Relax Guys, Tinder Aunty Too Can Complain of Misconduct

In the Akshay-Mallika controversy, the trolling that Dua has had to face is ‘aunty’midating, to say the least

Mallika Dua playing the Tinder Aunty character in the AIB video, ‘If Apps Were People’

(Photo Courtesy: AIB/IfAppsWerePeople)

Hi, before I proceed with my piece, let’s get some facts cleared first – Tinder Aunty is a purely fictional character. As fictional as say, a woman who speaks her mind, and is not trolled for it.

Or as fictional as our Parliament working all season, without any disruption.

As you know, all these are purely fictional characters. And any similarity to a person living or dead is of course, purely miraculous.

But when truth becomes stranger than fiction, sorry, make that fictional characters, comedians have to face trolling for the characters they play in their sketches. Let’s direct your attention to the trolling that Mallika Dua had to face recently, for a sexually uninhibited character she played in a viral AIB sketch. Although the sketch was old, it was used in a classic case of whataboutery when Dua dared to call out Akshay Kumar on his misconduct with her at a TV set.

Also Read: “This Is Much Bigger Than Akshay”: Mallika Dua to The Quint

Now that the context for the trolling has been appropriately defined, let’s move on to discuss why this kind of trolling is very ‘aunty’midating.

To begin with, I am not on AIB’s payroll. Also, Mallika Dua is not a friend. If personal proclivities are anything to go by, I found the Tinder Aunty character a bit crass.

But to troll a woman for playing a sexually aggressive character in her performance is a bit like trolling Gulshan Grover for playing Bollywood’s longest running Bad Man.

Imagine if Gulshan Grover complains of something, would people turn around and say... LOL! How can a ‘Bad Man’ complain of something bad?

Male actors don’t have to provide certificates of their own character before every performance. Similarly, female actors/comedians shouldn’t have to loudly proclaim their chastity. Their onscreen characters shouldn’t be used to justify the misogynistic trolling against them.

On second thoughts, just to prevent the truckloads of trolling, think it will make sense for female performers to add that disclaimer before their videos, no?

Also Read: This Modi Mimicry Act Snowballed Into a Mallika-Akshay Controversy

Darling, Be a Glamorous Mannequin In Our Sexual Comedy, Don’t Dare Be an Equal Participant

It’s funny how women can be glamorous mannequins at whom sexually explicit content can be directed at, but cannot be equal participants in it. They are just supposed to be eyelash-batting-naive-dolls while the men crack joke after joke.

I mean, males can obviously objectify women. (it’s their right since puberty after all). But a female fictional character objectifying a man, using innuendos? ) Trolls being like Pahlaj Nihalani for digital!

Which is why, despite the crassness, Mallika Dua’s Tinder aunty character is a zabardast expression of sexual expression – one that, even though we may have issues with, must not shame the performer for. Or worse, justify her trolling with.

Through her loud, crass character, Mallika ben has given a female expression to Tinder sexuality, and in a way, presented a certain rejection of monogamy. And even though it isn’t exactly feminist, it is a bold new character, and one that, even if we don’t like, mustn't troll.

Because comical sexual expression, historically, has always been male dominated. And we need more and more women to enter the arena for it to be gender balanced. To bhai, aside from who is supporting Dua or Kumar here, I think we can all agree that this trolling of a female comedian for her uncensored take on sexuality has also, in the process, become a pheminist issue.

After all, why must sexually explicit comedy only be a man’s territory? Yes, I understand this is a radical take from what a nice convent upbringing is supposed to teach women! And remember, just the way you can crack sexual jokes, you can also reject another person directing them at you. Really. It’s not funny – consent works in humor too!

It's saddening that as part of her harsh trolling in the Akshay-Mallika workplace misconduct controversy, Mallika Dua, the person has been replaced by Tinder Aunty, the fictional character. And what's more troubling is that people are justifying it by saying, ‘B**tch got what she deserved’. Today, it’s Mallika. There have been others before her as well. And it’s likely that tomorrow, even our content/personal pictures/choices can be used against us.

(*This article has been updated after it was published)