"A man showing his body and a woman posting semi-nude pictures are two different things. Of course, in such a scenario, the woman's picture draws more limelight. This is not hate speech. This is how women monetize social media using their sexuality" - read a comment below the Instagram post of a young actress. Objectifying various parts of a female body is now rampant in society, although much visible evidence is found on social media platforms. To a certain uncultured community, driven by sexist views and opinions, women's bodies need to be kept under wraps, lest they want to be objectified and sexualized. A woman posting a picture online, sporting a bare midriff, is her monetizing her body or vying for career opportunities. At the same time, a picture of a male bodybuilder, showing off his rips and cuts, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers is his expression of self-appreciation. Crass comments appear under the woman's post, calling her names, grossly objectifying her body, and with an unacceptable level of sexualization. But the man's post receives paragraphs of praise or at least a few fire and heart emojis. In the Indian context, many female celebrities and public figures have to endure unrefined comments, including questions regarding sexual favors. A revealing photograph of any woman is looked at as her open invitation to all men to commit rape. Although it would be wrong to say that men do not face the issue of being objectified or body shamed, it is equally safe to wager that they only endure a fraction of it, compared to their female counterparts.
Society's rulings often cause families to raise eyebrows at their daughter's tiniest misdemeanors while laughing off unacceptable behavior on part of their sons. At a family wedding, no male would be called out for wearing a shirt that reveals half of his chest. However, a woman wearing a dress revealing the tiniest bit of her cleavage would trigger silent nudges, capricious comments, sinister smirks, and even unsolicited advice to cover up. Such undercurrents within one's own family are very hard to overlook, due to which most women are forced to get subdued.
While people opine that showing skin is not women's empowerment, they should realize that empowerment is simple and complex at the same time. Empowering a woman simply means accepting the fact that she is subordinate to none and has the right to live life on her terms. In more complex terms, it involves reinforcing the fact that no one has the right to conduct twisted introspections and pass lewd judgments and comments about a woman or her choices. The length of a woman's dress should have nothing to do with another individual's life. The patriarchal society that we live in shapes our thought process to sexualize every trivial aspect of the life of women around us. This cynical take on a woman's freedom often leads to grave aspersions being cast on women donning the so-called "modern" attire, including cut-sleeve tops, distressed jeans, or simple shorts. Women in revealing clothes are often a source of restive defiance among a section of chauvinists, who grade the modesty of a woman by employing the skin visible as a measure.
It is not just men who resort to cheaply objectifying women in vulgar ways. Other women, too are guilty in this respect. This may manifest in the form of bitter judgments and sly allusions to an immoral character. Such illicit behavior towards a woman who is not afraid to decide for herself may be borne out of reasons such as not being able to enjoy similar freedom of choice in their personal life. To pacify themselves and to make the frustration bearable, women adopt such heinous coping mechanisms. Also, there are cases of women slut-shaming and body-shaming other women based on their social conditioning - a religious or prude upbringing, allegiance to a patriarchal community or political group, or due to the moral policing that they have faced themselves and been taught to administer to other supposedly "immoral" women. Often, the victims of slut-shaming are chastised, with questions raised regarding their very personal choices.
While it is highly imperative to adhere to certain rules in certain settings, it should not be misused as a sanction to regulate someone's choices outside that particular sanctum. While a woman may be obliged to wear a traditional robe or ethnic wear at a holy place, pertaining to her religious belief, this obligation must remain bound to that sanctum alone. Her religious identity should not be employed as a means to shackle her freedom of choice when she is in the general public. Religious dictates should not decide what she wears or eats at a party, at the beach, or at a mall. A close look at religious scriptures would show feminine beauty was praised in those works and not sexually objectified. Even a villainous character would admire the beauty of the woman he wants to win over rather than sexualizing her. Poetic metaphors and allusions to nature's elegance would be enunciated rather than making a gross comparison of a human being to food or inanimate objects. Feminine grace was lauded in a sensuous fashion, but the language used to do so was not vulgar, as it is in modern parlance.
