Sailendra Simkhada: A Comedian or the Mirror of Patriarchy ?

“A woman wearing a short dress is the distraction for men”- Mr. Sailendra Simkhada  

Sailendra Simkhada is a well-known stand-up comedian who has been in the mainstream for years. People admire his comedic humor and his performance, but is it humor?

Why hasn’t his controversial statements in the form of comedy ever been questioned in the media? As per Mr. Sailendra, a god has said a woman wearing a short dress is a distraction for men.  

At the time of this writing, we came across a few of his videos where he has been saying some demeaning things like “a girl having a good face but she lacks a brain”, “With the popularity, the dres of model and actresses gets on decreasing”. 

This is just a sneak peek at his comedic “humor” as there are a lot of problematic kinds of stuff that have gone unquestioned things during his career of more than two decades. 

Who Is Sailendra Simkhada?

Sailendra Simkhada is a well-known comedian and artist in Nepal. He has been in the industry for more than two decades. Mr. Simkhada is one of the senior comedians who have a fanbase of both millennials and Gen Z. 

Sailendra Simkhada during his performance (Source: YouTube)

If said in the youngster’s language, you can also call him the “OG” of comedy in Nepal. Where stand-up comedy has been popular in recent days, he has been doing it for more than two decades. 

Most of his content surrounds politics and the moral policing of women. To be more precise, he loves to share his view on what women should be doing and what makes them “unworthy”. 

Problematic “humor” of Mr.Sailendra Simkhada

Besides that, there have been hundreds of controversial things said about women and the dress she chooses to wear in their performance. 

Where women have been fighting with society for getting harassed and sexually exploited in her daily till the date, people in the mainstream are sexualizing and objectifying a woman in the form of comedy, songs, movies, and whatnot. 

Meanwhile, people who love those contents may argue, that it is just a form of entertainment and shouldn’t be taken literally. But isn’t the entertainment industry influencing their young audiences? And isn’t there another way to make people laugh without passing an undignified comment? 

According to Mr. Sailendra, a slim girl is a “grape” while a healthy girl/woman is a “pig” (Click Here for video reference). 

In the same video, he also went to the referred wife as onion and called an orange. With a prideful smile on his face, he continued “Whenever someone sees an orange, they want to touch them”.

The above ‘joke’ is an example of disparagement humor. The type of “humor” that belittles, stereotypes, or denigrates an individual or social group.

It devalues and insults the women in the joke and glorifies the idea of treating another human being as an object. Nevertheless, it is portrayed only through the man’s lens.

Was this something a man should be saying on the stage where other thousands of audiences see him as an idol?

Lots of young generations have stood up against artist who uses slang and demeaning words during their performance.

Meanwhile, the same audience has gone deaf and blind for years where people like Simkahda have been objectifying women on the public platform with pride. 

Sailendra Simkhada on Comedy Champion (Source: YouTube)

Sailendra Simkhada Controversies

Back in 2073, a group of students from the PK campus surrounded him. Though 25 hundred students were there to question him, there hasn’t been a single report in the media house. What was the reason?

When asked Mr. Sailendra he recalled the time saying that in one of the programs, he called PK campus is the “Sasuarli” of Kathmandu valley. He was then questioned by thousands of women for the word he used to portray them.

During one of the interviews, Mr. Simkhada says the performances he gives based on women are what audiences have been wanting. Followingly, he also added only the videos about women that get the attention while his other content is not acknowledged. 

Is the audience responsible? This is the question for all the youths who have been consuming those types of content. 

Meanwhile, if you are someone who takes umbrage at a sexist joke, there will be people coming forward to educate you on “jokes” and let you know that you are overdoing and over-analyzing it. 

Furthermore, when someone points out stereotypes and prejudice, they are asked not to make everything about Feminism. Some insinuate that women are somehow overdoing it in demanding gender equality. 

Sailendra Simkhada’s response

After watching his contents for a while, one question that made me wonder is what is the mindset of the man who has been passing problematic comments for years. When asked he said-

“I was young and immature at the time when I wrote those contents. I was on the stage saying those things while the audiences were rooting for me. My other type of content where I say sincere things are often ignored.”

As per him, when he tried stopping his content where he has disgraced women in any way or form, he was forced to say those lines from the organizers. But is the excuse acceptable for someone who is on the stage as a public figure? 

Are the public people responsible for making him “The Sailendra Simkhada”? He is just a part of the society that reflects most of the people around us who feel it is okay to shame and disgrace another human being in the name of jokes and content to entertain people. 

It is high time that we as youth should now start questioning the people who have been in the mainstream media and openly moral policing women and humiliating them in the name of “content”. 

The voice should be loud enough to let them know it is not okay to objectify, sexualize women in the name of “comedy” or “content”