Taapsee Pannu Questions Why Women In Bikinis Are Abused Online While Men Post Glorious Half-Naked Pictures And Nobody Cares
Some people think they are entitled to tell you what you should wear, how you should act and what you need as a woman. These could be your family members, your friends, leaders of the country (*cough* the CM of Uttarakhand *cough*) or some random people on the internet you have never met and have nothing to do with. Well, that doesn’t stop them from preaching to you the rules of being a woman in a society. And the same rules don’t apply to men. For instance, a woman would be judged for serious life decisions like working after having a baby to something totally trivial like wearing ripped jeans while men are completely oblivious to this scrutiny and criticism. Women in the limelight are treated no differently. In fact, they are trolled mercilessly by this online moral police any time they wear skimpy clothes, especially a bikini.
It has almost never happened that an actress hasn’t been trolled, abused and slammed in the comment section as soon as she posted a picture in a swimsuit. Women from the small screen space are targeted even more because their favourite bahus wearing a bikini is highly offensive to them for some reason. However, how come men from these same TV serials get a free pass for posting half-naked pictures on their social media? Addressing the same, actor Taapsee Pannu called out the double standards of the trolls who drool after naked make celebrities but slut-shame actresses who post a picture in a bikini.
When asked why does she think women, especially TV actresses are trolled for posting their bikini pictures, Taapsee said, “As far as my observation goes, I have seen women, in general, being abused when they put out their pictures in a bikini but the same doesn’t happen to men when they put out their half-naked pictures from the gym or beach.” So it is not really about just the TV actors, women from every field and profession are trolled for wearing what they please, while men flaunt their bodies gloriously and no one gives a damn.
Also Read: Taapsee Pannu Says She Realised How Patriarchy Works Once She Started Working. We’re Glad She Thinks Actors Have Social Responsibilties
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There have been so many such instances where women are slammed for wearing, I repeat wearing, less clothes while men have run naked on beaches and called eye candy and admired by the same people. Yes, I am talking about Milind Soman getting all the praises and thirst comments when he posted a picture of him stark naked on a beach and somehow that was okay with everyone. Trolls were tightlipped then. But when a woman dares to bare, she unintentionally ends up hurting the sentiments, values and our culture altogether. Why their sentiments and culture belongs in the clothes of another woman, one they probably only know from a screen, is anybody’s guess.
Every woman, celebrity or not relates to these small, sometimes hidden, confirmations of the deep-rooted patriarchy in the form of sexism, gender disparity and unfair treatment we get. But at least we are not succumbing to these trolls or remarks about sending wrong messages to the society by wearing torn jeans. Although the bias is very evident when it comes to men and women, whether it is about clothes, making decisions and anything else, we are not stepping back. If it outrages people, so be it.
Taapsee Pannu has faced this first hand, like almost all celebrities have at one point of time. From her to Kangana Ranaut to Sara Ali Khan, there is hardly any celebrity who hasn’t faced the brunt of hurtful comments and online trolls whenever they post their picture in a swimsuit. But the good thing is that this unreasonable and absurd behaviour by the trolls doesn’t stop these women from posting their biggini shoots, let alone stop wearing whatever the hell they want to. And that’s what matters. Isn’t it?
