Why Sunny Leone threatens India’s patriarchal society

Recently, ex-Chairperson of the Delhi Commission of Women Barkha Shukla joined the long line of people to criticise Sunny Leone. Picking up Atul Anjan’s vomit-splattered baton, she was quoted saying: “...The shabby, ugly or immoral way the actress seduces or sexually provokes a man in the advertisement to use condoms is nothing but serving immorality and bad practice to the audience of the country which is not acceptable in a country of moral values, ethics, religious values and spiritualism renowned as abode of gods around the globe.”

In a video, Atul Anjan had claimed that Sunny Leone’s condom ad for Manforce promoted sexuality and would ruin people’s sensibilities. He also claimed, quite hilariously I might add, that watching her for two minutes, made him want to throw up. Anjan and Barkha Shukla join a long list of detractors of Sunny Leone who include BJP MP Anurag Thakur, SrI Ram Sene Leader Pramod Muthalik and Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi. 

The sum-total of their criticism can be summed up as “society’s moral fabric being destroyed by ex-pornstar who is everywhere, how can India allow it?”

It’s interesting to note that the criticism cuts across the political divide and even gender, as does her popularity. Ever since she was a guest on Bigg Boss in 2011, Miss Leone has been the most searched person in the country. According to Google, in the last three years (2012, 2013 and 2014) she was the most searched celebrity in India beating the Khans, sports stars and even Narendra Modi during election year (2014).

So in many ways Sunny Leone has come to represent the duplicity that exists in Indian society about sex – badmouth it in public and lap it up in private.  

Our leaders, irrespective of their political ideology or gender, all stem from a culture of patriarchy. In such a society, the men are in control, and women serve the purpose to nourish, raise and feed the other gender. She is not supposed to exhibit sexual desire and will be punished for doing so. Even when she is sexually harassed, it’s mostly because she was asking for it, either through her choices of clothing or her behaviour or her lifestyle choices.

Sunny Leone – refusing to play by the rules  

And then comes along a person, who refuses to play by the rules of our patriarchal society. She won’t hide her adult career. She even refuses to apologise for it or come up with some sob story about how she was forced into it.

She admits she did it for money, and doesn’t see anything wrong with it. The concept of a woman who proud of her own sexuality is thoroughly terrifying to patriarchy, whose aim is to keep women subdued. And every movie she’s in, despite the plot or lack of, she’s the main draw instead of her male co-stars.

Imagine if women of this country started behaving like Sunny, making their own choices, demanding sexual freedom. What if they started exerting their rights to not marry the men picked by their family members? Or didn’t want to get married at all? What if they didn’t want to have children?

She might have done it inadvertently, but Sunny Leone has become a patriarchal society’s worst nightmare and that’s reason enough to celebrate.