Sparing no bullies

Not a day passes without news of a woman being raped, stalked or eve-teased. If the aggression was once in the streets and houses, women are now increasingly being targeted online by cyber-bullies who make lewd comments about a woman’s body or pass sexist comments on their dressing style. But women are paying back in the same coin. Recently, actress Shravya Reddy was speaking about demonetisation through a live Facebook video chat when a fan asked a lewd question about her bust size to which Sharavya reacted saying she and every woman had them, including the comment maker’s mother.

Fed up, more women are taking off their velvet gloves and not letting the body-shamers get away with their comments. A while back, Fukrey actress Vishakha Singh had reacted to a fan passing a lewd remark on her bust when she posted a very innocent picture of her in a t-shirt. Vishakha says, “Women have become more confident, independent and educated and Indian woman has progressed much ahead of the male who has not been able to keep up with her. We are not fearful anymore! There was a generation that taught us or our mothers to keep quiet but our mothers have brought us up differently by asking us to speak up. When we have the support of our parents and friends, women are able to react to sexist comments.”

Actor Kaniha was another who faced adverse comments on her social page when she posted a picture of her in shorts while on holiday. She says, “People took a dig at me for donning shorts and I retorted because there is an extent to which someone can keep quiet. People questioned my moral values and my being a mother. There are certain things which you can ignore, but certain comments got me angry. It is a man’s world at the end of the day and the majority of men look at women as sex objects. Internet has become an anonymous platform where perpetrators can fake their identity. By posting lewd or negative comments, they want to gain five seconds of fame.”