Singer and voice artist Sunitha Upadrasta finds herself at the centre of controversy for her recent statements on feminism. After Chinmayi Sripaada called her out for saying ‘his eyes, his wish’ and equating it to the feminist slogan ‘my body, my wish’, Sunitha hit back. She released videos addressing the criticism, claiming that she knew what she was talking about. (Also Read: Chinmayi Sripaada schools Sunitha Upadrasta for her statement on feminism, slams man commenting ‘my acid, my choice’)
Sunitha Upadrasta hits back at Chinmayi Sripaada
Sunitha posted videos on her Instagram stories in which she addressed Chinmayi directly and said, “Chinmayi, I have the same respect for you as a singer. You said I could’ve been misled, so let’s talk about it. I know very well what that slogan is about. I know the meaning of my body, my wish. It’s all about not being in anybody’s control, to have autonomy on my body.”
She then explained why she had said what she said and added, “What I said was, when someone says my body, my wish, they say his eyes, his wish, because society hasn’t grown beyond that. We live in such a society.”
On her Instagram stories, Sunitha had also responded to an Instagram-user posting a video of an incident from Fathpur where a man tried to force a woman to get on his bike. When asked if she would say ‘his hand, his choice’ for that too, she responded, “This is the meaning you take out of my interview? Unfortunately we can’t change HIS view in the society. Na cheyyi na istam ante public lo ne viraggottaali. (If he says my hand, my wish, we must break it in public).”
Reiterating the same in the video, the singer added, “But when it comes to my hand, my wish, I will be the first to break their hands. I like a lot about your fight, so I would never talk about it in a misleading way. Watch the full video, and you’ll understand that I have suffered too. And I am not okay with it.”
(Also Read: Singer Sunitha Upadrasta gets massive backlash for her take on feminism: ‘My body my right, his eyes his right’)
What did Sunitha Upadrasta say?
In an interview with Gulte, Sunitha spoke about how she believes the fight for feminism has been reduced to fighting for the right to dress as they please or smoke cigarettes.
When the male interviewer falsely equated it to ‘my body, my right,’ the singer said, “My body, my right. And his eyes, his right. When women say it, then it’s his right too. In my opinion, it doesn’t come under freedom. Wear whatever you want, as long as you’re safe. If you think nobody will judge you or look at you, wear it. It’s easier to keep myself safe than to change how someone else views me. It’s not our culture. I don’t mind if you think I’m old school.”
Chinmayi called her out on videos posted on her Instagram stories. Stating that she has love for Sunitha as a singer, she added, “It’s a worthless position when even people of influence in society are brainwashing you to be handmaidens and puppets of these men.” She also pointed out numerous instances where women and girls were unsafe, even when as young as a few months old.