Director : Alankrita Shrivastava
Genre : Indian Black Comedy
Starring : Ratna Pathak, Konkona Sensharma, Ahana Kumra, Plabita Borthakur

Women centric and bold I must not forget to mention; this film talks about suppression of women and taboos related to their sex life.
One Muslim woman forced to stay in burkha and not socialise at all finds a way to live in her dreams every now and then. Rehana Abidi sneaks out, steals and goes out to party to become part of her peers to have a place among them and get respect from them. Ends up getting more oppressed by father.
Rosy, Usha Parmar aged and alone woman exploring world of sexual pleasures through phone-sex and masturbation and erotica is constantly scared of her ‘secret’ being exposed to society and losing respect. Eventually secret gets out and her family throws her out of her house!
Leela, young woman having affair with a Muslim guy is forced to marry a guy she doesn’t want to get married to. Her mother works as a nude art object for painters. Leela dares to dream big despite her current financial state. Makes mistake of rebelling against society’s norms.
Shireen Aslam, a woman is forced to stay at home and not work even though she really wants to and is good at it too. Rahim Aslam is inhuman enough to tell his wife to stay home and not interfere in his life or go out despite having caught with a woman with whom he was having affair. Shireen suggests using condoms but is mocked by husband. When asked if she went and bought condoms herself, she has to lie as if it is a shameful sin! Husband denies using condoms and she suffers from burning in vagina and her system is getting more and more damaged by medicines she takes to avoid more children and she can’t say a word about it to her husband!!! How much more oppressive men can get?!

Women don’t know their rights; in fact sometimes end up contributing to patriarchal system of our society’s! But what happens when she dares to live her life on her own terms, dares to disobey society’s orders, makes mistake of dreaming and even worse- tries to make those dreams come true? She is punished, oppressed even more. Lipstick, red lips of hers tempts us to think she must be a slut/prostitute/whore! Bold is shameful instead of beautiful/ appreciable! Why?

Rosy’s dreams are just dreams, why? Usha has to read erotica in closed doors and keep it hidden, why? Leela can’t marry the guy she loves, why? Why is Shireen forced to let her husband control her life to this ridiculous extent? Why Rehana is forced to stay low profile and under burkha? Who is to be blamed even? – When women family members of Usha’s family asks other members to throw her out of her own house? When Leela’s mother forces own daughter to marry? When Rehana’s mother keeps calling her own daughter ‘behuda ladki’? When Shireen has no one to seek help from?

Dreams of love or lust! Dreams of now or never! Dreams of lipstick! These books lies to us, also gives courage to dream. Having lust is a sin. Dreaming is a sin. Speaking up is a sin. Exploring world of sexual pleasures is worst of all sins. But I must say such moves are first step towards change, a real big and beautiful change. There will be a day when, ‘she’ will be silly to hide, she won’t look out of barred window, she’ll step out the door and slay. She will wipe her tears, fix her hair and stop keeping her desires as a secret unknown to everyone except herself. She will realise, the key to her dreams is in her heart and all she needs is courage and more courage!

It is a beautifully written story played really well by women protagonists. Such movies are hope for better future. Personally, despite being raised in a liberal environment, I find this movie really moving and inspiring. Because many of us think they are liberal and good enough already, not realising that part of them still ends up supporting unfair stereotypes and patriarchal system in the society. This movie also started social media movement of women called ‘lipstickrebellion’ where women posted with lipstick with middle finger as symbol of ‘no more tolerance for oppression’ and ‘rebellution’! Hopefully, more movies like his one will be made and will help with revolution of women’s condition in society.

By-
Punyadhara Doshi

GENDER discrimination still exists in society. In Indian society born as a woman is not easy. It is itself a struggle for her. Women are generally confined to bound their household works and looking after children. Irrespective of her education and degrees. Education and learning opportunities gender wise literacy rates in India between men and women. As per 2011 census data effective literacy rates in age above 7 were 82.14% for men and 65.46%. His gap is because there is mentality in the typical society. They don’t want to spend money on girl studies and development. In society they categorised men superior in the society meanwhile girls to inferior. They figured as the man is leading face in the patriarchal society. Women has suppressed by the men. They had to follow the decisions of men. They do not earn for the family. Small girls also trained for house hold works. They are not allowed to go outside the house. They are not allowed to talk with men or they can’t make friends of opposite gender. The reality of the society is that after marriage the life of women got spoil. Due to the gender gap created in both the character from their childhood. In society there is a myth that the girls are weak and boys are stronger in society. In Family when girls are born usual the members do not get happy but when boys born in the family the members get happy and enjoy the moment. Usually the girls do not get freedom as compare to the men. They do not live alone in their life and at the outer space. One member always with them.in society there are some stereotypes that girls always plays with dolls and boys always play cricket . Girls usually do not play the outdoor games. If girls will study then they will not do the household work. Many times in public sphere they do not interact loudly and with men.

