Mumbai: Actor Shahid Kapoor has come out in support of his wife Mira after her comments on feminism and housewives were not received well, saying she spoke on a personal note but it’s sad that people bashed her opinion.
Mira was recently criticised for her views on new wave of feminism which she says is “aggressive and destructive” and for putting down women who choose careers over their children.
She had said that her child was not a “puppy” to be left at home and only to spend an hour a day with her.
Shahid, however, feels Mira was talking on a personal level and her statement wasn’t a “direct comment on anybody or any category of women.”
“I think she was speaking from a very positive space. I do understand that people have a strong point of view and people get hurt about things, but I think we are in a time where everybody is getting hurt about everything,” he says.
“So, I honestly don’t feel there is any sense in trying to keep everyone happy,” Shahid told reporters at an event here last night.
“We are also in a time where anybody who is important or being given importance says something, a lot of people want to gain importance by saying something against them. So, we just live in that kind of a time,” he says.
The 36-year-old actor says Mira’s comments are relevant as she was talking about how “women should have the right to choose”, whether they want to work or be a housewife, and men should respect that.
“I think Mira is speaking for a section of women who really aren’t being represented. There are times when those women feel that they should not be celebrated. By that I mean women who might not be doing a job, who might choose to be at home, have a baby, take care of the baby and consider that important enough to do at a certain stage in your life.
“At a different stage of life, you might choose something else. I took five months off when I was having Misha (daughter) because I felt it was important for me to be with my wife and my child,” he says.
“So that’s a choice you make out of a certain sense of independence. I think there are very few people showing any kind of appreciation towards these women,” he adds.
Shahid says as a stay-at-home mother, what Mira is doing for their daughter is far more important and relevant.
“I don’t think what a mother gives to her child is something that should not be appreciated. They should feel empowered and self-assured of the fact that they are extremely important and what they do is as important as any other job,” he says.
“I personally feel that I might be the one who goes to work between me and Mira as husband and wife, but what she is doing for Misha is far more important, far more relevant. I really wish I could but between the two of us one has to go to work and I happen to be that person,” says the actor.
PTI