A day after 18-year-old actor Anaswara Rajan was bullied and abused online for posting a photo where she was wearing shorts, several other actors including Rima Kallingal, Parvathy, Nazriya, Ahaana Krishna and Apoorva Bose have put up posts against this moral policing with a simple message - women have legs!
Rima was one of the first to respond, and posted a photo of herself in a bathing suit, with the caption, “Surprise surprise!!! Women have legs.” In a cozy photo posted by Nazriya and Fahadh, Nazriya is wearing a dress and she captioned it #LegDay.
Actor and model Ameya Mathew posted a photo of herself sitting on a chair in a white shirt and shorts, with a sassy caption that read, “Here is a new play being presented for those men who turn moral police at the sight of legs - ‘These legs are to kick you guys too.’”
Apoorva Bose, a lawyer and actor who has appeared in movies like the Malarvadi Arts Club wrote, “Oh my god, you’ve got legs? Like whaaaaa?”.
Eli Kutty, an American woman who is known on Instagram for learning and teaching Malayalam, posted a story where she also pointed out the other ways in which women and their bodies are policed. “Women have a right to exist and enjoy their life without being put in a box. Whether she chooses modesty or not is her own choice and not an indication of her culture or morals.”
Actor Parvathy too shared a story saying "Yas we have legs."
Actor Ahaana Krishna posted a picture of herself and wrote, “What I wear isn't your business. What anybody wears isn't your business. Your business is just your business. Probably you don't have enough of it , so you try and poke your nose into other people's business. I will wear Shorts , Sari , Shirt or a Swim-suit .. it's not your license to question my character. (sic)”
This is coming after Anaswara, known for her roles in Thanneer Mathan Dinangal, Udaharanam Sujatha, among others, had her Instagram comments section filled with several people moral policing her for posting a photo in shorts. Some users said things questioned why she was ‘taking her clothes off by the age of 18.’
Anaswara responded by posting another photo of hers in the same outfit, with the caption, “Don't worry about what I'm doing . Worry about why you're worried about what I'm doing…” Some other social media users supported her as well, and said that the young actor should ignore what others are saying and live as she likes.