Women Are Not The Custodians Of Their Husband’s Behaviour

It is not as if by marrying him, a wife becomes the custodian of her man’s conduct. Yet, the society does not think twice when it shames a woman for inappropriate behaviour of her partner. Georgina Chapman has been facing a similar fate ever since allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against Harvey Weinstein. Celebrities and commoners alike have been rallying against Chapman’s clothing brand Marchesa. The tendency to misplace blame on women, for the actions of their partners is commonplace all over the world. Even the most liberal of societies, and minds fail to overcome this conditioning.

And now actor Priyanka Chopra has faced criticism, online, for choosing to wear Chapman’s brand for her bridal shower. According to a report in Firstpost, Chopra had called the decision to wear the gown as "women supporting women." However, this didn’t deter critiques from taking shots at both Chopra and Chapman.

How does it sit right with people that Chapman is facing professional consequences simply because she was married to Weinstein?

A wife is not a moral compass

Even after divorcing Weinstein, the shadow of his actions still hasn’t left Chapman’s side. The brand that she built with her hard work and creativity is getting soiled, simply by the guilt of association. Since when did marriage include a clause about co-bearing the grievous consequences of your spouse’s individual actions? But this is how it works.

SOME TAKEAWAYS

• Actor Priyanka Chopra faced criticism, online, for choosing to wear Georgina Chapman’s brand for her bridal shower.
• Even after divorcing Weinstein, the shadow of his actions still hasn’t left Chapman’s side.
• Since when did marriage include a clause about co-bearing the grievous consequences of your spouse’s individual actions? 
• Our drive for misogyny cannot go hand in hand with that against sexual harassment, if we continue to punish women for the actions of their husbands.

In December last year, one of the actors to accuse Weinstein of rape, Rose McGowan, passed a snide remark against Chapmen’s brand, while taking a shot at actresses' plans to reportedly wear black in protest at the SAG Awards.

In the now deleted tweet, she had said, “Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @GoldenGlobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.”

McGowen, later deleted the tweet. It is as if people think that Chapman could have put an end to Weinstein’s monstrosities if she wanted to. In a marriage, men and women are capable of leading individual lives. And there is very little their partners can do to influence that aspect of their being. Thus it is unfair to expect that wives work as a moral compass for their husbands or vice versa.

Our drive against misogyny cannot go hand in hand with that against sexual harassment, if we continue to punish women for the actions of their husbands. By doing so we would be putting innocent women through humiliations and struggles which they do not deserve. This urge to somehow find a way to blame women for the actions of men, compels us in creating more victims.

Picture Credit : Daily Front Row

Also Read : What The Teen Age Girls Report 2018 Says: #ListenToHer

Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section.  The views expressed are the author’s own.