Recently, when former MP and BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri said if elected he would make roads in Delhi as smooth as “Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks”, he did not put the spotlight on the state of roads in the Capital or for that matter what he was promising.
He in fact, spotlighted the state of affairs in Indian politics and the deep-rooted patriarchy and misogyny that has pervaded it all along.
After the outrage and backlash that followed, Bidhuri made the customary “I take back my statement” remark. However, that does not roll back the distasteful analogy which hasn’t been made for the first time either.
In 2005, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav also hit the headlines when he claimed that will make Bihar’s roads “as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks.”
Fast forward to almost two decades later, the parallelism remains, as does the fact that it is a female politician at the receiving end.
Reportedly, the BJP is contemplating either shifting or cancelling Bidhuri’s candidature for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, but whether that will pull the plug on future statements by other MPs in India’s largely patriarchal politics is highly questionable.
Seemingly, the sexist slurs are specifically referred to like a playbook at the time of elections.
In April 2024, female contenders namely TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee, Hema Malini and Kangana Ranaut became early targets during political campaigning by their male counterparts.
Last year, while addressing his party workers, 92-year-old Shamanur Shivashankarappa commented on BJP candidate Gayathri Siddeshwara, dismissing her efforts at being in the fray and asking her to sit at home.
“She can’t even speak properly. She is fit to cook at home. Let her understand the problems of Davanagere before seeking public support in LS polls,” said the sitting MLA from Davanagere South.
His remark sparked enough political furore but none quite matches the perverted objection and suggestion made by West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh asking Mamata Banerjee to “wear bermuda shorts instead of sarees if she wanted to show off her injured leg.”
After Ghosh’s comments, made in 2021, invited the ire of sociologists and educationists, among other members of the society, he remained defiant and stood his ground.
“She is our Chief Minister. We expect her to act appropriately, befitting Bengal’s culture. A woman showing her legs in a saree is inappropriate,” he said later during another rally when questioned about his previous remark.
Not just political debutants or fledglings from the showbiz but even towering figures in Indian politics, cutting across party lines, have been a subject of sexist violence and indecent innuendos.
Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati, Mahua Moitra, Mamata Banerjee, late Jayalalitha and Sushma Swaraj have all been targeted at some point, and most likely during election speeches.
In 2019, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan during a campaign rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, made a crass comment on BJP leader and his former colleague Jaya Prada. “I brought her to Rampur. You are a witness that I did not allow anyone to touch her. It took you 17 years to identify her real face but I got to know in 17 days what the colour of her innerwear is.”
The phenomenon, unfortunately, is not restricted to the Indian political landscape but cuts across economic class, societal and geographical divides.
A 2016-study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union reveals that sexism, harassment and violence (verbal and otherwise) against women MPs are a global phenomenon. Not only does it impede gender equality but has a ripple effect on the larger sections and mind-set of the impressionable populace.
The study was based on in-depth interviews with 55 women MPs from 39 countries covering five regions of the world. The findings are in line with yet another research study conducted by Amnesty International.
A study conducted by Amnesty International tracking Twitter abuse of women MPs during the 2017 election found that though online abuse cuts across political spectrum, minority ethnic female MPs received 35% more of it than their white counterparts.
The problem is cyclical in nature and far too widespread and under-reported. Last year, while campaigning for the US Presidential election, Kamala Harris had to brave a string of ugly sexist slurs from MAGA fanatics.
Trump, on his social media platform, reposted an image of Kamala Harris with Hillary Clinton suggesting they traded sexual favours in their political journey.
“Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently,” read the caption reposted by Trump. Not just Trump himself, his front-row cheerleader and billionaire who makes spacejets and cyber trucks, Elon Musk reduced himself to the level of an anonymous guy lurking in the comments section of a Youtube video when he commented on Taylor Swift supporting Kamala Harris.
“Fine Taylor, I’ll give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”
In the Eastern countries and Asian countries, there is no dearth of comments in the public archives, where female MP’s choice of clothing has been equated with their character or lack of it.
Outdated aggression stemming from patriarchal ideas of how women should dress, belong in the kitchen or should stay behind veils worsens the situation. All of these factors make things challenging in a different way, if not more difficult.
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