Karachi: Hania Aamir is a lot of things. She’s an award-winning actor, she’s a prominent voice for women’s rights, and she’s also tired of society’s disdain for empowered women.
In a rant posted on her Instagram account, Aamir said she had been suffering from self-doubt recently and decided to take some time off to rethink her life and her career. After weeks of trying to figure out what was wrong, she said she was hit with a stunning realization: “People just hate happy women.”
Women Dragged for Living Their Best Lives
Aamir expressed the opinion that women living their best lives tend to be dragged and bullied by strangers on the internet and entertainment industry colleagues alike. “The hate is not good for women,” she said.
She was quick to point out that it isn’t only men doing this – women are also guilty of unnecessarily criticizing other women. The Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum actor explained that people have a problem with audacious women who dare to live beyond the validation of others.
“Of course she’s hated on, because, how dare she not fit into the mold that we have for her in our brain?” she said.
The Same Old Conversation, Just a New Font
Aamir pointed out that despite the contemporary perception that the concept of Log kya kahengay? (What will people say?) is archaic and dying out, she doesn’t believe that to be the case.
“The conversation is the same,” she explained. “We’re still pitting women against women. We’re still calling women black, white, fat, thin. We’re still doing all of that, but the font has changed and now it’s on Instagram.”
Although she believes that social media can be a force for good in society – and has been part of many good communities because of it – she pointed out that receiving a disproportionate amount of hate online is unfair and “not good for women,” who have to fight against it.
“Can we just clock the fact that it’s not working?” she asked.
An Appeal to Women
She appealed to others – women especially – to stop “aimlessly pointing guns because women are not existing how you were taught to exist.”
The actor recalled how she had earlier posted a picture with another celebrity who was wearing the same outfit she was, and people started asking “This or that?” She said she was not at all ready to accept that the question was purely about fashion, because male celebrities can wear similar outfits to events without raising an eyebrow.
The Low Bar for Men
She said she has a great amount of love in her heart for all the amazing men in her life who support her, care for women’s rights, and give women the space to exist. But the bar, she noted, is so low that, “Anytime they put on a brooch or they put on a lapel pin or wear jewelry, oh my god, the internet rejoices and you’re like, wow, we have won as a nation.”
A Call for Self-Reflection
Aamir touched upon the need for self-reflection when faced with images of women on social media that viewers might not agree with.
“Are we hating on this person because she just got popular? Did she achieve too much? Is it just because she’s out there? Is it because she’s really enjoying her life? Is it because she’s not existing how we would want to exist?” she probed.
A world where safety for women is conditional is not okay, she said, adding that those who dare to ruffle any feathers are put down by society, only for some to be memorialized after they die.
A Final Message
She ended her inaugural bathroom rant – she said she had enough to say for a few more of these – with a message for the world: “Stop gaslighting and bullying people in general to water themselves down and their personalities. Let them be whoever they are.”
