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| Image courtesy: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/12/us/priyanka-chopra-confrontation-beautycon-trnd/index.html |
Miss World, award-winning Bollywood actress, breakthrough Hollywood star, a champion of women empowerment, UNICEF Goodwill Brand Ambassador. The list of Priyanka Chopra's achievements go on and on. Impressive, very impressive, and by no means were any of these milestones small feats to achieve - especially for a woman of color. She voiced her personal experiences and opinions on racism, diversity and gender quality at every relevant forum she was invited to speak on. But recently, at Beautycon in Los Angeles, Priyanka Chopra's response to Ayesha Malik, an audience member, was dangerously problematic, and displayed her lack of maturity in dealing with a confrontational situation.
But before you proceed, please read this CNN article for a recap of the entire exchange between Malik and Chopra, and more importantly, for context on Malik's statement regarding the actress' alleged hypocritical stance on peace and humanity.
My issue is with the way global icon Priyanka Chopra responded to Ayesha Malik. Here's Chopra's response verbatim: "I hear you...Whenever you're done venting...got it, done? Okay, cool... I have many many friends in Pakistan, and I am from India, and war is not something that I am fond of, and I am patriotic, so I'm sorry if i hurt sentiments of people who do love me and have loved me, but I think that all of us have a sort of middle ground that we have to walk, just like you probably do as well...The way you came at me right now...girl, don't yell, we're all here for love, no don't yell..Don't embarrass yourself."
Chopra's tone, her words, her entire response was downright condescending. Is your go-to defense mechanism to put someone down instead of actually understanding and acknowledging the essence of the issue they brought to light? Chopra used words like 'vent' and 'yell' which have a bad rap and a negative connotation to not only belittle Malik, but also disregard her statement, and minimize her legitimate concerns. Let us consider the following...
"whenever you're done venting..."
What Priyanka branded as 'venting' was actually Malik bravely bringing to light the actress' stance on peace that she considered was hypocritical. As just one person in what was a seemingly large audience, Malik knew she had to be loud, articulate and quick with communicating her point of view. That was not her going on a rant about an issue. She had the courage to voice her view in public so she could hear Priyanka's side of the story.
"no, don't yell"
Apart from being loud and still trying to make her point, when the mic was snatched away from her, what option did Malik have apart from yelling? Malik had to raise her voice. She was not yelling. There is a difference between being loud and being heard. Malik wanted to be heard. Whatever happened to Chopra being a vocal and eloquent supporter of women finding their voice?
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| Priyanka Chopra in Cosmopolitan (source here) |
"girl, don't yell"
As a proud iconic feminist, Priyanka Chopra of all the people should have known the inappropriateness of referring to women as girls. Ayesha Malik is a full grown woman. Chopra referring to her as a 'girl' in this context was undermining and patronizing. Wouldn't it have been deemed sexist if it was a man calling Malik a 'girl'?
"don't embarrass yourself"
As a final cherry on the top, Chopra ended her patronizing response by telling Malik to not embarrass herself. This was Chopra using her celebrity power to subtly shame an audience member. Malik did not say or do anything that can be considered embarrassing. In fact Malik displayed that she was courageous to publicly call out a global celebrity, that she was mature enough to use the platform - a beauty conference - to draw attention to the sensitive India-Pakistan issue, and that she was woke enough to care about the rising cross-border political tensions!
"all of us have a sort of middle ground that we have to walk..."
As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, what is this middle ground Chopra speaks of? With that title to one's credit, surely one must either be on the side of war or on the side of peace. Sometimes celebrities endorse brands carelessly and even take up causes that can be good for their brand. We, the audience, the fans, the critics, need to keep these celebrities in check. This 'patriotism' you speak of, is that borderline nationalism? As a well-traveled and experienced former Miss World who spoke of the compassion she admired in Mother Teresa, where was Chopra's compassion when she was put on the spot by Malik at Beautycon to share her views on the implications of war?
To conclude, Malik claimed Chopra's tweet of supporting the Indian army was insensitive and provocative amidst rising India-Pakistan tensions in February. As a daughter to parents who once worked with the Indian army, Chopra may have her own perspective. She could have used that platform to respectfully voice the story behind her tweet and acknowledge that it's fair to have viewed it as careless considering nuclear tensions. But she conveyed her unconvincing message in a rather demeaning fashion. Studies have shown that sworn feminists are found to be unconsciously biased against women. This exchange between Chopra and Malik is a classic example of this bias in exercise. Some Indian publications have called Malik a troll and a heckler, and have praised Chopra's response as an 'epic comeback'. This is vitriol and I am simply attempting to break down how the words and phrases Chopra used are toxic, especially coming from one woman to another. When a TIME magazine most influential person and UN Goodwill Ambassador defends themselves by demeaning someone, it can send out a message to people that their voices don't matter. Malik should be praised for using her participation at Beautycon to call out the bigotry of an influencer at that very moment. As for celebrities, they need to acknowledge that they have a responsibility when it comes to aligning their words with actions. At a beauty conference, or film interview or fan meet-and-greet, whatever the platform or forum, they can be called out by the public.
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