Boobs Are Politics.

A response to Shobhaa De's comments on the cleave controversy.

Dear Ms. De,

I wish to contest your casual pitting of SRK's abs vs Deepi's boobs.

Sure, they are both sexy, but surely you see the difference.

Because, media narratives surrounding six packs, highlight the blood, sweat and toil involved in attaining them, whereas media narrative surrounding boobs, omit highlighting the blood, sweat and toil that comes as a price, of owning not just those boobs, any boobs.

Therefore, people publicly aspire for Shah Rukh Khan's six packs – Its A-OK. Women privately aspire for Deepika Padukone's boobs.

Don't you see?

Revealing pictures and details of SRK's abs is a practice of NAMING and PRAISING. Revealing pictures of Deepika's boobs comes under the practice of NAMING and SHAMING, and then later, BLAMING.

Of course, women may openly lech at SRK's six pack, but alas, it is the same women who are objects – and theirs is not the right to objectify.

Finally,

SRK's torso minus the six pack-embellishment, if run opposite a picture of my boobs (and a pretty fine pair do I own), will de facto not garner the same kind of attention, as my plain-Jane-boobs will.

So, Miss De, let's not confuse/kid ourselves. Let's call a spade, a spade.

TOI's ambiguous headline about Deepi's boobs was a third rate click/view-baiting strategy, meant to feed and exacerbate existing power asymmetries, secured by the power-hungry libidos of the hegemony.

Sexism needs no excuses.