Alia Bhatt addresses the issue of Slut Shaming

"The reason actresses don’t talk about their private lives is because in our society there is a lot of slut-shaming. Eventually, I have a responsibility and I have to protect myself,”.

That's one of the rising stars of Bollywood, Alia Bhatt stating it like is. Bhatt was reacting to the rumors of her romantic affair with her co-star Siddharth Malhotra in an interview to Huffington post and bluntly stated “Ours is a very real price to pay. In India, you are a part of a society that’s very judgmental. Here, girls having multiple boyfriends is still a huge-a** deal and something that is frowned upon.”

The actress further stated that in our country she feels the need to protect herself from the media to maintain a clean image, “I mean, look at Taylor Swift. She’s dated, like, everybody. But if she was here, she’d be totally shamed for making those choices. Her image and appeal would be very different. "

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The way film stars and public figures are viewed by the public seems to be pretty universal.  In a recent outburst related to her pregnancy rumors and gossips about her relationship with her co-stars, Jennifer Aniston stated "If I am some kind of symbol to some people out there, then clearly I am an example of the lens through which we, as a society, view our mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, female friends and colleagues. The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing. "

She went on to say, "The way I am portrayed by the media is simply a reflection of how we see and portray women in general, measured against some warped standard of beauty. Sometimes cultural standards just need a different perspective so we can see them for what they really are – a collective acceptance ... a subconscious agreement. We are in charge of our agreement. Little girls everywhere are absorbing our agreement, passive or otherwise. And it begins early. The message that girls are not pretty unless they’re incredibly thin, that they’re not worthy of our attention unless they look like a supermodel or an actress on the cover of a magazine is something we’re all willingly buying into. This conditioning is something girls then carry into womanhood."

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Alia is in her late 20’s, she is new to our industry but not to the norms of our society and she very clearly understands that every girl who has been in multiple relationships regardless of her problems will always be Slut Shamed. The fact is that whether it's Rani Mukerji, Priyanka Chopra or Deepika Padukone, none of the high profile stars openly discuss relationships. After all we are a country where it took a tweet from Virat Kohli defending Anushka Sharma for trolls to lay off her.

Feature Image Credit: worldtechfun.com