BY:-PAREEKSHIT RAJPUROHIT

YouTube Short film
(Video analysis, critiquing and writing about it)
Genre – Fiction, Drama
Featuring – Plabita Borthakur, Gurdeep Kohli
Details – 11:03 minutes’ duration,
Directed & Written by – Ritesh Menon,
Produced & Presented by-
Culture Machine Media Pvt. Ltd.
Chhoti Production Company Pvt. Ltd.

The film starts with a 21 year old woman starring in mirror with pregnancy test in her hands. She is more than terrified, not because she’s afraid to raise the kid, not because her boyfriend might abandon her… she is terrified of how society and her family may react. Her mother finds out and there’re moments that felt like hours in which she imagines how her mother will get angry and ask her to leave the house. But it turns out, surprisingly that her mother decides to support her.
In India even though pre-marital sex is legal, for an unmarried woman to have sex before marriage is worse a crime because she doesn’t get convicted by the court but her own family and society! Getting in physical relationship is considered to be a sacred act which can only be justified by marriage. A woman is looked as an object for reproduction. Sex as an act doesn’t have any separate meaning for woman other than tool for reproduction. Pleasure, consent, desire are the things that are not considerable factors. It’s even condemned if talked about. At the same time, if a man does it, there are no questions asked. At the wedding mother-in-law and the groom expects a virgin bride but if the groom is not virgin, it’s not an issue for anyone.
It’s a shame considering how long we’ve come! According to Ramayan, even monsters were concerned about consent before touching a woman. In Mahabharat, Kauravs were destroyed for sexually harassing a woman! Then with time, people lost morals, values and conscience. With Mughal invasion, British invasion; slowly but steadily the original Indian culture faced erosion. And today I live in a world where I’m scared to go out alone because who knows who may rape me!

Indian society instead of realising what is happening, turned into a conserved society with stereotypes in everyday trends. About a decade ago, digital spaces expanded and world became closer. Indian youth in particular got influenced by western culture and developed liberated views. We live in a society where if a daughter is in trouble, parents worry about what may society have to say about the situation and consequences rather than worrying about their own daughter!

The film has beautifully portrayed the reality and it is more than accurate. As the storyline goes the mother supports her daughter unlike a mother of typical Indian society. And that’s inspiring and a step towards change. That may inspire to mothers to realise that her daughter is adult and has right to take decision and make mistakes. Although, mother is shown upset about the decisions that her daughter made. And I believe, it will be a perfect world when woman will be given support without being questioned about her maturity and sanity, when her decision will be respected instead of accepted with cringe in mind.

The film has captured the real emotions between a mother and daughter. It has also shown how an Indian family has pressures on a daughter about being ‘a good girl’! What does being a good girl mean? What is the definition of ‘good girl’? It means living her life in a way that is approved by the society or family. It means having a good career and then settling with a good man. It means not staying out late at night. It means not talking to men or not having boyfriends. it means not engaging in any sort of physical relationship with anyone before marriage. It means marrying a man chosen or at least approved by the family. It means not drinking or smoking. It means not taking decisions of her own life by herself. And, if she does not fit in this definition, she is a bad girl. A characterless girl. A burden and headache for her parents. A disappointment to her parents.

A woman is expected to seek approval all her life, first parents then husband and his family. She lives a life of a slave and if she dares even to peep out she is criticised and called a bad girl! This film is a step towards change and considering the current situation of Indian society it is more than good enough. However, a woman like me would expect more bold and liberating storyline.
By-
Punyadhara Doshi

Even today equal respect and opportunity for Indian woman is limited till our holy books (Gita and Mahabharata) in real situation a woman has no freedom of choice in her everyday life. She gets no respect or authority as she has to follow ideal woman rules in her everyday actions. An ideal woman situation is when women has to behave according to defined norms. Recently I read many blogs on “qualities of ideal Indian woman”. Some were sarcastic while others were really talking about what an ideal woman should do.

Here are the few qualities I would like to share with you (based on my observation). –>

• Attractive
• Confident
• Semi-independent
• Feminine
• Loyal
• Virgin
• Indecisive
• Meek
• Submissive etc etc.

This instantly became a problem for me. Why should I follow this to become acceptable for people I don’t even know? It took some time for me to realize that I have always been following this set of rules to guide my everyday actions. And not only me but every woman I know is following this set of rules. You ask why we do this. Well the answer is simple because we from our childhood are taught this set of rules. So every woman follows some rules if not all.

