The life of women isn’t difficult. Rather our patriarchal society makes it difficult. One thing that our society hates more than women is ‘Successful Women’. Many times, we have witnessed how media have run a smear campaign against famous women to please the patriarchal society
We witness how these successful women, who worked really hard to reach the top, being pulled down by media with disgusted headlines and campaigns! Here are some of such brave women who were being targeted for their success by media and made victims for no fault of theirs.
1. Jiah Khan
As we all know Jiah Khan died due to suicide at the young age of 25. The investigation involved an alleged suicide letter and her then-boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi. But, rather than showing empathy to this poor soul, the news channels left no stone unturned in her character assassination!
“She was pregnant apparently – pregnant without marriage”, “Did she have a miscarriage or an abortion”, “Is that why she ended her life?”, “What happens to girls when they find fame?”.
It is sad how this young girl was devoid of the respect that she deserved. Even after her demise, news channels shamelessly raise fingers at her character rather than resting her dignified soul in peace!
2. Anushka Sharma
It is heartbreaking how every time Virat Kohli misses a catch or fails to score runs, our media along with commentators and fans, connect his performance with Anushka. Even recently, when the Indian cricket team performed extremely badly during the first Test against the Australian Cricket Team, Anushka was targeted. Many shared the mean jokes that had nothing to do with cricket but were about Anushka and her pregnancy. One joke was about how she must have “asked” Virat to come early as she was pregnant and that’s why he lost.
“Lads, Anushka’s going in labor, let’s make it quick yeah?” pic.twitter.com/hMUty0V9Ip
— notrophyszn (@ElGujju) December 19, 2020
Anushka humne RCB ka lowest score ka record tod diya finally#AUSvINDtest pic.twitter.com/4vOibtOYK5
— Akhandbarbaadi (@akhandbarbaadi) December 19, 2020
3. Rekha
From being called names by her in-laws to being labeled as “daayan” after her husband died of suicide, Rekha became a victim of our patriarchal society’s regressive mindset. In the times, when she was coping with the personal loss, the media houses were leaving no stone unturned to capture her story with shameless angles:
“What led him to take this step?” ‘Was he not happy with Rekha?” “What did Rekha do?”.
Her husband’s mother made headlines when she cried,
‘Woh daayan mere bete ko kha gayi. Bhagwan use kabhi maaf nahi karega.’ (That witch devoured my son. God will never forgive her.)
Even the industry itself was not kind to her. In one of the interviews Subhash Ghai mentioned
“Rekha has put such a blot on the face of the film industry that it’ll be difficult to wash it away easily. I think after this any respectable family will think twice before accepting any actress as their bahoo. It’s going to be tough even professionally for her. No conscientious director will work with her ever again. How will the audience accept her as Bharat ki nari or insaf ki devi?”
4. Princess Diana
It is heart-breaking how Princess Diana was put under so much scrutiny since her marriage to Prince Charles. The media just wanted to sensationalize every part of her personal life. She was tired of paparazzi culture so much that she met an accident trying to run away from reporters.
5. Parveen Babi
It is sad and disgusting how many media houses published disgusting stories about her relationships with men. Apparently, our regressive society cared much more about how her behavior affected the man, but no one wanted to know how her mental illness, paranoid schizophrenia affected her.
The media houses sensationalized her personal life so much that it created an image that no one wanted to associate with. In her last days, she was alone. She allegedly died due to hunger as she couldn’t get up from the bed because of her bad health. It is heartbreaking how she was villainized so much that she had no one around in her last days!
6. Britney Spears
Britney Spears’s life shows how the media doesn’t believe in any restrain. There is a heart-breaking photo of Britney, crying inside a restaurant with her baby, as the paparazzi continue to take pictures of her from the outside. This just another reflection of how Britney paid the price of being a successful woman.
When she parted ways from Justin Timberlake, she was made the villain. Because our society believes it’s always a woman’s fault! Man can’t do anything wrong!
7. Meghan Markle
What’s happening to Meghan Markle is just another reminder of what happened to Diana. The media has written nasty articles to tarnish her image. When Meghan and Prince Harry decided to break ties with the royal household, she was labeled as a “home-breaker”. She was projected as someone who separated a son from his mother just because she wanted to live freely.
While many blamed her for the split, no one cared that her husband wasn’t a child. The couple made a choice. But rather than respecting their choice media put the blame of the separation on Meghan.
“My biggest concern was history repeating itself,” Harry says in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, apparently referring to the British media hounding his mother Princess Diana. https://t.co/cMixzDd4Eq
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) March 1, 2021
8. Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie
Our society treats its men as poor gullible souls who are lured by crafty women. Shifting the blame on women, it tends to pretend that man is a mere puppet in the hands of these cruel women. From time to time, Aniston and Angelina have been pitched against each other, which is extremely disgusting!
When Brad Pitt & Aniston separated, people blamed Angelina for the split, and later when Angelina & Brad separated, they were quick to say: “Jennifer had her revenge!”
9. Sridevi and Mona Kapoor
Boney Kapoor quit his marriage with Mona Kapoor to have a life with Sridevi. From that point on, Sridevi carried the label of home-wrecker even after her death. Shameless media sensationalized the split and left no stone unturned in labeling Sridevi as a villain. While Sridevi carried the burden of being a home breaker, our society hardly had any issues with Boney Kapoor.
It was disgusting how some people even blamed Sridevi’s bad karma for her death!
