Sona Mohapatra: Normalising shaming of young women for attire encourages misogynistic behaviour

Singer Sona Mohapatra recently called out social media users who criticised Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira for wearing a bikini at her pool party on her birthday. And since then, she has been dealing with trolling so bad, that some have even dragged her mother into it.

As social media users started commenting about Ira’s choice of attire in presence of her parents, Mohapatra came forward to slam patriarchy with a note on Instagram, writing, “All the people outraging about Ira Khan’s choice of attire or linking it to what #AamirKhan said, did or didn’t in the past please note; she is 25. A free, thinking, adult woman. Is exercising her choices. Doesn’t need her dad’s approval or yours”.

Opening up about getting trolled for her post, she says, “The 24/7 troll brigade in the last 24 hours in the garb of ‘sanskaari’ custodians of our ‘culture’ have showcased their own ‘sanskaar’ by asking me to pose naked in the public, then even extended this courtesy to my 70 year old mother, who has no voice or say in this conversation. All in the last 24 hours after I called out their sick mindset for trolling a young woman, whose birthday I attended this weekend”.

Since then, the 45-year-old has spent most of her time deleting such comments and applying filters on her page, as she puts, “All this emotional violence despite having the strongest profanity filters turned on in my pages, that I have been deleting crap continuously”.

Here, she mentions that it is important to call out such mentality to change how women are treated in the society. “The last couple of days have also given us the horrifying news of gang rapes in various parts of the country. What’s the connection one wonders? Well, these horrific crimes came to light because the brave girls reported them, are seeking justice & not sweeping it under the carpet like hundreds do”.

That’s why it is important to call out such conversations, instead of normalising it.

“Even normalising such trolling and shaming of young women for their choice in attire on the Internet only strengthens and encourages a**h*les and misogynistic behaviour not only online but in real life too. Because, in the end, this online, sick behaviour is nothing but a mirror of the reality of the mindset’s in society,” she ends, while emphasising to keep the conversation against this mentality going.