Superstars Vs. ‘Female Superstars’: Why Is There Such Discrimination?

From judging Deepika Padukone about Chhapaak to judging Priyanka Chopra for Quantico, we don’t let these women live in peace. Time to change?

Scrolling through the Instagram feed, we come across various misogynistic memes and jokes everyday. Or if you have somehow managed and avoided it on the feed, your Whatsapp contacts aren’t sparing you from their lame humour. And these have become so normal that most people aren’t even aware they are participating in a movement they should be protesting against.

Meanwhile today afternoon, I came across a very interesting post. Why I call it interesting, you will know soon.

Are superstars only men?

And it struck something inside me. I realised that we carry patriarchal rules inside us without feeling heavy about them. All through my education, I was never really taught that the word ‘superstar’ has a particular gender, especially the male gender. And I can definitely say that the word hasn’t been tailor made for the men in the industry. Women too, have been a part of the industry for ages now!

The next thing that caught my attention were the comments this post had garnered. Men of various ages, were commenting that all that she is doing is for the publicity and money. Now these comments are hardly made when pictures of male celebs are put up. 

The audience needs to know that good cinema spreads awareness and not just cheap romantic thrills. They need more than a taste of disgust at showcasing important issues. 

No matter what, people will hate

This got me thinking about the issues women face. Why is it that a woman’s career is highly criticised based on both her personal and professional choices? Where is the protest against that? Be it Priyanka with her choices, Mahira with her cigarette or Deepika with a movie around acid attack victims, there is always some hatred spewed. Someone will always make hateful comments. 

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These women are constantly compared to athletes and pilots to ‘show’ what ‘real’ women empowerment is. Please don’t. Everyone should do what they want to. And everyone’s choices are different. 

Moreover, never have I ever, heard such statements being made against men. So why only women? Have you ever thought of that?

Begin small, only then will you change

This may sound petty but this is where things start capturing your mind, bit by bit, till it is totally engulfed in the patriarchal rules of the society.  

As feminists, and humans, we are protesting against rapes, acid attacks, female infanticide, and domestic violence among other issues. And one day, we will succeed in ending these things. But for that to happen, even these tiny thoughts of patriarchy need to be nipped in the bud. Just to ensure that they don’t spread their roots everywhere. 

Haven’t we always been taught that charity begins at home? Well, similarly, revolution too, begins at home. It begins from within. I believe, it believes from you and your soul.

Picture credits: Still from the movie Padmavat.

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