Chingsanghoih Guite/ The Hauterfly
Chingsanghoih Guite/ The Hauterfly
I have always noticed that there is usually one dominant characteristic that defines a person more than their profession or life ever can. For singer Sona Mohapatra, apart from her mind blowing songs, she is known for her never-mince-your-words attitude, for which we’ve always loved her. Whether it is calling out celebrities and A-listers for their misdemeanour during the rise of the #MeToo movement, or simply calling spade a spade, she has been honest to the T. And in the process of that, she’s managed to open a few important dialogues. Today, she is calling out the common practise of victim blaming and she used the hashtag #INeverAskForIt.
And she tagged a bunch of other women to share their experience. It’s unfortunate that it has been quite the norm. The women she tagged and others have been sharing stories of when they were molested or harassed and were blamed for it. Using the hashtag #INeverAskForIt, the stories that are coming up are scary and worrying.
Sona Mohapatra wrote, “During my BTech Engg, walking to the microprocessor lab in a loose khadi green kurta with a salwar.Seniors whistling, speculating loudly about my bra size. One ‘well wisher’ walked up & asked why I wasn’t wearing my dupatta ‘properly’, fully covering my ‘boobs’. #NeverAsForIt.”
During my BTech Engg, walking to the microprocessor lab in a loose khadi green kurta with a salwar.Seniors whistling, speculating loudly about my bra size. One ‘well wisher’ walked up & asked why I wasn’t wearing my dupatta ‘properly’, fully covering my ‘boobs’. #INeverAskForIt
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) November 23, 2020
The idea here was to start a conversation around victim blaming and we’re glad women like Sona are speaking up about it. More women shared their stories and their accounts are also equally worrying and scary.
Traveling in a train all of 16 years of age and accosted by a bunch of eve teasers who kept making horrible lewd remarks ..was dressed in a pair of jeans and an oversized shirt.
— Madhumita Mohapatra (@MadhumitaM1) November 23, 2020
PE final assessment, 12th boards. When it was the girls' turn at long jump in the pit, boys would gather at both sides, to see us 'jump' to put it mildly. We didn't lose morale, that's the best we could do to not let it affect us.
— Etti Bali (@TheBalinian) November 23, 2020
Once female seniors(same well wishers like urs😜)came to me during 1st year,tried covering my back by my own hanging dupatta there itself and said- "why don't u use spaghetti under kurta?Use it from next time,Your bra's strips are visible translucent under kurta"🙄 @sonamohapatra https://t.co/q9etA13b9Z
— Dr.Deepa Sharma (@deepadoc) November 23, 2020
Sona Mohapatra’s tweet stands as a mirror to the reality that us women have to live in, day in and day out. Netizens who knew exactly what she was talking about, chimed in with their own horror stories, and it was disheartening to see how many women go through such objectification and become victims to this misogyny.