Problems Women face every day because of Ideal woman rules–>Don’t go out to often, don’t go out at late night, don’t come home very late, don’t talk with man/boys, don’t wear clothes that will attract opposite gender, don’t show your opinion in public, don’t laugh too loud, don’t dance in public, don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t shout, don’t ask for job, be family oriented, know how to talk walk and behave and so on the list never ends when it comes to what and what not an ideal woman should not do. And I am sure we all have good examples of how our actions were judged by people on the basis of ideal woman does this and that. I have a friend who is a badminton player very practical and straight forward and so for her actions are not in line with how ideal woman works so she is always judged and her character is portrayed as very wrong. Well in real she should be appreciated for being real, goal oriented and determine. So if you know any woman who is ideal for the society and she has a freedom of choice trust me she is just a fictional character.

Here the final question comes–> “How to deal with this ideal women situation? Well the answer is very simple “IGNORE” if you ever face that situation remember you don’t need to give any reaction to people because you are above the ideal women characteristics decided by the society and religion. You are someone who will set an example of a being woman who has earned her freedom of choice. Remember we are not the ones who fights or cries as what they anti-feminist say we are the ones who knows what to ignore and how to ignore, we decide what will affect us and what we choose where to focus on because ideal woman characteristics are not for the woman who has ability to think and reason.

For more updates on gender equality follow our blog and do read other blogs on this site. Here I Shridevi Bhatt say goodbye to everyone. Stay connected for more updates.

Can age difference in a marriage become the reason for subjugation of women?
According to Indian culture we are expected to respect anybody who is elder than us in age no matter who that person is . At times it happens that if we do not respect someone who is elder than us than we may end up being judged by people and our character and values could be questioned and put on stake.
In India the legal age for the marriage of a girl is 18 yrs and for a boy its 21 yrs. The difference between the age gap is of 3 yrs. The reason given behind this is that girls reach maturity well before boys could . This is scientifically proven as well.
It is also said that according to Indian Vedas the best age for a girl to get married is 18yrs and for a boy is 40yrs which is quite surprising as well.
Wives have to respect their husbands because they are elder than them and respecting merely does not only mean respecting, it also mean to obey him and do what he tells. This also becomes the reason behind the highly prevalent domestic violence in India and wives not going against it, because again, the husband is elder in age and you cant disobey him.
This could have been different if the age of both men and women were equal in a marriage, because we have a different reaction to the same action done by an elder person and a person of the same age as ours.

It is believed that a marriage is a sacred thing and it needs equal participation by both the sides and both the sides are equal which also means that both the partners should respect each other equally and should have all the rights on each other equally.
The point here is that that if the reason for the girl being younger than man in the marriage is maturity than both should have absolutely equal rights on each other and none should be compelled to respect and obey the other in return of zero respect from the other person.
This way the husband will get no power to ever raise his hand against his wife and beat her up just because he feels that he has the right to do because he is elder and therefore his wife cannot answer him back and just keep following him. The wife can answer back and take her own stance if she understands that both of them are equal and the man is elder than him only because he would not be as matured as she is at her age. The man also needs to understand that her wife is younger than him because she is able to reach a maturity level which is equal to his at a younger age.
Henceforth there are 2 possible solutions to this; first is that both understands the reason behind the age gap and the second is that the age of the male and females should be equal in a marriage.

Patriarchy is deeply entrenched in modern-day India, the country has a long tradition of women who resisted conformity, even under severe societal pressure. In simpler terms patriarchy is a social system established ages ago in which only men hold the power over political leadership, moral power and financial power. On the other side Feminism is a concept or a movement towards demolishing patriarchy and providing women equal rights in political, social and economic sphere of life.

In the history of the early Vedic period, Queen Didda , who had a leg disability, ruled Kashmir with an iron hand for more than four decades during the 10th century. Her tremendous political skills, her ability to rule and her achievement of stability in the kingdom she had inherited is why she is sometimes called the ‘Catherine of Kashmir’.

In the 17th century, Bibi Dalair Kaur, a sikh woman, formed an all-women army to fight Mughal forces. When taunted by Mughal commander Wajir Khan about the weakness of women in the battlefield, she is believed to have replied fiercely with the following words: 
“WE ARE THE HUNTERS, NOT THE HUNTED.

COME FORWARD AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!”

