These are not the only two such incidents, Cricketer Irfan Pathan was called out posting a picture with his wife, that showed her hands. People shamed his wife for wearing nail polish because it was against Islamic rules. (Is that even true? I mean I don’t believe it!) Priyanka Chopra was also trolled for wearing a dress and sitting in a particular manner while meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there are many such examples when people tried schooling others.
Women and girls face them every day, at their homes, workplace, public places, etc.
“Do not wear clothes above knees, that’s not how good girls dress”, “Don’t wear clothes with deep neck, more revealing clothes” “Men rape because you wear such clothes”
What women wear or how they dress, is their personal choice. It is not for gaining anyone’s attention and it doesn’t mean they are asking for anything. It shouldn’t be anyone’s business what one is wearing and what not. How hard is it to understand and respect it? Why is rape culture promoted by women like this? When will moral policing stop?
Reblogged this on Living la vida aburrido.
LikeLike