Rhea Wore 'Smash The Patriarchy' T-shirt But The Slut-Shaming Gang Doesn't Know What It Means

Indian social media, especially the right-sympathisers, went into a collective meltdown when Rhea Chakraborty wore a t-shirt which had a slogan printed on it reading "Smash The Patriarchy". She was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on September 8 and sent to 14-days judicial custody.

Rhea arrived at NCB office in Mumbai wearing a black tee with the quote: ¡°Roses are red, violets are blue, let¡¯s smash the patriarchy, me and you.¡±

While a section of people is actively engaged in witch-hunting and vilification of Rhea, whose former partner Sushant Singh Rajput died of suicide in June, establishing her as the prime accused in the case.

She has been called names, slut-shamed and tagged as a ¡°gold-digger¡± by the public in general and some from Bollywood who claim to seek justice for Sushant Singh Rajput.

As much as these trolls salivate over dehumanising a woman under the guise of justice, it turns out they faced a hard time over understanding the word ¡®patriarchy¡¯.

Searches for the meaning of patriarchy soon spiked on the internet and sparked a debate on Twitter.

For those who are still unaware - the dictionary meaning of patriarchy is: "a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line."

The debate about patriarchy began when mediapersons hounded her on her way to the NCB office and violated her space by shoving mics and cameras into her.

A section of people argued that if the person in question were to be a man, he would have met with a different treatment from the media. They pointed out the unfair treatment and the media trial, on account of her being a woman.

The woman -- roughed up by camerapersons who otherwise cry for women empowerment and feminism, subjected to several rounds of ugly media-trial -- denied to back down.

She did make a statement with that t-shirt. It aptly captured the aggression she had been subjected to since Sushant Singh Rajput¡¯s death on June 14.

Internet unable to digest "smash the patriarchy"

Many on the internet could not handle the woman who managed to put up a strong face when hurled with nauseating abuses.

Some came up with "how dare she?" attitude and some pointed out her "arrogance". Some believed that a woman wearing a statement t-shirt is just another gimmick.

Rhea reached the NCB office with a message on her clothes. Decode her arrogant message. #WorldUnitedForSSRJustice pic.twitter.com/zn7OCBHS1w

¡ª Anurag Sinha (@anuragsinha1992) September 8, 2020

They were convinced that Rhea is playing the "woman card" and was called out for "fake feminism".

Once again, this is a classic case of how a woman's clothing is connected to their dignity. The common public have not failed to somehow interpret what her clothes mean, even when she wore a salwar-kameez or a top.

All this because a grieving woman who lost her partner is supposed to look a certain way, behave a certain way and talk a certain way. They must adhere to societal norms to show that they are grieving. Putting up a strong face will only lead to vilification, as has been proved in this particular case.

One cannot separate patriarchy from this case. It is impossible. Remember the hypermasculine images of Sanjay Dutt with TADA slammed down on him or Salman Khan with a blackbuck poaching case in Jodhpur? These men were protected by policemen with dignity.

But don¡¯t bring gender into it! ?????????? #whatwerefusetosee pic.twitter.com/LT3n5iwW0O

¡ª Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) September 7, 2020

This is a request for action from across the sections to call out patriarchy, oppressive behaviour meted out to women and their mistreatment. Today it is them, one day it could be me or you.