 In 19th century, the Indian woman’s quest for civil, political and religious rights arose from the belly of the great social and religious reform movements of the era. Historians refer to the abolition of Sati as the first watershed moment in India’s modern feminist movement.
During this time Indian women also continued to challenge the status quo in the background. Struggling for their place in the sun. some of the women who went on to becomes feminist ideals include:

 Anandibai Joshi – the first Indian women to study abroad

Muthulakshmi Reddy- who studied in the men’s college to become a doctor and went on to abolish the devadasi system

Sorabjee- the first Indian women lawyer
A special mention must be made of the inspiring woman who is often described as one of the first modern Indian feminists. At a time when people hardly acknowledged the grievances of women in India, Savitribai Phule, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, fought injustices against women with all they had.

In those days, widows used to shave their heads, wear a simple white sari and live a life of austerity. It was Savitribai who decided to stand up against this practice and organized a strike against the barbers in order to persuade them to stop shaving the heads of the widows, most of whom were still children.
Entering the 21st century, Indian feminism engaged with a whole host of issues – from domestic violence and rape to victim shaming and consent. 

Activist Kavita Krishnan set in motion a series of protests and uproar after the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case, which eventually led to the legislation of the Criminal Law Amendment 2013 that made changes in the existing rape laws in the nation. Identified by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential women in 2013, lawyer Vrinda Grover was also influential in the drafting of the Criminal Law Amendment of 2013.

In india, the government has launched various campaigns to support the feminism movement such as the Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao movement to prevent female child abortions and provide girls with the opportunity to study and become global leaders.

Social media has also supported feminism by creating hashtags such as:

 #IWillGoOut – Bengaluru mass molestation case right in the beginning of the year gave way to the much talked about #IWillGoOut protest across the country. It came into existence after the comment of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi who shamed women for staying out “beyond sunset” on December 31, 2016, in Bengaluru.
#AintNoCinderella – The infamous case of stalking and street harassment of Chandigarh-based DJ Varnika Kundu gave way to the hashtag #AintNoCinderella. Two men—one of whom, Vikas Barala is the son of a BJP chief—tried to chase Kundu around midnight in Chandigarh when she was returning home in her car. This sparked a nation-wide controversy and another BJP leader, Ramme Bhatti, commented on the incident blaming Kundu for being out on streets late at night.

             The comment went viral and women across country            started sharing their pictures while they were out at night on Twitter along with #AintNoCinderella.

 #WWC17 – Undoubtedly 2017 will be considered as the game changer for Indian women’s cricket and their performance speaks for themselves. Cricket has always been portrayed as a male dominant game, but Mithali Raj and Co.’s sheer resilience and their amazing journey to become the runner-up of ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 has put the question “Why should boys have all the fun?”

Thus, this was the Empowering Journey of Indian Feminism.

SOURCES:

http://www.outlookindia.com (History of feminist movement in India)

http://www.yourstory.com 

http://www.scoopwhoop.com ( 9 Rebellious women in India)

http://www.shethepeople.tv ( feminist hashtags)

http://www.newindianexpress.com 

http://www.thebetterindia.com ( Feminism through ages)

Google Images
Blog by Tanishka Jain

Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, is the most famous and major among all the temples in Kerala. At Sabarimala, the divinity is worshiped as Ayyappan. The shrine of Sabarimala is an ancient temple. The prince of Pandalam kingdom, an avatar of Ayyappan, meditated at Sabarimala temple and became one with the divine. It includes Pampa Ganapathi temple, Nilakal Mahadeva temple and Palliyara Bhagavathi temple.
There are worships like Prasadam, Harivarasanam, Neyyabhishekam, Makkaravilaku, Aham Brahmasmi and Tattvamasi.
6-7 million people visits the temple in a year from across the world.
Lord Ayyapan is worshiped as a “Naishtika Brahmachari”. Therefore as per the board authorities of the temple, women belonging to the menstruating age are not allowed to enter temple.

ISSUE:
In 1991, Justices K. Paripoornan and K. Balanarayana Marar of the Kerala High Court, restricted the entry of women belonging to menstruating age from offering worship at the temple, stating that such a limit was in accordance with the usage customary from time immemorial. In addition, the judges directed the Government of Kerala, to use the police force to ensure any illegal entry into the temple.
On 28th September 2018 The Supreme Court ordered that the restriction of not allowing women into the temple is unconstitutional.
The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, said prohibition of the entry of women into the temple is gender discrimination and this practice violates the rights of Hindu women. The court noticed that it can’t be ignorant to the fact of the case that women sged between 10-50 are not allowed to go inside the shrine due to physiological reasons (menstruation). The Supreme Court verdict – that the Sabarimala temple must be open to all women. It should be seen as another success for the cause of gender equality.
After the supreme court verdict, when the temple was opened for the first time many women aged between10-50 tried to enter the temple but the police sent them back as the situation there got violent by the protesters. The cops also tried lathi charge to get the situation in control. Many women journalists were beaten up by the protesters.
The harsh reality is in this case was mostly Women were against the law of entry of women into the temple.

