Unsavoury remarks and comments against female politicians is not uncommon in a field still largely dominated by men, but India’s track record shows that women actors who choose politics as a career get the short end of the stick.
From the late Jayalalithaa, who was Tamil Nadu chief minister, to a union minister like Smriti Irani, and a Lok Sabha MP such as Hema Malini, none has been spared by their peers or internet trolls alike. While many blame political parties for simply using actresses to attract more votes based on their popularity, their male counterparts in politics have seldom faced such public censure and ridicule.
In the light of the recent controversy over “derogatory, sexist and misogynistic” remarks against Irani by Congress leader Ajay Rai, it is more obvious that women politicians, actors or not, are the easiest targets of the deeply patriarchal and sexist political system.
Here’s a look at actresses-turned-politicians who have been on the receiving end of sexism and misogyny in Indian politics:
‘Temptress’ J Jayalalithaa
‘Temptress’, ‘vixen playing tricks’, ‘woman with loose morals’ – words often used to describe the late J Jayalalithaa in the beginning of her political career primarily due to her close association with cultural icon and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran. But the contrast between MGR and his protegee’s rise to power is stark – the man leveraged his massive popularity to turn it into a successful political career, but the woman despite being known as the ‘Queen of Tamil cinema’ had to battle challenges that being a woman in a male-dominated profession entailed. She was the youngest chief minister when elected in 1991, and served in the post for more than 14 years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. The cult of Jayalalithaa came around much later but there was a time when MGR’s clear preference for her as his political heir scorned many. One of the first instances was when she joined the AIADMK under MGR’s wing – the DMK twisted her statement of having joined politics to ‘serve’ by telling young people to “use her body as she had given it in the service of the state”. Even when MGR died and she was pitted against his widow Janaki in a power struggle, her opponents used her single status and background in films to describe her as a woman of no virtue. But the most stark incident was perhaps an attack on her in the legislative assembly in 1989, when a heated argument between DMK and AIADMK took a turn for the worse and shoes as well as other objects were flung at Jayalalithaa, and a DMK leader manhandled her and pulled at her sari.
‘Dancing’ Hema Malini
Lok Sabha MP from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh since 2014, BJP’s Hema Malini has been at the receiving end of numerous sexist jibes despite her huge star power. The actress, who was at the peak of her career in the 1970s-80s, has also been criticised for not doing enough for her constituency and many have accused her of appearing in Mathura only during elections. But that did not stop her from winning the seat in the 2019 general elections as well and the saffron party also used her as a star campaigner for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections earlier this year. Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma had once described her as someone who “keeps performing dance across the country in an attempt to garner votes”. More recently, RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary while campaigning for the assembly polls had responded to an attempt by the BJP to poach one of his leaders, saying he “does not want be like Hema Malini”. The BJP had approached Chaudhary to join their ranks in January but he had refused. In another instance, one of her own colleagues from Maharashtra had said he wanted the roads of his constituency to look like “Hema Malini’s cheeks”. To this, Malini had responded saying such statements were not in good taste and this trend was started by veteran politician Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Jaya Prada’s ‘underwear’
The sexism and misogyny thrown at female politicians is somehow heightened during election campaigning. An influential actress down south during her time, Jaya Prada was made a target by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan during a public rally alongside party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other senior leaders. Referring to her joining the BJP in 2019 and fighting the Lok Sabha polls from Rampur, Khan had commented on her association with the RSS saying she wore “khaki underwear”. “What is the difference between you and me? People of Rampur, people of Uttar Pradesh and the people of India. It took you 17 years to understand her true face. But I realised in 17 days… that she wears khakhi underwear,” he had said.
‘Item’ Khushbu Sundar
Only recently, BJP leader and actress Khusbu Sundar slammed DMK functionary Saidai Sadiq for making abusive and derogatory remarks against women leaders of the Tamil Nadu BJP unit. In a video shared far and wide on social media, he is heard mocking Khushbu and three other BJP leaders — actors Namitha, Gayathri Raghuram and Gowthami — calling them “items” and saying the BJP was depending on “actresses” for making inroads into Tamil Nadu. Khushbu responded: “They’re not shaming me, they’re shaming women of their families, their mothers. I’m not even ready to accept an apology which is just like that given by the man who made the comments.” She also tagged chief minister MK Stalin saying she was waiting for his response on the matter and wanted him to ensure that no other person from the party made such derogatory remarks against women. Senior DMK leader Kanimozhi, however, apologised to the actor “as a woman and human being” and said Stalin did not stand for such comments.
‘Babes’ Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty
Stars in the Bengali film and television industry, actors Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan were among 17 women candidates that the Trinamool Congress gave tickets to in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Both registered victories from Jadavpur and Basirhat seats despite no political experience. They were, however, heavily trolled on social media as soon as TMC boss Mamata Banerjee made her decision to field the Bengali actresses. A Twitter user called them “babes” for putting out a dance video during their election campaign; one of the comments read: “Top khule nachleo vote debona (I won’t vote for you even if you take off your tops and dance).” Such sexist comments – some far more abusive – form a large chunk of social media responses on their photos.
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