A couple of days back, an Instagram video went viral on various social media platforms in which a woman was sobbing because of a bruise on her nose. Hitesha Chandranee, a makeup artist and a beauty ‘influencer’ alleged that an ‘impudent’ Zomato delivery guy had punched her on her nose because she had infuriated him by refusing the order which didn’t reach on the ‘supposed’ time. The netizens and ‘feminists’ began trolling the delivery guy for his impoliteness and improper behavior towards a ‘virtuous’ and ‘decent’ woman. At first impression, the video perturbed and enraged everyone, including me. Taking immediate action to maintain their dignity and customer-friendly image, the food delivery company Zomato apologized and suspended the delivery guy for his indecent attitude towards a lady customer. And later, he was apprehended by the Bangalore Police.
But, as dawn approached, the other side of the story emerged in which the delivery guy, who was later identified as Kamaraj, defended himself by untangling the concealed side of the story. He alleged that the lady was frustrated because her order was late and she continuously compelled him to return it. At first, she used abusive and derogatory language and when he tried to convince her that the order was late because of the poor traffic and road condition, instead of being convinced, she hit and assaulted him with her slippers. For the sake of self-defense, he mildly rebuked and pushed her, and during this struggle, her ring accidentally scratched her own nose, which led to the bruise she was flaunting as the ‘assault’ mark in the video. And immediately after, she made an Instagram video, in which she peddled a bogus narrative and accused Kamaraj of physical molestation.
Hitesha is a struggling social media influencer who clearly aspires to be a celebrity. And in India, to be a celebrity, one needs to land up in an untoward and pitiful controversy in order to garner digital followers and likes and form a fanbase, and for Hitesha, this was the perfect occasion to play a victim card, hit a masterstroke, and do a bit of melodrama to attract the digressed young mass; we can justify her melodrama on the basis of her aspiration and intention. Till the 13th of March, she has got over 19.9 million views on the video. Nevertheless, it can’t be said whether she succeeded in her attempt, but clearly, she successfully ruined the professional career of a decent and impecunious guy who was merely trying to do his job.
This is what I call pseudo-feminism where the feminine side of the argument can overturn anybody’s unbiased viewpoint. The core target and aim of the pseudo-feminists are to subdue and humiliate men and masculinity. This is leading to an unprecedented amount of suffering and depression among men. They are easily entrapped and hence vulnerable to this toxic conceptual ideology, diffusing rapidly among millennials and Generation Z. A paragon for my argument is the case of Vishnu Tiwari, a penurious man who was propelled to rot in jail for two decades in a hoax rape case by the pseudo-feminist judicial system. Feminism must prevail in society, but for the sake of equality and women’s empowerment, not to subdue men and masculinity. To maintain equilibrium, society needs to adopt logical-feminism rather than agenda-driven pseudo-feminism!
