International Women’s day is just a day away. Reminding us every year to track the progress of gender equality, this year’s theme is #IAmGenerationEquality. In the new decade, we are looking at women being their fierce powerful selves and reclaiming all that is rightfully theirs. The past decade came as a much-needed revelation of how women were perceived and what needed to change.
Bollywood celebs have played a pivotal role in inspiring the change by voicing their opinion and supporting women related issues. We’ve curated a list of some of those B-town celebs who have lead the way of inspiring and influencing others.
Bhumi Pednekar
Through her years in the industry, Bhumi has taken on unconventional roles in movies such as Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Saand Ki Aankh, Pati Patni Aur Woh, etc. Issues concerning women are close to her heart and she always makes sure to voice it out. She has used her influence to help support and raise awareness about them. She has used social media as a tool to voice her opinions and support on pollution, climate change, domestic violence. Her latest initiative is to support Whisper’s #KeepGirlsInSchool campaign. This campaign talks about how even today 1 in 5 girl’s drops out of school due to no menstrual hygiene education and sanitary solution.
Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee has carved a niche for herself in the industry. She takes on films that address pressing issues that women deal with. With Pink, Mission Mangal, Naam Shabana, and now Thappad she has empowered women and lent largely to those causes one role at a time. While promoting her movie Naam Shabana she featured in a new video for a popular YouTube channel in which she said that, “Every woman should learn to protect herself, and the only thing a woman needs to apologise for, to herself and not the world, is for not hitting back up until now”.
Radhika Apte
Radhika Apte is extremely dynamic and is inarguably a one-woman army. She has been a strong spokesperson for women issues. She voiced her support towards the recently announced Weinstein verdict in an interview with Gulf News tabloid by saying that, “It’s the right way of moving forward… A lot of injustice has been done to women and men who go through sexual harassment at work and it’s high time we speak about it”.
Swara Bhaskar
Swara is unapologetic in the causes she chooses to stand for. Her fierceness encourages many women to be courageous. On many occasions, she has supported women’s rights and issues. One such occasion was a video that she featured in for International Women’s Day where she addressed women’s sexuality. She said, “People are squeamish about female sexuality. We are embarrassed about female sexuality and the female body, and if someone talks about it in a normal way, the reaction is ‘oh my God’. The ‘hawww’ feeling (of being astonished) is a big one in the lives of women; it’s silly and wrong. It is reflective of the kind of society we live in”.
Richa Chadha
Richa is one person you should follow on social media for her strong and defined opinions. She repeatedly reminds us that we are as empowered as men are even in a seemingly male-dominated society. She has also brought to the fore the fact that women are treated unfairly by the media and questioned the media as to why male actors are not asked if they make jingoistic films. She also expressed her disgust toward the incident that took place in Bhuj, Gujarat hence asserting herself as someone who stands in support of women.