If you think we have grown over the years and objectification of women has become a thing of the past then you, my friend, have probably not seen this video yet.
Twitter was in distress when a video of a Rajasthan minister, Rajendra Singh Gudha, making cringy statements involving women made it to social media.
Posted by Rajendra Singh Gudha on Thursday, July 18, 2019
In the clip, the minister is seen interacting with a group of voters (mostly men) at Udaipurwati in the Jhunjhunu district. When the villagers demanded smooth roads in the district, pointing at the chief engineer of the Public Works Department present at the meeting he goes on to say, “In my constituency, the roads should be made like Katrina Kaif’s cheeks,” reported India Today.
Surprisingly, his sexist statement was met with applauds and hooting from the people present.
#WATCH | "Roads should be made like Katrina Kaif's cheeks", said Rajasthan Minister Rajendra Singh Gudha while addressing a public gathering in Jhunjhunu district (23.11) pic.twitter.com/87JfD5cJxV
— ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2021
The newly appointed minister has definitely invited controversy with his bizarre statement. People online found his statement offensive and derogatory towards women.
Kuchh bhi ho jaaye sexism aur Misogyny nahi chhodenge https://t.co/16x2D3VIaz
— Ritushree 🌈 (@QueerNaari) November 24, 2021
What d hell .
Such a sexist n cheap comment🤮
Will #RahulGandhi take action against him ?
Dusro ko gyaan deta rehta hai .
Shameless https://t.co/zJWfukwuiG— Sneha_Scribbles📝 (@Destinedtoliv) November 24, 2021
Men stop objectifying women challenge https://t.co/Ee7dfWtwWj
— tulika (Taylor's version) 🧣 (@UfffTeriAdaa) November 24, 2021
Why are Indian politicians obsessed with cheek like roads? Weird https://t.co/zVrS9UL810
— buckyball (@Buckyball_60) November 24, 2021
Is bande ka naam 'Gudha' nahin 'Gadha' hona chahiye https://t.co/YUbjSDVNjz
— Aman Malik (@PatrakaarPopat) November 24, 2021
What a cheap and sexist remark!
Couldn’t you find another description for roads that doesn’t involve objectifying a woman??? https://t.co/lKlc0S6phm
— Charu Pragya🇮🇳 (@CharuPragya) November 24, 2021
Some things never change https://t.co/NlYCRHom06
— Nemo (@NonsensicalNemo) November 24, 2021
From Lalu’s “Hema Malini’s cheeks” to now “Katrina’s cheeks”, we’ve come a long way… or haven’t come along at all https://t.co/LnmqvRKT1n
— NV 🇮🇳 (@rookie_tweet) November 24, 2021
But the sad part is that there were a lot of people who thought casual sexism was funny.
And toll plaza like Mia khalifa 👉👈😋 https://t.co/kQ0sx4P228
— Memes Gormint (@MemesGormint) November 24, 2021
Phir to maja aa jayega🤟🤟 https://t.co/wRc46InKvP
— 𝓣𝓱𝓮_𝓡𝓸𝔂𝓪𝓵_𝓟𝓻𝓪𝓳𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓲 (@YogeshK38053171) November 24, 2021
😹😹😹😭😭😭😂😂😂 like Katrina Kaif's cheeks https://t.co/CknWeTfpz6
— ⚡ (@rage88_) November 24, 2021
Earlier, Lalu Prasad Yadav reportedly made a similar remark comparing Hema Malini’s cheeks with smooth roads.
From roads of Bihar would be as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks in 2005 to Rajasthan's roads should be made like Katrina Kaif's cheeks in 2021… sexism in Indian politics continues to be cringey https://t.co/rkH1RQYDdG
— L Λ L I T (@justlalit) November 24, 2021
This video makes me realize that a lot of work needs to be done to free India from casual sexism and objectification of women.