Women in politics, irrespective of their ideology and party affiliations, face a pattern of normalized humiliation and insults. While insults may be common across politics and may aide in making certain political points, unlike with male politicians, insults directed at women politicians often have little to do with their politics. Irrespective of the context and purpose of the insult, it is framed around a woman politician’s body, appearance, virtue, and honour. Such insults are often made in a patriarchal language of morality where certain professions and identities are seen as being inherently derogatory and impure. These professions and identities (such as ‘prostitute’, ‘bar dancer’, ‘transgender’) are often caste-marked and have historically faced social exclusion and marginalization under brahminical patriarchy. While we do not locate ourselves in this moral framework, it is important to recognize the use of these identities with an intention to insult and reduce the honour of a woman politician in the public eye, and note how this pattern of humiliation demonstrates the patriarchal and casteist hatred towards marginalized identities.
Mayawati
National president of the bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and former chief minister of uttar pradesh, india.
In July, 2016, Dayashankar Singh, the then Vice President of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh wing, was speaking at a meeting where he was being felicitated by BJP workers. In his speech, he accused Mayawati of selling election tickets, and said, “Ek vaishya se bhi badtar charitra ki aaj Mayawatiji ho gayi hain” (her character has become worse than that of a prostitute). A video of his speech was recorded and circulated on social networks. He was arrested for his remarks.
In September, after being released on bail, he again insulted her at a public gathering, saying that she was like “a dog that chases a vehicle on the streets but does nothing when you stop the vehicle to face it”.
In January 2017, Akhilesh Yadav, on being asked whether BSP could be included in the SP-Congress secular alliance, insulted Mayawati, saying, “Jagah kaise de dete unhe? Kitni jagah leti hain vo, unka toh chunav chinh hathi hai” (how could we give her space? She takes up so much space, even her party’s election symbol is an elephant). Rahul Gandhi, who was sitting next to him while he said this, was seen to be smiling.
Another BJP MLA, Sadhana Singh in January 2019, was speaking about an incident in 1995 when Mayawati was assaulted by Samajwadi Party workers in a Lucknow guest house. While speaking about this, she called her a “blot on womankind” and “worse than a transgender” (sic).
References:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/mayawati-prostitute-remark-dayashankar-singh-bjp-sacked-2926808/
https://www.thequint.com/videos/old-habits-die-hard-dayashankar-insults-mayawati-again
https://www.hindupost.in/politics/akhilesh-body-shames-mayawati-ka-ladka-rahul-grins-side/
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/bjp-mla-sadhana-singh-apologises-for-insulting-mayawati_in_5c4534ebe4b0a8dbe1729673
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bjp-leader-dayashankar-singh-who-abused-bjp-chief-mayawati-arrested-by-up-stf-from-bihar-332109-2016-07-29
https://www.thequint.com/news/hot-news/mayawati-row-expelled-bjp-leader-dayashankar-aressted-in-bihar
Mamata Banerjee
founder and chairperson of the all india trinamool congress (aitmc or tmc) and chief minister of West bengal, india
In 2008, Mamata Bannerjee led an agitation against land acquisition by Tata Motors in Singur. After the agitation, Anil Basu, a CPI(M) MP from Arambagh, said that if he had his way he would take Mamata Bannerjee “by the hair” and “dump” her at her Kalighat house instead of allowing her to continue her protest.
In April 2011, he again insulted her while addressing a rally. Making references to Sonagachi, Asia’s largest red-light area, he asked “Which bhatar (Bengali derogatory slang for a woman’s illicit male partner) did she get Rs 24 crore to fund the TMC’s poll expenses?”. He said that prostitutes in Sonagachi “do not even look at smaller clients” when they get a “big client”, referring to US funding of the TMC.
In 2017, Mamata Bannerjee welcomed Sanjay Leela Bhansali to screen his film Padmavat, which at the time was the cause of right-wing riots and violence. In response, Suraj Pal Amu, BJP’s chief media coordinator from Haryana, threatened to cut off her nose, like “Lakshman” had done for “Surpanakha”.
