The vilification of Rhea done by TRP hungry anchors was amplified by the middle class. Even women rushed to demonise a ‘girlfriend’ who wasn’t as successful as her partner. An attractive, independent woman who doesn’t seek validation from society is always attacked. (1/n)
You see, Rhea didn’t look the part of a helpless woman. Everyone likes a helpless woman. An अबला नारी. Strong women make men and also many women uncomfortable because they go against patriarchal notions of a woman constantly having to be saved. (2/n)
Women often act as gatekeepers of patriarchy. They seek comfort in putting themselves down. Of only speaking through husbands and fathers. Rhea spoke up for herself. So even before waiting for the CBI inquiry to be complete her ‘audacity’ for speaking out went against her (3/n)
We live in a society that thrives on a goddess/whore binary. Conditioning ensures that a woman’s mobility is curtailed, her independence restrained, her sexuality denied & should she not seek society’s validation,she should be attacked, her spirit broken(4/n)
Sushant was a bright, talented man. His success was attributed to his hard work and talent and rightly so. But Rhea was responsible for his downfall? A woman can lead an adult man astray? Why are the failures of men always attributed to a woman- be it a wife or a girlfriend?(5/n)
Women who have participated in this macabre media trial shouldn’t forget that at some point the same patriarchy that they are acting as gatekeepers for will come for them. Perhaps not as high profile. They will be blamed for their husband’s failures, their son’s ineptitude (6/n)
The biggest lot of cliched patriarchal nonsense is how behind every successful man is a woman. That is just used as a ruse to blame a man’s failure on a woman. Basically a woman is needed to justify an unsuccessful man. Wives, girlfriends, mothers. Even daughters. (7/n)
The vilification of Rhea has been the most shameful chapter in Indian journalism in recent times. Every single journalistic code was broken, every chauvinistic and patriarchal bias was allowed to run as ‘news’. It pains me as a journalist. But it sears me as a woman. (8/8)
