More Than Just A Pretty Face

In a country where film actors are idealised and cricket is the only sport that matters it isn't suprising that a combo of cricket and glamour i.e the IPL becomes a phenomena. The Indian premier league which started about ten years ago was never primarily about cricket. A pinch of glamour quotient has always been there.

The IPL when started in 2008 aimed to bring a new form of cricket where you could enjoy both cricket and entertainment.

But a lot has changed in these ten years, the social media is more powerful than ever. It can make you an overnight star or it can destroy your reputation in an instant. The viral meme culture might be your freedom of expression but it could change somebody's life forever.

With the start of the IPL this year this trend is on a rise. While scrolling down your Instagram feed you must have come across memes on it. A funny thing to note here is that these widely circulating memes are gender biased i.e they are mostly based on women.

The viral girl in the red (Deepika Ghose)

You must have seen her. She became famous by the name a girl in red. She is Deepika Ghose a die-hard fan of RCB who came to enjoy the match completely unaware that unwanted attention is coming on her way. Soon after her pictures went viral her Instagram followers surged to more than one a lakh. She might be only a meme material to some but there's more to her than people know. Deepika is a stylist by profession. She has worked with many bwood biggies like Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and many more. Her sudden rise to fame might sound fascinating but Deepika has an entirely different story to tell. In an interview she opened up about her experience of becoming an overnight star.

She talked about the trauma that this fame has brought her. She clarified that rising to fame in this way isn't achievement of any sort. She received a lot of negativity from women who rebuked her for wooing men.

Rizla Rehan

This Pakistani girl became an internet sensation soon after her pictures circulated on social media. She was present in the audience throughout the Asia cup. Before her actual identity was known she was mistaken for some Nivya Navora. The fake rumours were put to rest only after she reveled her real identity and the fact that she is married. The men who were drooling over her beauty must have been disheartened when they heard that she is a married woman.

Aditi Hundai

Another young woman who became a part of the viral meme culture is Aditi Hundai who is a supporter of Mumbai Indians. She

is a model by profession. She has represented India on various international platforms. She was Miss Supernatural Diva 2008 and had even participated in Miss India pageant. But all her achievements were overshadowed when the cameraman focused on her pretty face.

While I'm all up for freedom of expression but the recent trend of sexualizing women on a daily basis and reducing them to the status of just a pretty face doesn't make sense to me. When would people realize that it's not just a picture that they are promoting ,it is an idea behind it that trends. A notion which allows men to objectify the opposite gender with much pride.