References:
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/to-slam-mamata-cpm-mp-cites-us-prostitutes/780525/
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/haryana-bjp-leader-threatens-to-chop-off-mamatas-nose/articleshow/61799235.cms
Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan
Members of parliament of the 17th Lok Sabha, members of trinamool congress (TMC)
In May, 2019, newly elected MPs from the TMC, Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan, posted a picture of their first day in Parliament, showing their MP identity cards. Mimi Chakraborty was wearing a shirt with jeans, and Nusrat Jahan was wearing a formal top with trousers. They were trolled on social media by many users (whose names have not been reported) for what was seen as inappropriate attire.
One user commented, “Parliament is not a photo studio”, and another said that Mimi Chakraborty is not “suitable” for the position of an MP. Another comment said, “You should wear some Indian attire in Parliament. You are going for people not for movie promotions. And keep some respect towards your Bengali society”. Another user called Nusrat Jahan a “tourist” because she was not wearing a “sari in Parliament”.
References:
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-tmc-mps-mimi-chakraborty-nusrat-jahan-trolled-for-wearing-western-attires-on-first-day-to-parliament/331124
Sonia Gandhi
President of the indian national congress
On April 21, Arnab Goswami launched into a tirade against Sonia Gandhi on his channel, Republic TV. While he did not use any explicitly abusive language, through his tone and mannerisms he showed disgust towards her, calling her ‘Italy waali Sonia’ and attacking her for her silence on the Palghar lynching case. The next day, insults about Sonia Gandhi were trending on Twitter. One of them was ‘bar dancer’, insinuating that she was a bar dancer before she met Rajiv Gandhi, and the other was ‘RagaKMKB’, an abbreviation of a Hindi abuse.
Before this, Subramaniam Swamy was seen on video at some form of a seminar or conference, saying that Sonia Gandhi was a prostitute who used to work for a Pakistani escort agency. Though it is not clear when this video was taken, multiple youtube uploads of the video are from 2017.
Former BJP leader Pramod Mahajan had in a rally (undated) said that if Sonia Gandhi was fit to hold public office, then even Monica Lewinsky could be considered eligible. Although Monica Lewinsky was sexually harassed at her workplace by Bill Clinton, she was widely seen in patriarchal culture as being a promiscuous woman having sexual relations for her benefit.
VHP leader Pravin Togadia had openly called Sonia Gandhi an “Italian kutri” (bitch).
Ramesh Solanki, a former Shiv Sena leader, had tweeted on November 20, 2012, saying, “Sonia Gandhi was a prostitute sorry i mean high end escort oops did i hurt anyone , dare you #arrestme i have right to freedom of speech”.
References:
https://livewire.thewire.in/gender-and-sexuality/arnab-goswami-sonia-gandhi-rant-women-in-politics-sexism/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xwGzy7W0Hs
https://www.dailyo.in/politics/subramanian-swamy-sonia-gandhi-outrageous-personal-attacks-slander-misogyny/story/1/15547.html
https://twitter.com/rajput_ramesh/status/270774854037417984?lang=en
J. Jayalalithaa
former chief minister of tamil nadu, and former general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
In December, 1987, after the death of Jayalalithaa’s mentor, M.G. Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa was publicly humiliated and abused as she attempted to resist her exclusion from his funeral proceedings. Several women and party workers of the AIADMK tried to move her from where she was standing, near the corpse’s feet, by pinching her and stamping on her feet. She was assaulted by MGR’s wife Janaki’s nephew Deepan, who hit her on her forehead and pushed out of the carriage on which she was standing. Along with Deepan, MLA Dr. K.P. Ramalingam hurled abuses at her, calling her a prostitute.
