The Pakistani-Canadian artist, Maria Qamar, might have started the #BadBeti campaign as a way to defy to the traditional ideals that South Asian girls have to uphold and how they should be etc.
But, recently the campaign has been given a new face and new image with the non-binary drag performer Abhijeet Rane, giving it a whole new look and revamping in a completely different style.
As a way to pay homage to 12 different Indian or Indian origin women, Abhijeet has released a string of images on his Instagram, which him having dressed up as each of those women.
Abhijeet chose these 12 women for various reasons, some were part of his childhood and adolescence while some contributed to his feminine transformation, however, the similarity amongst all of the women was that they broke the gender stereotypes and created their own niche section within a so-called ‘man’s world.
Why I Think This Was A Brilliant Thing To Do?
Now, Abhijeet over a certain period of time, released images on his instagram account, dressed up as the decided iconic characters or people that he admires and some times he would add what he admires about them.
The one thing that stood out to me was the general attitude ad frankly extremely unbiased opinion it.
I mean it had Rakhi Sawant in it!
It had to be unbiased and something that Abhijeet did of his own free will.
Also, I really liked the time and detail that went into creating the looks, finding the right stuff for it and so on.
It shows a certain dedication and passion on behalf of the artist and that they are not just messing around and instead feel strongly about it.
#BadBeti Could Introduce The Drag Scene In India
One thing that I believe that the viral nature of this campaign will do is, introduce the drag scene in India. And sure, we are not the most progressive ones out there, a lot of our society is still very close minded and doesn’t think highly of such people, however, the fact that this news and Abhijeet’s campaign is being covered so well, could bring about a new wave for drag and drag performers in India.
Another thing that #BadBeti will do is actually showing to the men of the country what it means to respect the women in your life and perhaps more than that lose out the uber-macho mentality.
All the time, SRK, Amitabh Bachchan or some other actor has come out and tried to inform the public on what they should be doing.
Raise your sons like this, make sure that they respect women and etc etc.
But for #BadBeti evolving the effeminate fearing mentality that many in our country have is something that this campaign seems to be doing. It is showing that it doesn’t matter if you are a man or women, you as an individual are free to express yourself in the way you see fit.
Abhijeet paid tribute to these women by dressing up as them, and there is nothing wrong with doing so. It doesn’t make you less of a man instead only makes way for a wonderful way to express your thoughts and emotions.
#Badbeti teaches sons, politicians, and society what no one can and that is to respect women for a variety of reasons, no matter what their public image might be, and that drag is an art not something that should be looked down upon or made fun of.
Image Credits: Google Images
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