At the outset let me tell you that I don’t particularly like Ranveer Singh, my daughter does. A few roles maybe – his launch movie, Dil Dhadakne Do, Gully Boy… And I am running out of which other. But here the issue is not of whether I like him or not. The issue is of equal footing for all. As a mental well-being platform, we at Unhurry® talk about our boundaries and space where we can share what we feel, how we feel on a platform where we feel safe. So the rules of society may not apply to our platform but these rules of society have not been flouted by Ranveer Singh.
A woman can celebrate her body, and if anyone objects to that – which almost everybody does – there is a backlash by the entire gender sensitive community. So do these rules apply only to women? What about men, LGBTQI + communities? Equality is equality. Ranveer did not run naked on a beach in India, which some other male celebrities have done. And yet, there wasn’t a furore. Why? It’s extremely regressive that we are standing up for the rights of women and boundaries of people to dress as they want, be who they are and feel comfortable in their own skin. And yet we have a mother with young daughters getting threatened about her daughters getting influenced by Ranveer’s almost nude pictures.
The real issue here is not about semi-nudity. It is about wanting to shield our children from the exposure and stimulation of sex, from being free, open, especially our daughters. What if my daughter gets aroused? It’s not something we are comfortable with, right? The entire patriarchal system that stinks of suppressing a girl’s sexuality is at the core of this petition against Ranveer.
If you feel offended about a man baring his body, why do you not protest when a woman bares her body? Instead, you the intelligentsia, lauds her about her boldness. At some level, the person who filed the petition did not want her daughters to be open about their sexuality. Hey, we are extremely open and brutally honest about our sexuality. It’s as natural and a part of our being as breathing, eating, talking. And I will stand up and say this – if I have a right to take off my T-shirt, so does the next guy. Maybe that’s Ranveer. And when I take off my T-shirt, if you feel offended or aroused, that is your problem or choice.
Make that choice in your personal space, not mine. Live and let live.