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'Slut-shaming' dangerous, disrespectful to women: Celina Jaitly
New Delhi,
Sep 15, 2017
Actress Celina Jaitly, who was shamed on social media for sharing a
pre-delivery photograph of her blossoming baby bump, remains unaffected by it,
but says "slut-shaming" is dangerous and hurtful for women.
Celina, who earlier this month shared a photograph of herself in a bathtub,
is married to Dubai-based Peter Haag with whom she shares twins -- Viraaj Haag,
Winston Haag. She is currently expecting another set of twins and is in her last
trimester of her pregnancy.
Stressing that "slut-shaming is incorrect", Celina told IANS in an email
interview from Dubai: "In our culture, one thing is for sure -- the only way one
expresses disapproval is through verbal or physical violence; there is no scope
for resolution, solution or general discussion, or using civilised language to
express disapproval."
The actress, 35, says she fails to understand why her photograph, if it is not
to someone's "taste or liking", should become a target of any kind of violence.
"What worries me is (that) so many people (both men and women)" seem intent upon
resorting to "sexual, verbal and physical violence to punish one for something
that makes them uncomfortable," she added.
Celina feels the reason violence against women has increased in India is because
such "narcissistic people (are) allowed to have a voice and practice their
regressive and delinquent thought processes and ideologies".
"Slut-shaming is not funny. It is dangerous, hurtful, disrespectful and harmful
to women. It's important to question society when they expect women to behave in
ways that men are not expected to," she added.
Celina, who won the Miss India title in 2001 and speaks up on vital societal
issues, feels people have a long way to go when it comes to be evolved about how
a woman should conduct herself during pregnancy, menstruation or any related
taboo issues.
"My intention as an actor, a beauty queen, a human rights activist and, most of
all as a mother, has always been to empower, encourage and break social stigmas
through my blessed platform. Women need to be constantly empowered through law
and through removing stereotypes attached to how they ought to conduct
themselves," she said.
Does she find that slut-shaming is an easy way to put down an actress nowadays?
"Not just slut-shaming, but violence against women as such, both verbal and
physical, has increased in our country... It doesn't matter if you are an
actress or not," she said.
Celina cited examples of outspoken actress Kangana Ranaut and the murder of
journalist Gauri Lankesh.
"Recently, even someone as accomplished as Kangana (Ranaut) came forward and
spoke about the domestic violence that she went through, or the shooting of
esteemed Gauri Lankesh; so you see, no one is spared, because no 'authority' is
willing to educate or challenge or severely reprimand this growing trend," she
stressed.
This is not the first time a celebrity has been a victim of cyber bullying.
Sonakshi Sinha, Fatima Sana Sheikh, Sonam Kapoor and Karan Johar have all been
trolled on social media.
Asked if she takes the trolls seriously and how she deals with them, Celina
said: "Mostly I ignore them and make light of the situation, occasionally, in
instances like what happened with my post, I do take my social responsibility
seriously; some issues must be brought to light, and trivial things should be
left to die their own sweet death."
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