Social media is an easily accessible platform for people to express themselves and their opinions in various forms like art, dance, music, or just plain photographs depicting your lifestyle. People are also welcome to share their thoughts about posts they see. However, using abusive language and ostentatiously commenting or reacting to someone's post is never welcome. Some people draw great sadistic pleasure in spinning controversies around movie scenes and songs where women appear in revealing clothes. Sexually tinted comments appear below them. However, ironically, the very account posting these comments would have a high number of views on that clip as well. Objectifying a person by comparing their body or poses to objects, shaming them for posting pictures despite not fitting into society's tailored scales of beauty, and even comparing humans to articles like food and drink is a very degraded trend found in many comment boxes. Often commenters break into discord within the comments section of celebrity posts and end up resorting to bad verbatim too. Many troll pages often use snippets from movies to express thoughts that have a sexual allusion to them. If such posts are featured without permission, the page owner can land in trouble. What people fail to understand is that usage of such indecent language and crass behavior can affect them in many ways - their accounts can be reported and even removed. In addition, if the owner of the post files a complaint, actions including the imposition of heavy fines and imprisonment can be taken against them. Many influencers, content creators, and celebrities now insist on the maintenance of decency in comment boxes. One can disagree with what a post expresses or simply not like the post. They are free to express this dislike too, however in decent words. If you have criticism to offer, do it in a cultured fashion. Otherwise, you always have the option to block, restrict, or simply scroll past. Another section of people is the ones offering unsolicited advice. Mostly, the motto of such people is that since they would not want women in their family to be influenced by the ways others manifest on online platforms, they have a right to degrade them and perform a supposedly "good" negative reinforcement of certain norms and restrictions that only women are bound to follow. A man's post wherein he is vaping or drinking is not misleading but a woman's body is. Bringing back humanity in comment boxes, notes, and posts on online platforms is highly necessary to make the internet a safe space for all.
Underlining the fact that empowerment does not equal display of nudity or baseless defiance or senseless advocacy of rights, it is equally important to realize that it is not anyone's business to dig into what another deems fit for themselves. Attempts to make people, especially women, uncomfortable with how their body is or how they are dressed are third-rate acts. Reminding ourselves that we dress for ourselves and that nobody's unwanted opinion matters is key to building confidence and responding bravely to objectification. The use of abusive and sexually tinted language to describe any person is totally unacceptable, be it a man or woman. Cracking sexual jokes at another individual's expense is not laughable in the least. A single careless comment objectifying or eve-teasing someone can have a heavily crushing impact on their self-esteem. Every individual in the society is entitled to having a dignified co-existence with fellow beings. Denigrating opinions which are uncalled for can trigger major trauma or even mental breakdowns.
From time immemorial, women have been portrayed as a man's property, one whose prime duty is to fulfill his demands and to entertain all his whims and fancies. This phenomenon can be observed in many literary works as well, mostly from the 19th century. Women were supposed to be demure and docile, submissive towards men, and to silently bear mockery, verbal abuse, sexual jokes, and even physical harm in some cases. Denying a man anything he asked for was viewed in a dark light, giving the impression of a stubborn and disrespectful woman. Women's rights activists and feminists have very often been viewed condescendingly, for standing up for the apparently "meaningless" demands of women for a dignified existence. Even today, women going to work face stalking and eve-teasing daily, followed by sexual comments and questions. The worst part is that the women themselves are blamed for inviting such disrespectful behavior by dressing or walking in a particular manner.
"Do you always wear such short skirts to the office? If yes, then I would love to work there, even as a janitor." "You must have worn that white shirt to the interview. No wonder you were offered the job so quickly". Comments like the ones above often indicate that women often dress to appear sexually appealing to covet career opportunities and more. The film industry and certain literature have also contributed to letting this idea gain ground. Movies often feature women achieving success due to physical appearance rather than talent or skill. Such depiction leads to the intensification of slut-shaming and objectification. In an industry that offers the marriage of victim and molester as a solution to sexual assault and rape, one cannot expect better. Visual media can be held guilty for perpetuating such downtrodden notions.
Every individual owns their identity and the freedom to express it in any way. Making people uncomfortable in their skin by objectifying them simply makes them hesitate from expressing themselves. Victims of such verbal attacks have all the right to stand up and take action against the perpetrator since the loss of dignity is not something that can be neglected. Women need to be unafraid of expressing themselves boldly and pay no heed to derogatory comments and judgments. A person's body should not be used as a weapon against them and should fearlessly assert their right to live however they want, without disturbing another individual. Women are not mere objects to be sexualized. They are living beings who deserve dignity, freedom, and appreciation. Let no sexist outlook mar the sanctity of a women's existence. Let her employ her agency to express as a tool to attain her dreams and aspirations.
"Your daughter's dress is provocative, she is inviting rape."
"Instead of "Cover up, people are looking", she heard, "It's your life, choose for yourself. We're right by your side."
At that moment, support became a reality, assurance became her strength and fueled her passion to conquer the world."