If you’re a woman, you know that nothing is enough for the world to stop treating you like a liability. Like we need someone to assist us all the time, or even sustain, for that matter. And, the current big trend on social media is proof. For people who don’t know – it’s about Lalit Modi’s announcement on being in a relationship with Sushmita Sen. Thanks to social media, the news spread soon in the form of gossip and memes.

Now, we hate it when people interfere in our lives, but we do not wait to nitpick someone else’s decisions, specifically women. So much so, that the former Miss Universe and actor, had to clarify that she doesn’t need a man to extract money. I mean seriously, the person who’s known for taking a stand and contributing towards social work, was called a gold-digger. 

Imagine working hard your entire life, proving that you are emotionally and financially independent, only to be called a gold-digger for a choice that’s totally yours to make. Hurts, doesn’t it? Sadly, if a man gets into a relationship with a wealthier woman, it’s usually celebrated. But, a woman is deemed materialistic for doing the same. 

And it’s so ironic that if a woman earns more, it’s frowned upon because that just might hurt the man. At least that’s what we’ve been told since a long time, ki ego hurt ho jati hai. Why are we so confused? If you love to judge for hobby, at least be clear about it. 

Of course, since we live for putting women down, we couldn’t help but assume that Sushmita Sen needs a relationship to fulfill her materialistic needs. And yes, it’s as shallow as it sounds. Firstly, just because celebrities reach a lot more people, doesn’t mean that we can scrutinize their choices. Secondly, it’s none of our business. The world could be falling apart, but all we care about is who-dated-whom. People, we need to pick something else for hobbies – let’s try knitting, maybe?

Do you like explaining a mausi that you’re dating a person and she doesn’t have a say in it? Or that she should worry about herself, instead of poking her nose everywhere? It’s toxic. And, these are people we are related to. But we almost forced a woman to explain it to everyone with a social media account that she can ‘buy her own diamonds’, people she doesn’t even know exist. And not like we know her enough to go on and leave baseless comments on her social media account.

Sadly, that’s what we keep doing as a society. We imagine that women aren’t capable to run their own lives or sustain without a man. And it goes for women in all professions, because let’s just face it, nothing is enough. This is literally a woman who received the title of ‘Miss Universe’. 

Hell, a woman could be a superhero, and the world would still tell her to find a man to protect her. This is why even a woman who doesn’t need to rely on anyone is assumed to be sticking in a relationship for financial support. Maybe because we like it when they aren’t given due credit.

The thing is, post the announcement, both Lalit Modi and Sushmita Sen were in news or more specifically memes. Firstly, it wouldn’t have been funny for the people involved, disrespectful of course. Lastly, we cannot keep portraying women as abla naaris or villains. We literally pound on the first chance to assassinate a woman’s character, just because we like the control. And, that needs to stop.

At this rate, the term gold-digger should be deemed as a feminine word, because that’s how we’ve been using it – only for women.