In March 1989, she was publicly assaulted and harassed in the Tamil Nadu assembly. In the House, members of the AIADMK and the DMK were having a heated argument, in which Jayalalitha called Karunanidhi, the then-Chief Minister a “kutravali”, which is a Tamil word for ‘criminal’. In response, he threw expletives at her as well. Violence ensued, and she was reportedly physically assaulted. As she was leaving the assembly, a minister in the DMK government, Durai Murugan, attacked her and pulled the loose end of her sari. She said that he along with Murugan, Veerapandi Arumugham had jumped over the Treasury Bench and attacked her, tearing her sari in the process.
References:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/7-days/the-company-nbsp-that-kept-her/cid/1314200
https://qz.com/india/852969/tamil-nadus-most-shameful-political-moment-fueled-jayalalithaas-ultimate-rise/
https://newsable.asianetnews.com/south/mgr-jayalalithaa-humiliated-politics
Mahua Moitra
Member of parliament in the 17th lok sabha, member of trinamool congress (TMC)
On April 22, 2019, Mahdev Sarkar, the district president of the BJP in Nadia, delivered a speech before a large audience in a BJP election rally in Krishnanagar. These comments were made in the presence of BJP candidate Kalyan Chaubey. According to a writ petition filed before the Supreme Court by Mahua Moitra, Sarkar made multiple offensive remarks about her.
He said that “the ornament and garb of an Indian woman” is her ‘shame’, and that Moitra doesn’t have any.
He said that she is a woman but has forgotten Indian culture, and that her videos are going viral, she drinks “coloured water” every night, and that Indian women will not forgive this.
He further said, “Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, and Bishnupriya and the women of this land are saluted by the entire world, but the petitioner has insulted all Indian women by her actions, by not following their traditions”.
References:
https://www.theleaflet.in/lok-sabha-2019-bjp-leader-mahdev-sarkar-barred-from-addressing-public-for-model-code-violation/#
https://scroll.in/latest/921345/supreme-court-asks-ec-to-look-into-alleged-sexist-remarks-against-trinamool-congress-candidate
Mahua Moitra addressed the Parliament on Feb 9, 2021.
Atishi Marlena
member of legislative assembly, member of aam aadmi party (AAP)
In May 2019, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections, Atishi Marlena from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spoke in a press conference about a pamphlet that was inserted in newspapers and distributed across Krishna Nagar, Vishwas Nagar and Vivek Vihar in eastern Delhi. She alleged that the pamphlet was distributed by her opponent, Gautam Gambhir, though he strongly denied it and filed a defamation case against AAP.
The pamphlet contained derogatory remarks about her and questioned her competency as a political candidate. It brought attention to the fact that she is “married to a Christian i.e. Beef eater”, and called her a “mixed breed” because her “father is a Jat from UP, her mother is a Punjabi, and her husband is a Christian from AP”.
It further said, “In her youth days she worked as a primary teacher in a small school in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh where she was caught red handed while having sex and in a compromising position with another teacher of the school”, and said that the man had to marry her under “compelling circumstances” when the matter got flared up. The pamphlet said that she was a “Goonda element” (hired thug) working for “Kuta Kejriwal” (dog) and “Kanjar Sisodia” (a casteist slur which is used to mean ‘pimp’).
It further said that “Sisodia is keeping her as his keep”. Implying sexual relations between Atishi and Sisodia, it said, “She is not staying with her husband because her husband has disowned her as Sisodia is fulfilling all her desires of a married woman”.
The pamphlet went on to launch a casteist attack on Manish Sisodia, and finally called Atishi a ‘prostitute’. It said, “think for once that if she wins you will have to go to a prostitute for help or for some work”.
References:
https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/05/10/atishi-aam-aadmi-party-pamphlet-gautam-gambhir-elections-2019
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
general secretary of all india congress committee (AICC) in eastern uttar pradesh
In January 2019, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya demeaned Priyanka Gandhi’s competence, referring to her appearance. About INC’s decision to field her as a candidate, he said, "Unke paas leader nahi hain, isliye wo chocolatey chehre ke madhyam se chunav mein jaana chahte hain” (they don’t have a leader, that’s why they are trying to win the elections through chocolatey faces).
