Smash patriarchy. But how?

If our politics continues to remain so abysmally unequal, our society will continue to dig itself a deeper hole of patriarchy, and we will continue to police women’s cleavages.

Patriarchy has had quite the moment in India this past week. It has been a buzzword, triggering many heated debates, living room conversations, and social media slugfests. On one hand, the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha and the face of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, called out the patriarchy inherent in India, urging it to be smashed. On the other, a harmless Raksha Bandhan ad campaign starring actor Kriti Sanon by jewellery brand GIVA ruffled many a feather, causing inexplicable outrage and prompting the brand to pull down the advertisement, all because the actor was apparently showing too much cleavage for a traditional occasion.