From cleavage to pixelated vagina, the Deepika-TOI row continues

Mumbai: Well, this moral debate started from the crevices of a cleavage and has now descended to nipples and vaginas – albeit pixelated.

Actress Deepika Padukone had taken on the Times of India for a leery tweet last week – “OMG! Deepika’s Cleavage Show!” – with a curt: 'YES! I am a Woman. I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??'

The ‘cleavage ahoy’ headline was attached to an archive of old pictures of the actress.

Supposedly India's 'LEADING' newspaper and this is 'NEWS'!!?? pic.twitter.com/D3wiVVXuyM

— Finding Fanny (@deepikapadukone) September 14, 2014

YES!I am a Woman.I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??

— Finding Fanny (@deepikapadukone) September 14, 2014

@deepikapadukone , It's a compliment! You look so great that we want to make sure everyone knew! :)

— TOI Entertainment (@TOIEntertain) September 14, 2014

A few days down, the actress put up on Facebook a detailed ‘point of view’ where she stated: “I have spoken out against an ideology that such regressive tactics are still being employed to draw a reader’s attention at a time when we are striving for women’s equality and empowerment.”

And today, it is war. The national daily has dedicated the front page of Bombay Times to hit back at the actress with an article titled: ‘Our Point of View’. And then follows some bizarre reasoning in which neither does the paper apologise for the tweet nor does it convincingly argue its ‘point’. Forget ‘point of view’.

It begins with, “There isn't a one-fits-all formula for either distributing or consuming content across various media.” So? Deepika was talking about the needless objectification of women. In fact, this is precisely what the paper (and its site) ends up doing – by splashing six photographs of the actress where her cleavage is in abundance. It started with one view of Deepika’s cleavage. And then there were six more. Gawd! Isn't slut-shaming passe these days?

Read: I feel violated as a woman: Deepika Padukone fights back

The daily writes: “On Friday, Deepika wrote on FB: ‘A character may demand that I be clothed from head to toe or be completely naked, and it will be my choice as an actor whether or not I take either. Understand that this is a ROLE and not REAL, and it is my job to portray whatever character I choose to play convincingly.’

Deepika, we accept your reel vs real argument, but what about all the times, and there have been many, when you have flaunted your body off screen — while dancing on stage, posing for magazine covers, or doing photo ops at movie promotional functions? What 'role' do you play there? So why the hypocrisy?”

Flummoxed? We are too. Deepika Padukone made a few things very clear in her Facebook post: “I am not naive about my own profession; it is one that requires lots of demanding things of me. A character may demand that I be clothed from head to toe or be completely naked, and it will be my choice as an actor whether or not I take either. Understand that this is a ROLE and not REAL, and it is my job to portray whatever character I choose to play convincingly.”

She is still sticking to her argument, albeit a little facetiously, that a role decides whether she strips or dons. And surely, she doesn’t need to play a role every time she steps out of a set. Is she now being denied of her sexual rights too?

Read: I have no issues celebrating my body: Deepika Padukone on 'cleavage' post

The newspaper article does concede (Ah, finally!): “Yes, the headline could have been better. But the world of online is very different from that of newspapers. It is chaotic and cluttered — and sensational headlines are far from uncommon.”

If the world of online is 'chaotic and cluttered', then it becomes the responsibility of discerning media to leash that Wild West with responsibility, decency and progressiveness.

And then comes the unfortunate, personal attack: “Deepika, who began her career as a 'calendar girl' for a liquor brand, has written, '’Yes we marvel, envy and drool over a male actors 8pack abs in a film, but do we zoom in on the mans 'crotch' when he makes a public appearance and make that 'cheap headlines'??!!'’ Deepika, just for the record, we do not zoom into a woman's vagina or show her nipples. As a newspaper, we take every care to ensure that we pixelate them if they show up in a picture…”

Excuse me? If vaginas and nipples went unpixelated on a newspaper website, how can it differentiate itself from a pornography site? Even porn content is graded.

Are you going to lie low, Deepika? The media is heaving in anticipation.