National award-winning actor Sonali Kulkarni got the wrath of many netizens after she called out certain women for being ‘lazy’ and ‘demanding’. Kulkarni made these remarks during an interview with Bhupenddra Singh Raathore, who runs the popular YouTube channel CoachBSR. This interview was published on YouTube on March 2, and soon a clip went viral.
During the talk, Kulkarni said that while men face immense pressure to financially support their family just as they turn 18, women, on the other hand, reach 25 or 27 years of age and then force their boyfriends to sponsor an international honeymoon.
She also criticised women for “being on the edge” in workplaces and going to the human resources (HR) personnel over trivial issues. The 48-year-old actor urged women to contribute to domestic expenses besides cooking.
I don’t know who she is but hats off to her courage to speak the unspoken unpalatable truth! 👏#Equality pic.twitter.com/vB2zwZerul
— Amit Srivastava 🕉️ (@AmiSri) March 15, 2023
Kulkarni’s remarks have met applause, but many netizens did not share the same sentiment as the audience.
Many people denounced her statements and said that she trivialised the value of unpaid domestic labour and care work done by homemakers and diluted the instances of sexual harassment at work.
True & truly sad @Paromitabardolo .Check the matrimonial columns-wanted, good looking,educated, earning,’homely’;take care of in-laws,Hh duties & hand over monthly salary type of ad’s. Double whammy.The ‘insight’ she has is lazy & should have been qualified such – ‘in my circles’ https://t.co/8Olt1aswGN
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) March 16, 2023
So.. she’s telling that housewives are lazy bums, but working women who don’t fulfill any responsibility towards her husband & family are not lazy. 🤡
Being a housewife & fulfilling her responsibilities is the toughest job, as there are no paid leaves,period leaves, holidays etc
— 𝕂𝕂 (@Try2StopME) March 16, 2023
I think girls have just started looking up & women like her are already trying to put pressure on them by siding with boys. I am sure she has sons too. I can appreciate if she also says that boys need to do 50% homework if she wants women to give 50% for buying fridge
— Iyer_Bala (@Bala_subramania) March 16, 2023
It would have made total sense if she was kind enough to also mention that men must also contribute to the responsibilities at home including the kitchen.. speaking one sided leaves it unfair expectation
— Sudeep V (@sudeepvasu) March 15, 2023
Commenting on Kulkarni’s video, a Twitter user wrote, “Who can give such statements that women are lazy, if not a privileged upper caste woman. Look at women in this country. The amount of unpaid labor women do almost feels criminal. She needs to read the Govt data on what women go through in this country. Sit down, Miss Kulkarni.”
Another person wrote, “I find it ridiculous that in a system where the woman does all the heavy lifting with regard to household chores, cooking, care-giving, sacrificing career etc, she is made to look like a freeloader here, and told to “contribute financially”, reduce the “pressure on the man”.”
