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Everything
was
beautiful,
and nothing
hurt
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you can start a
coaching institute and make millions evading taxes."

How Dare #TOI Do This

Thing We Have All Known Of
For So Many Years??

The nation yesterday came to a screeching halt upon learning that Times of India,
the national daily which has been instrumental in the packaging of millions of
samosas and chaats all over India, had posted an article objectifying Deepika
Padukones physical appearance. The article urged viewers to take a look at her
dress, comment on her cleavage, and maybe accidentally click on an ad or two.
Few people clicked on the ad, but footfall on the website surely went soaring up.
The screeching halt of the nation came not due to the article, the likes of which
have been TOI bread and butter for several years, but because on this occasion
leading actress Deepika Padukone took objection to being objectified this way.

Known for her stellar acting chops, Deepika has played a rebellious, modern
woman (in Bollywood jargon: one who wears mini skirts) in nearly all her
movies, barring one where she was a conventional, studious girl (Bollywoodese
for: one who will wear mini skirt after intermission).
Her fans took to Twitter immediately, registering their outrage that someone
could even think of objectifying a Bollywood leading lady of all people.
Bollywood actresses have long been revered in Indian society as paragons of

feminist virtue, hailed as modern-day leaders in the struggle for womens rights.
In a country plagued with near daily reports of gangrapes, dowry-killings,
molestation and mistreatment of women, it is Bollywood alone that has shown the
way forward for society. With just 2-3 item numbers each, some not very subtle
sexual innuendo, oodles of gratuitous titillation, unrealistic beauty standards and
character-intensive roles for actresses such as Singing-Dancing-Mini-Skirt Girl #1
and Singing-Dancing-Cleavage-But-Traditional Girl #2, Bollywood has shown
that there are several roles a woman can play in modern society. Even though its
just two, which is the minimum quota necessary to say several, readers are
advised to remember that its twice as much as one.
Deepikas objection to how actresses are objectified in media has fought its way
past many other abuses of womens rights. It is not the first time she has been
objectified on the internet by this pathetic, eyeball-seeking tabloid of zero
journalistic integrity or ethics, and it shall not be the last. But by making a stand
on this subject, she has shown that whatever else may happen in India, a
Bollywood actress surely does not deserve such treatment.
In related news from The Land of Upside Down Priorities, friends of the star,
mostly other actors/actresses who are either working with her now or wish to
work with her in the future, took this opportunity to disgrace the paparazzi and
gossip-mongers for doing such a thing this particular time. Such things are
welcome at other times, but not now when the star in question decides she is
offended.
Deepikas moment under the spotlight of Convenient Celebrity Feminist Outrage
has come at a good time for the nation, which is dealing with increased abuse of
women in the past years. Millions across the country hope that by being funny
about it on Twitter, they will gain many more followers. A sharply worded yet
witty reprimand can earn maybe even a retweet from Bollywoods glitterati!
Such opportunities dont ordinarily present themselves with normal incidents, as
we are well aware. Not as many Bollywood stars have been known to make use of
their public influence to combat social evils, or perhaps even consciously avoid

propagating misogynistic ideals through the film roles they choose. Simple
economics of celebritydom aside, it is difficult for Bollywood stars to both
understand the real world and simultaneously live in idyllic, celebrity constructs
of their imagination.s
TWITTER ARJUNK26

Arjun Kapoor on Twitter: "We have hit

a new low today...forget
complimenting a woman have the
ability to respect a woman first..."

Never miss a post! We have hit a new low today...forget complimenting a

woman have the ability to respect a woman first...

nishantjn
Read the article on twitter.com > Follow
Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt

Case in point Arjun Kapoor, who tweeted that a website sharing pictures of
Deepikas cleavage was a new low for the country.
TWITTER KARANJOHAR

Karan Johar on Twitter:

"Appalled....shocked and disgusted at
the level of disrespect
shown..Deepika or any women in the
world cannot and should not stand
for this!!"
Appalled....shocked and disgusted at the level of disrespect
shown..Deepika or any women in the world cannot and
should not stand for this!!
Read the article on twitter.com >

