Since early last morning, Twitter has been blowing up with derogatory memes and jokes about Sonia Gandhi’s alleged career as a bar dancer in Italy before she met Rajeev Gandhi and moved to India. The trend picked up and spread like wildfire. So much so that a google search on ‘Italian Bar Dancer’ showed Sonia Gandhi in the featured section.



Image Credit: Google

I do not intend to play jury to the authenticity of these claims and everything else the politician has been accused of in the past two days, but the kind of reaction the altercation has invoked is appalling to say the least.



The misogyny that pervades Indian society is not any sort of brand new information. Men in our country are so unabashedly and unapologetically sexist that it hurts to even think about it. And if this situation is any proof, so are the women. The kind of things that people have been saying about her, it’s hard to believe we’re living in 2020. Weren’t we supposed to have been a genius-manufacturing superpower by now?

#BarDancer

When people see this trends .

.

Le bore ho rhe log - pic.twitter.com/crO8V7klIz — धनराज गिरि (@Prince_Dhanraj_) April 23, 2020

Once upon a time in Italy.. 😭😭😭 via- congress insta story #BarDancer pic.twitter.com/FIzvzTvCdC — Bhrustrated Habibi 🐫 (@FunMauji) April 23, 2020

But what I find to be the saddest part about this whole trend is that the words ‘Bar Dancer’ are being used as an insult, as if women who work as performers in bars and nightclubs are lesser than those who don’t. Are we really going to ignore the long history of commodification of women’s bodies and the corrupt system that forces them into work that isn’t seen as ‘dignified’? Even the fact that these women are at an extremely high level of risk of abuse and violation at the hands of men? Exactly the kind of men who think of them as inferior beings for being in a profession that isn’t what a sanskari woman would be in, and yet seek enjoyment out of it.



Sonia Gandhi, who is the President of the Indian National Congress, is no stranger to being the subject of derogatory jokes. The ‘bar dancer’ claim has been raised in the past as well, and proven wrong - she was a waitress and not a dancer (not that it makes any difference to trolls). Her pictures have been morphed on Marilyn Monroe and Bond girls, that anyone with half a brain can tell are fake.

Image Credit: Hoax or fact

Image Credit: Hoax or fact

Image Credit: Hoax or fact

There are ways of calling someone out and pointing out their mistakes without being insulting and derogatory, which is a concept that we’re very far from. Especially when it’s women who are at the receiving end of such criticism.



I think it’s time that we, as a society, go dumpster diving inside our brains and self-reflect to think about the absolute trash that is dwelling in and slowly taking over our minds. It doesn’t take a lot to have basic human decency and respect for women, and it’s about time we practice it.

I’m extremely curious to know what was achieved by these claims, but I have a feeling I will never find out.

Lead and Social Image Credit: Forbes, Google