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When will the world realise that something they’re casually making fun of is someone else’s reality, and it's not Ok to do so?
On March 27, 2022, American actor, Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards after the latter made a joke about the physical appearance of the former’s spouse, Jada Pinkett Smith.
While Smith is facing serious consequences for his actions, there is very little being said about Rock’s condescending remark that mocked a woman’s medical issues. This made me wonder whether this world will ever move past making belittling and shallow jokes about how a person, especially a non-man, looks.
There are two concerning and serious issues about Rock’s actions – him insulting Jada Smith’s decision to go bald due to her medical condition, alopecia areata, and him doing so without her consent.
First of all, why is it so difficult for the world to accept a woman’s decision to shave her head? Imagine getting diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, shaving your head as a result of that, and then having comedians compare you to a bald fictional character. Would anyone be okay with that?
Second of all, why make a joke about someone’s problems without asking them if they would be open to being mocked publicly?
What Jada Smith faced is the reality of every non-man in this world who doesn’t meet the ideal standards of beauty set by a bunch of misogynists. We are asked to remain silent in the face of humiliation and are labelled as ‘loud’, ‘hormonal’, or ‘reactionary’ the moment we voice our discomfort.
When will the world realise that something they’re casually making fun of is someone else’s reality?
As I think about everything that Will Smith did, I wonder how I would’ve reacted if someone would’ve insulted my wife or girlfriend the same way. Since the answer to that question will be met with a lot of criticism, I will let it remain unanswered in this article.
A dysgraphic writer who spends most of her time watching (and thinking about) Bollywood films. read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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