Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who sparked an India-wide outrage after she condemned a leading Indian daily for publishing a tawdry gallery of her pictures focussing on her cleavage, took to Facebook on Friday to post an open letter to underline her stand.
“Digging out an old article and headlining it “OMG: Deepika’s Cleavage Show!” to attract readers is using the power of influence to proliferate recessive thought,” said Padukone in a lengthy post titled “My Point Of View”.
On Monday, Times Of India tweeted a link of a web gallery containing pictures of Padukone showing her cleavage. The Happy New Year star rebuked them with a series tweets. Thousands of fans and Bollywood’s top actors such as Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan have come out in support and #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone has become the top trending topic.
“I have spoken out against an ideology that such regressive tactics are still being employed to draw a reader’s attention at a time when we are striving for women’s equality and empowerment. In a time where women should be applauded for making headway in a male-dominated society, we blur the lines between REEL and REAL life and dilute all our efforts by making a one-year old back sliding piece of news a headline,” said Padukone. The highest-paid Bollywood actress also spoke about the inherent sexism involved and whether a man’s crotch is dissected is similar manner.
“When an actresses inner wear decides to do a “peek-a-boo”,she most definitely did not step out with the intention to do so.So instead of zooming in,circling it and pointing arrows at it,why don’t we give her some ‘respect’ and let it go instead of making it ‘headlines’!? Are we not human?Yes we marvel,envy and drool over a male actors 8pack abs in a film,but do we zoom in on the mans ‘crotch’ when he makes a public appearance and make that ‘cheap headlines’??!!,” asked Padukone.
Her justifiably angry reaction has spawned a debate ethics in media, with some questioning her motives as a publicity-seeking move. Articles debating whether a public figure, who doesn’t hesitate from showing skin on screen, should take offense to such scrutiny were also written.
“I have no issue celebrating my body and I have never shied away from anything on-screen to portray a character. In fact my next character portrayed is a bar dancer (sorry Farah for the spoiler!) who titillates men as a means to support her livelihood. My issue is you propagating the objectification of a REAL person,and not a character being played. Sure,dissect my characters if you wish-if it is of so much interest then discuss the character’s cup size and leg length if it is relevant to making the role convincing. All I am asking for is respect as a woman off-screen,” she said.
In what could be deemed as a terrible crisis-management move, the Indian daily responded to the crisis at hand with a cheeky tweet saying the gallery was a compliment to the actress. They followed that up with an article in its defense questioning why the rules for drooling were different for men and women in Bollywood.
“It is not about breasts,penises,or any other body part being reported.It is a matter of context and how out-of-context the reportage is just to sell a headline. And more so during a time in dire need of an attitude shift towards women.”
