Is Ranbir Kapoor Being Willfully Ignorant About His Toxic Sense Of Humour?

Bollywood’s new dad, Ranbir Kapoor, is once again under fire for making a controversial statement about his spouse, Alia Bhatt. In a recent conversation with Kareena Kapoor Khan on the show "What Women Want," Ranbir Kapoor said that Alia is an "overstressed" parent while he called himself a "chill dad." Once or twice, we could give this man the benefit of the doubt, but making "wife jokes" and "mansplaining" has always been a part of Ranbir Kapoor. How can an actor of his stature stoop so low despite having received flak in the past?

A few days ago, in a promotional event for his latest film, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, Ranbir Kapoor said that his daughter Raha would be a "cute-looking" person if she got Alia’s looks but had his personality and not Alia's. He went on to describe how Alia has a very "loud personality," is "extremely talkative," and is "very vivacious." "Now I think having two girls like this at home would be quite a daunting task for me, so I hope Raha is quiet like me so that we both can handle Alia." If Ranbir Kapoor really believes that he is being funny and witty, so sorry, Mr. Kapoor. You are proving to be a misogynist with a toxic sense of humour.

Ranbir Kapoor Mocks Alia Bhatt

Is being loud and talkative a bad trait for women? For someone who claims to be an evolved man who shares parenting duties, how can he repeatedly make sexist comments in public despite being called out for his inappropriate behaviour? How long are we going to want women to be "quiet," soft-spoken," and "cute?" It’s unbelievable for a new parent of this generation to possess this mentality.

In another recent interview, Ranbir Kapoor said that he "tolerates" Alia’s messy bathroom habits, like leaving things lying around. The actor received flak for revealing details of Alia’s personal habits to the entire world. Why is it such a big deal for a woman to be messy? Haven’t women been picking up things after men for ages? Why can’t he simply clean the bathroom or pick up after her if it really bothers his OCD? He talks about equal parenting, but where has equality gone now?

A few months back, in a promotional event for Bhramastra, Ranbir Kapoor body-shamed Alia Bhatt for gaining weight during pregnancy. "I can see somebody has phaeloed (spread)," commented Kapoor, clearly referring to Bhatt’s pregnancy weight gain. Looking at a shocked Bhatt, Kapoor quickly covered up with a lame excuse, "Sorry! Joke!"

Not even a single person around laughed at his so-called "joke." And this was widely called out by netizens. Shouldn’t he have realised his mistake at least then? Or is he willfully ignoring all the flak? How can a husband be so insensitive towards his wife, who has body issues? Ranbir Kapoor, since his dating days, has been promoting toxic relationships among couples as if they weren't already common in society.

This is, however, not something new in Indian society. Almost every family has at least one boomer generation uncle who mansplains women, forwards wife jokes, passes sexist comments, and makes fun of his wife in public. If at all these men are called out, they will claim that we can’t take a joke. How can jokes be at the expense of hurting or criticising someone? A prominent actor like Ranbir Kapoor engaging in such toxic behaviour will only encourage more men to imitate his behaviour.

Ranbir Kapoor is an excellent actor, and my intention wasn’t to criticise him as a person. That being said, I’m very convicted to call out his pathetic behaviour and I hope that Raha Kapoor doesn't take after him. It’s high time Ranbir Kapoor was more thoughtful before opening his mouth in public. He really needs to stop doing this because he is normalising toxicity with his low-key behaviour.

Suggested Reading: Does Cancelling Ranbir Kapoor Help Women Fight Sexism?