It's time for us to change the conversation about Bhai ; it's time to show him the mirror and perhaps, take a long, hard look at ourselves as well while we're at it.
Stop enabling misogyny by giving it an audience
I'm aware that Salman realised he had made a faux pas almost immediately . His "when I used to walk out of the ring after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn’t walk straight," comment was followed by a sheepish "I don't think I should have...", but not before it shed light on how we use everyday language to trivialise rape, not to mention how blind hero worshipping has chucked rational thinking out the window, but more on that later.
Want to know what's worse? That a bunch of reporters in the room laughed like it was a joke. Let's just clarify that he wasn't making a joke. He made an analogy about his physical condition, equating it with the effects of rape on a victim's body. In doing so, he made an assumption about what a victim goes through when/after she has been raped, undermining and trivialising her suffering.
No, it's not okay to say "what kind of rape was that?" after you leave the examination hall (I've heard it myself), or "man, I just raped you in Fifa", like it's an accomplishment. It's not okay when you say it to your group of friends and it sure isn't okay when Salman says it in a press conference where he has more reach than the average Joe.
You see, language is key. When you encourage a tone that takes away from the enormity of sexual assault, it starts to snowball and perpetuate a culture that disregards the safety and well-being of women.
This is doubly true when a cherished figure like Salman does it. He can not escape the responsibility he has to the public at large; it comes with the territory.
Read this letter penned by the Stanford survivor Mr Khan and then tell me: did you really feel all that, violated and helpless to name a few emotions, when you wrapped up shooting a scene for your next macho man movie, a project that'll surely earn you ample praise, coupled with a hefty paycheck?
'But Sallu Bhai can do no wrong'
If there's one thing the 51-year-old has going for him, it's his savvy PR team. They've got everyone just lapping up his highly-advertised ‘Being Human’ image.
He's a member of society who gives back but does that automatically absolve him of all criticism and give him a lifetime hall pass for involuntary manslaughter and mansplaining misogyny?