Or Karan Johar who is "appalledshocked and disgusted" at such a thing

happening which he didnt know about at all despite decades in Bollywood and
having grown up in the same India as the rest of us.
Several people, normal people, those who choose to react rather than feign
incomprehension and disbelief, are rightfully outraged at the blatant mistreatment
of the female body, in exchange for page clicks, which has become a staple for

the internet generation. People will lead calls to boycott the paper and the
website. It wont happen. Others will write articles condemning the state of
affairs, and how Deepika is courageous for having to stood up for all women
everywhere because yeah thats what shes doing here. It wont change anything
though. Still others will defend the rights of all women and condemn this as
another case of media insensitivity (like broadcasting the picture and name of an
actress caught in a legal yet tainted profession). Their intentions will count for
nothing the next day, when the retweets have been tallied and gushing
Buzzfeed/Scoopwhoop/ClickHole articles have been written, and Bollywood has
laughed its way to the bank.
Women will remain sex objects, and shake their hips at zooming cameras while a
dozen ogling backup dancers crowd around her navel.
CELEBDEN

But its not like she objectifies herself all the time.

BLOGSPOT

Okay, maybe we can hope she has become more aware of such unfair labels and
strive to prove her critics wrong. Shes been an object on the silver screen, a
sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, usually bouncy object. Shes made
millions as that object, undisturbed by such trivialities as actual acting or being
unable to fake the accent of her neighbouring state without sounding like a
caricature. Maybe she doesnt need to change a thing about herself, and who are
we to tell her what she should or should not do. She is the star after all, a
successful self-made role model to millions of girls across India.
Or maybe, just maybe, Miss Padukone would choose to really stand against
objectification of women, and play a movie role which didnt directly objectify
her in order to sell more tickets. Maybe she could use her twitter base to speak out
against such movies and the film industry which demeans women and turns them
into one-dimensional objects of sexual fantasy (were still holding a candle out
for a 3D Sunny Leone movie). Maybe she could speak on such issues with the
same courage she reserves for anonymous, powerless TOI interns.
For now, TOI has been mocked, Deepika has been hailed as Indias Everything
Thats Viral and Awesome Today, and we can all sleep easy having valiantly
outraged over celebrity mistreatment.
This should happen to no one, and we should treat all people with equal dignity

and respect. Stop reading TOI and stop feeding into the celebrity gossip culture.
Stop feeding this evil and watch it disappear by itself. Or dont, because its their
bodies and they get to decide what to do with it and rallying for feminism isnt
supposed to be her job just because I said so, shes just an immensely influential
film personality propagating what sells in this harsh world she is working hard to
succeed in. Remember that, when you see Deepika Padukones next movie, in
which she will surely have been cast for her great acting and meaningful
contribution to the plot.

Epilogue/Addendum:
This post appears to require a simpler clarification. This is not a rant to shit on a
single person, although it appears to start that way. Editing it now would be
disingenuous. This is about how Bollywood has been using women for ages.
TOI did a terrible thing, which deserves no credit or excuse, but the root of this
problem lies in not perpetuating these stereotypes of women. The entertainment
industry in India is the biggest influence on our nation, and surely bears
substantial responsibility for how it looks when a beautiful woman is reduced to
an object to be ogled at on a pedestal. This happens movie after movie. This is not
about being sexy, we can be sexy without becoming just objects. Even being an
object (pardon the repeated use of the word) isnt entirely bad in itself, but come
on, every single movie? EVERY SINGLE MOVIE, BOLLYWOOD?
Heroes manhandle their leading lady, girls falls in love with guys who slap them,
the guys chasing/stalking them. What are you trying to say to the country? You
cant do this day in and day out and follow it up with - You should feel terrible
for thinking the way we have made you think since you were a little boy.
Which part of this video is NOT objectification? What am I supposed to look at?
A firecracker is literally an object. A sexy, sultry, seductive firecracker is?
Stop objectifying women, Bollywood, I say to both the men and the women there.

Like

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SEP. 15 2014

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#TOI #DEEPIKA PADUKONE

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