My choice

Deepika’s video, “My Choice”, went viral on social media recently. All sorts of comments on it were heard and read. Starting from how amazing it was for her to come up with something of the sort to “how dare she try and tell our girls to do all this”. The thing with us is that we always tend to look at the negative aspect of literally every single thing that others do. Relax! Deepika didn’t suggest that our daughters should “go astray”.

She didn’t mean that they should come home at 4am and not before that. All she tried to do was highlight the fact that it is a woman’s choice to do whatever it is that she wants to do with her life — the sort of agency that a man often enjoys. She tried explaining that you shouldn’t and can’t dictate your girls, just like you choose not to dictate your sons. Let’s not take her words literally, but try and understand what message she is trying to get across to us.

It’s celebrities like her, with a huge following of people, who need to and can highlight important things in order to try and correct all the wrongs practiced in our societies. Emma Watson did something similar a few weeks back. She paid for dinner when she went out on a date. She showed that just because she is a girl, it doesn’t mean she cannot take a male friend out. She has the right to pay, too.

I feel Deepika tried to show something similar. She was just highlighting the importance of letting the world know that being a girl is not a sin and it should definitely not come with a price. Girls can do exactly what they like, just like boys can. Yes, girls should be reprimanded for the mistakes they might commit, but not more than boys. Gender should not be a measure of culpability.

Let’s not bash her over the video but rather be proud of her. She stood up for a good cause. People who have a public following are the ones who can help change our mindsets.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2015.