Why Is India So Hateful Towards Its Female Celebrities?

On the internet, anything can act as a trigger political policies, a bi-polar dress (blue-black or white-gold?), the regrettable blue whale challenge or Oscar fails. In the Indian context of things, this list of triggers is a tad strange. As much desi trolls love a colour-changing dress, nothing affects them as deeply as a female celebrity. It's either that or demonetisation. There is no in between.

The last few months have been a study in how Indians can't help but take everything personally. Like an intrusive colony aunty or uncle, who on a post-meal stroll, passes judgement on everything from the working girl who always returns past ten or the non-sanskaari college student who visits her balcony every half-an-hour to smoke a cigarette. Sadly, aunty or uncle cannot knock sense into either. As compensation, they frequent the social feeds to unleash their tirade of abuse on...drumroll... FEMALE CELEBRITIES.

So, they take it personally when Mahira Khan smokes with the respected son of his favourite actors, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor. Taapsee Punnu's bikinis enrages them, and how dare Esha Gupta pose with nothing but pomegranates to cover her nipples? That's ruining the sanctity of a pomegranate the juice of which has been imbibed by Mr. Uncle's or Aunty ji's family, much like their teachings on morality.

It is important to note here that this flourishing culture of hate is not the sole doing of a particular gender alone; it's men and women alike. A glorious example of "sisterhood was seen when Deepika Padukone's unibrow presented itself to the world. Seconds after the release of the Padmavati poster, the unibrow became an entity of its own. Much like the peach fuzz of that one girl who is "OMG! So hairy.

By the power vested in these mean girls by the rule of the Internet, they blew bubbles of hate comments. The verdict? "Dusky Deepika looked "ugly, and "Aishwarya Bachchan would have been a better choice. Speaking of which, reader, would you do us a favour and hark back to the time when Aishwarya attended Cannes immediately after giving birth to Aradhya? We are tearing up here thinking about all the body-positive comments that serenaded the former Miss World.

If the question isn't obvious, let us spell it out for you Why are Indians so hateful towards their female celebrities? Even worse, why are their choices from smoking a cigarette to wearing a bikini completely disregarded? If Mahira's cigarette qualifies to be national concern, then what she wears is inconsequential. The custodians of morality will judge her, nonetheless. If she dares to step beyond the realm of what is considered "womanly, she will be subjected to lewd comments targeting the love bites on her back and the length of her dress. The assumption is that Mahira should have known better; she is a celebrity, after all.

The trolls have a simple theory: celebrities are public commodities so s**t-shaming, name calling and sexist comments are collateral damage. It comes with the job. Women have it worse, considering our genders' exclusive relationship with being objectified. Malaika Arora in her sheer, butt-hugging Manish Malhotra was a ticking time-bomb. As the mother of two, her sexy outfit was a violation of her maternal contract, as the trolls pointed out. Not to mention that after bombarding the actress's feed with vile comments about codes of dressing, most men would have saved the said picture in their you-know-what folder.

The only thing more incapacitating than male haters is the alarming number of women who find "free choice offensive. Nargis Fakhri's curves, for instance, led to a collective meltdown. Women enquired if the actress was pregnant despite the absence of a visible belly. Sure, it could have been plain inquisitiveness but TBH, it really wasn't. When a question of an alleged pregnancy is affixed with word "fatty, it isn't a positive question. On all accounts, it is an insult.

Now take Esha Gupta, for example. Her semi-nude pictures drew maximum flak from men. As Esha herself pointed out, "When a woman goes bold, their manhood is challenged. Cue in the lecherous stares that most women experience when they step out wearing clothes that are borderline revealing.

In all scenarios, the shame is real. Our female celebrities are sandwiched between s**t-shaming and physical ridicule. Safe to say, when it comes to feedback, they really are spoilt for choice.