Kangana Ranaut is one of those Bollywood figures who manages to polarise people every time she gives an interview. In one of her latest interviews, during promotions for her upcoming film Manikarnika, Kangana said that “Sissy men don’t like women to be fierce,” while answering a question about what she thinks of people thinking of her as fierce. We immediately caught ourselves facepalming…hard.
We get that she was trying to criticise men who have such fragile egos that they prefer dating women who can be dominated more easily rather than women who might call them out on their BS. But, does she not realise that using a homophobic slur to criticise such men is also major BULL!?
This isn’t even the first time that she has used this word. Just a few months ago, when she was quizzed about her political aspirations, Kangana had said, “I’m not a sissy to say politics is too demanding; I have to be extremely selfish to say it isn’t my cup of tea.”
Even though, the word, introduced in the English language around 1840-1850, was originally an abbreviation of the word “sister”, soon it became a slur to insult men who behave in more feminine ways or enjoy traditionally feminine activities, around 1885-1890.
“Sissy” is a pejorative term, and there are no two ways about it. In 2015, in certain UK schools, the word was banned and equated with racist and homophobic slangs. There are so many other, non-homophobic, non-problematic ways to criticise men who behave like entitled snowflakes and cannot handle strong, independent and fierce women. So, next time, Kangana please chew these men alive as much as you want to, but just don’t use homophobic slurs. Thank you.
