Even in 2021, instances of women being harassed, abused, and threatened, for simply exercising their personal choices, are far too common. And in the age of social media, this translates to cyber-bullying.

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From morphing private photos to leaking personal details, from issuing rape threats to leaving vile public comments, women, especially those in the public eye, are literally badgered – at times, just for having an online presence.

CNN

Women are sexualized and objectified over anything and everything. And if that woman happens to be a celebrity, with a fair deal of photos and imagery available online, then those photos and videos are used to harass them without compunction. 

Like it happened with Swara Bhasker, who was flooded with comments about her ‘vibrator scene’ from Veere Di Wedding, when she commented upon the Taliban taking over Afghanistan. 

And it’s not even the first time that this has happened!

Why? Why does society find it difficult to differentiate between women’s professional and personal lives? And what exactly is so wrong in women’s professional movie choices, that it has become a tool to embarrass and shame them?

Swara is not the first actor to be harassed for her film choices or to have her film history and photos used as yet another tool of harassment. 

Business Standard

Just recently, Radhika Apte was trolled on social media, with #BoycottRadhikaApte trending. The reason – a scene from her movie, Parched, which released in 2015!

Similarly, Shilpa Shetty and Shamita Shetty were harassed mercilessly, after news of Raj Kundra’s arrest broke. 

Even Aaliyah Kashyap, daughter of director Anurag Kashyap, had talked about how the public reacted when she posted a photo in lingerie. 

But why? How can a woman’s image justify bullying and harassment as a response? And it’s not just about harassing women.

It’s about the fact that most people, especially men, drag a woman’s personal and professional history in a discussion, the moment they disagree with them.

Why? Why can a disagreement with a woman not remain about the topic being discussed? Are men so insecure about a woman’s opinion that their only defense is to harass her?

Women have just as much a right as anyone else to have an opinion and express it. In a democracy, you have the freedom to disagree with someone’s opinion, but to harass them over it, and use their history to troll them, is a disgraceful and despicable habit that needs to stop.