BJP leader and cabinet minister in the Bihar government, Vinod Narayan Jha, was quoted as saying that “She's very beautiful. But other than that she holds no political achievement or talent”.
BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy called her ‘bipolar’. He said “Usko ek bimari hai jo sarvjanik jivan mein anukool aur upyukt nahi hai, usko bipolarity kehte hain yaani uski hinsawadi charitra dikhai padti hai, logon ko peet'ti hai. Public ko pata hona chaiye ki kab santulan kho baithegi, kisi ko pata nahi” (She has an illness that is not appropriate for leading a public life, it is called bipolarity meaning she has a hostile character and beats up people. The public should know that no one knows when she will lose her mental stability).
Another BJP leader Vinay Katiyar had said previously, “she is not that pretty” and that the BJP has better looking star candidates, like Hema Malini.
In February 2019, BJP Lok Sabha member Harish Dwivedi commented on her clothing, saying that she wears jeans and top while in Delhi and puts on saree-sindoor while campaigning in her constituency.
References:
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/congress-chocolatey-faces-priyanka-gandhi-vadra-2019-lok-sabha-poll-kailash-vijayvargiya-1440104-2019-01-26
https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/story/pretty-face-no-other-talent-bihar-minister-s-sexist-remark-about-priyanka-gandhi-1438935-2019-01-25
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/subramanian-swamy-priyanka-gandhi-has-bipolar-disorder-she-beats-up-people-1440180-2019-01-27
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/priyanka-gandhi-s-entry-into-politics-pops-open-can-of-misogynistic-abuses-10-points-1439011-2019-01-25
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/priyanka-wears-jeans-delhi-717718.html
Smriti Irani
union cabinet minister, member of bharatiya janata party (bjp), member of parliament
In April 2019, People’s Republican Party (PRP) leader Jaydeep Kawade said "Smriti Irani sits beside Gadkari and talks about changing the Constitution. Let me tell you a thing about Smriti Irani. She wears a big bindi on her forehead and someone told me that when a woman changes her husbands frequently, the size of her bindi keeps growing." He continued, "Smriti ji, who is a minister for Gadkari and Modi, sits in the Parliament and talks about changing the Constitution, but she should remember that changing the Constitution is not as easy as changing your husband”.
A former MP from the INC, Sanjay Nirumpam in a TV debate said about Smriti Irani, “Aap toh TV pe thumke lagati thi, aaj chunavi visleshak ban gayi!” (You used to dance on TV, but now you have become a psephologist!)
In 2016, when she was moved from the HRD ministry to the Textiles ministry, jokes about her began to circulate online. Tehseen Poonawalla, a TV show host, wrote,
“Wifeee sent me this
Modis txt to Irani - Sorry Honey no HRD Feeling”
Indrani Mishra, an INC leader wrote that Smriti Irani is a 12th fail and hence doesn’t know the difference between “B.ed and Bed”.
Many users also circulated pictures of her in a swimsuit.
References:
https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/smriti-irani-jaydeep-kawade-sexist-bindi-comment-1491934-2019-04-02
https://www.thequint.com/neon/gender/from-priyanka-gandhi-to-smriti-irani-all-the-sexist-jibes-women-politicians-have-to-deal-with#read-more
https://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-is-union-minister-smriti-irani-always-subjected-to-misogynist-sexist-attacks-2878970.html
Sushma Swaraj
former member of bharatiya janata party (BJP), and former minister of external affairs
In June 2018, after Noida resident Tanvi Seth wrote some tweets to the then-minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj, she expeditiously granted a passport to the Hindu-Muslim couple and transferred an official for allegedly harassing them. In response, right wing trolls began to abuse and attack Sushma Swaraj on twitter. Someone said that she had made a biased decision because of her “islamic kidney”, referring to a kidney transplant she had received. Another said that “she is almost a dead woman” as she “runs on one kidney (borrowed from someone else and any time that can stop working”. The following memes began to circulate about her:
