Shilpa Shetty

The Shilpa Shetty saga continues and the blogsphere has gone ballistic.
First, Greatbong in his inimitable style comments on the outrage expressed by the government and the media. And he doesn’t forget to take some friendly potshots at Desipundit.

India’s blogosphere has not been silent either–rising as one against this outrage on Shilpa Shetty. Taking particular exception to racist suggestions that Shilpa’s breasts may be fake, Desipundit has made a “sticky�? post where agitated male bloggers are for now just wiping their hands.

Incidentally, Greatbong also features in a discussion on B.B.C radio.

Second, Harini makes a good point.

Anyone who participates in a show like Big Brother or Survivor knows that it is not a civilized tea party. It is visceral, viscious and violent (emotionally). The show is about being ‘ugly’ and letting it all hang out. Can you imagine how boring it would be if 13 people – whom you don’t know and couldn’t care a f*** about, spent 3 months being nice to each other?

Third, Gaurav Sabnis, quoting unnamed ministry sources discloses that the Indian government is busy finding more offensive material.

Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) say that several staffers in the Ministry will soon embark on a new offensive to find things that are offensive in places never noticed before. This new mission will involve going through hundreds of pornographic books, videos and websites to find anything that is offensive to he Indian culture or Indian peoples. They will also be buying all the tabloids available in supermarkets. Once something offensive is detected, the MEA will then register protest over it with the relevant governments or corporations

Fourth, Ashish argues that India itself is a racist country.

The very concept of lower castes and scheduled castes is nothing but an extreme version of racism. And this has not gone away, I see it in the attitudes of everyday people in the city. If discussion tends to go towards people who can be identified as belonging to a ‘lower’ caste, the kind of language I hear makes my ear cringe. Words and expletives are freely thrown. From ages, the concept of beauty is very intricately linked to fairness. A girl is not beautiful unless she is fair, and even a guy needs to be not dark to be good-looking. Thus you have a variety of medications / creams geared towards making the skin more fair. And nobody sees anything wrong in that.

Though I would like to point out that the statement ‘nobody sees anything wrong in that’ is a gross overstatement.

Fifth, Falstuff sums it up nicely.

Never mind that the GoI should have better things to do than waste its time getting indignant about UK television shows [1]. Never mind that saying something nasty to a person of a particular race doesn’t automatically imply racism. Never mind that this Shetty woman is obviously acting (who knew she had this much talent?) and that the whole thing is a carefully planned piece of fiction in the first place. Never mind that the woman is on the show voluntarily and could always leave if she’s feeling unhappy. Never mind that anyone who signs on to be on reality television is, by definition, a loser who will do anything for publicity, so expecting civilised behaviour from these people is a contradiction in terms.

Sixth, N is puzzled by some of the responses this issue has generated and questions why racism should be acceptable against Shilpa Shetty.

She is only a Bollywood actress. What’s the big deal?” Is racism acceptable as long as it is targeted at a Bollywood actress and not a, say, IT professional? Are we saying that by virtue of being a public persona, Shetty deserves racist bullying? How does being a celebrity somehow entitle her to less than her full share in terms of basic human rights.