Aravind SundaramA leading playback singer in Tamil Movies who was known for her debut song suddenly went out of focus in 2019. She along with 16 other women named a famous Tamil Movie lyricist in the then Me Too movement. While women in Bollywood were successful in naming and shaming big names, Tamil Nadu saw the vice versa trend.
Hypothetically, this again is a reflection of Anti-Brahminism (the playback singer is a Brahmin herself). Else, a huge crowd would have come out to support like what happened in other cases.
People were victim shaming her and questioned her chastity. They were judgemental about her personal life. On the other hand, the alleged lyricist was still getting all laurels in the industry. However, this is not the only case where a Brahmin Woman is subject to shaming.
Here are some examples of how Brahmin Women are shamed online.
Surname Shaming
In the ancient days we all had the habit of keeping surnames. These surnames would usually represent the Gothra to which one belongs to. And in some cases, people tend to have their village name too.
In the current times, some women with the surname Iyer are subject to harassment. A Brahmin girl while speaking to Thought Habitat said, “I’m subject to harassment multiple times openly for my surname. Even after reporting those accounts, the social media platforms have not taken any action.”
“Some of them abruptly tell me, remove your surname else you will be subject to more trolls. I haven’t removed my surname and the trolling still continues. I will never give in to their intimidation. When I have my own proud surname, why would I remove or change it? These strangers do not have the right to question me or my family legacy,” claims our troll crusader.
Career Growth Questioning
Another woman whom we came across shares her story, “After my promotion, I made an update in LinkedIn. And from nowhere some set of guys came forward to question my career growth and talent.”
One account replied to my post saying, “Only Mamis get promotion not a girl from a poor background.”
Women from the Brahmin community are not subject to reservation or quota. Therefore, they have to rely only on their merit. Once they prove their mettle, they get to move on to the next level.
Moreover, as we mentioned in our first blog of Anti-Brahminism, Brahmins come from a poor background too. Therefore, a Mami who is getting a promotion is a poor girl too.
100% Anti-Brahminism?
Such cases prove one thing for sure i.e., Anti-Brahminism is a societal habit that passes on from one generation to the other. In such cases, we may have to question the mere existence of Justice. Yet, our Brahmin Women are achieving only based on their merit. All we expect is, people should respect the talent and the person rather than the gender and the caste.
Aravind Sundaram
Guest Author
