Dubai: Actress and activist Priyanka Chopra gave a feisty crash course on feminism and cheekily reprimanded an audience member who seemed to have skewed ideas about equality between men and women.
His question — directed at the Quantico star and Unicef goodwill ambassador during an interactive session held on the last day of Global Education and Skills Forum was about fairness behind men eve-teasing and getting slapped by the woman he teased lasciviously.
“Are you actually saying that when a man eve-teases a woman, slapping him is an abuse of a man?” asked Chopra incredulously, adding that feminism did not mean beating the [expletive] of a man or wanting to be as strong as him physically. She was asking for equal footing when it came to matters of cerebral rather than physical strength.
“Feminism is not about berating men or putting them down. What we are saying is that let us have equal opportunities. Let us get ahead of the game on our merit, while you [men] support us,” said Chopra, asking if he was now a reformed feminist.
“Give the woman the ability to make choices without being judged,” said Chopra.
The articulate actress, whose journey from Bareilly to Bollywood and Hollywood is legendary, spoke about how she was never born with the proverbial silver spoon but had the tenacity to chase her dreams.
“Nowadays, the audiences are too intelligent. They know who they want to watch. So you don’t have to be the prettiest or the most intelligent, people may still want to watch you,” said Chopra, who described herself as a fluke. She also discussed the burning topic of #MeToo movement and #TimeIsUp movement which called out sexual predators in Hollywood. Those protests are symbolic that women’s voices won’t be silenced anymore, said the actress.
“We are not OK with it and we are going to stand up for our rights … It’s such a powerful time to be an artist,” said Chopra.
Chopra also implored every privileged, educated members of the society to be sensitised toward the global humanitarian crisis in war-ravaged nations. The actress also revealed that she is in talks with the Unicef to plan a field visit to the Rohingya refugee camps.
“Have we become de-sensitised to kids washing up ashore and the scenes of children being displaced?” Asked Chopra.