According to the protesters, Lord Ayyapa was a “naishtika brahmachari”. Allowing women on the hill is like breaking their beliefs, tradition and customs. The traditions which were followed from centuries would break their beliefs.
While the law was ordered Pandalam Royal Family and the authorities of the palace ordered the tantric the head priest to close the temple if they see any young women in the premises of the temple.
The protesters believed that it would be an offense to malikapurthamma’s love and sacrifice. Not only this temple but every divine places has a rule that no one should enter the place with impurity. They believe menstruation as impurity. Some says lord Ayyapan himself restricted the entry of women into the temple. Some people believe that the entry of a women can distract the men. Some sees it practically difficult to climb the hill as the temple is located in on the top of the hill and in a dense forest. Some women claim that only this was a place where they could send their husbands without any doubt, now that also cannot be done.
Some important priests also commented on the issue that the tradition is followed from years and should not break the beliefs of people. The supreme court should overlook all the traditions and customs.

My view on this issue:
According to me restrictions for women to enter the temple is against the Indian constitution. It is against the rights of equality, t he right against discrimination based on gender, freedom of religion, freedom of movement. Imposing patriarchy in the way of restriction of women into the holy place. Women has the equal right to enter the temple and worship the lord. Restricting anyone into the temple is discriminatory. It changes the thinking of people being equal to god. The shani shingnapur temple also restricted the entry of women into the temple but after receiving court orders they allowed everyone.
It is not about the entry to the temple but about equality. We’re not trying to break the sacred tradition but trying to get the equal rights in the society as others. It is one of our civil rights and symbolic equality. Women should not be criticized that they are impure just because of the physiological reason of menstruation. It shows how the society has become gender discriminated. Lord Ayyapaa never told that women should be restricted into the temple. He considered all women as motherly figure. Initially dalit were not allowed to enter the temple as they believed they have born as dalit because of the sinds they have done in their past life. These type of mentality should be change in the society. Everyone should get the equal rights. Restrictions named as traditions are just superstitious and ill logical beliefs of the society. These beliefs are just human made. A god is all above the humanly desires and all worldly materials. God have conquered everything that is in the world and beyond our imagination, so he is not going to be tempted by anything. Rather than restricting people inside the temple we should pray and worship the lord with a pure heart. Gender discrimination like men should only enter the temple should not be done. It is the civil rights and symbolic equality of all the human beings.

Source – (Wikipedia) for supreme court verdict.

BLUSH Channel is one of those which talks about topics like feminism, sexism etc in a light hearted way and yet is successful in passing on the message. This video is about who and what fake or pseudo feminists are like. Pseudo feminists are basically the ones who talk everything about feminism except for the major point; EQUALITY. Well we all want equality, be it for men or women. It is easy for you to talk about feminism without knowing what it actually means and why was there a need for it.

 The video shows 4 types of fake or pseudo feminists:

1. The Theorist feminist– one who only likes uses heavy words in order to make feminism sound complex and as for them, they don’t have their personal take about feminism.
2. The one with the sixth sense– they are the ones who are nowhere, yet there. The ones who see the world through the glasses of “sexism”. For them everything is sexist, but it is fine when a male pays the bill just because he is related to them.
3. The Hater feminist– the one who is a motivational speaker but hates to appreciate anyone. Basically a proper example of a hypocrite.
4. Last but not the least, The Internet feminist– we all know how social media has drastically affected our lives and how people have become ‘keyboard Ninja’s.’ Sitting in an AC hall, with good internet connection and a keyboard, you become a Keyboard Ninja, the one who just sees the world from their own little shell. Well they might write great things on the internet, but when it comes to real life, they are not at all interested.   

These were the 4 types of fake or pseudo feminists who exist around us. I personally loved this video and it actually helped me distinguish between these different pseudo feminist who claim to be the flag bearers of feminism. I strongly believe that one must never see the world from his/ her little bubble, one must go out, talk to people, know their experiences, and the challenges they have faced or are facing or at least try and read about such people who have emerged victorious not only from their personal struggles but have also got some revolution.

Feminism is not always about criticising men or the norms and traditions that were laid down centuries and centuries ago, in fact it is about bringing a reform in those norms. Over the years women from across the globe have fought battles which resulted in so many reforms in the lives of women because at that time this was a necessity as men almost were enjoying their rights. Just because Feminism started as something for the rights of women does not mean it only confines to them. It was started with a thought for equality for everyone. I strongly believe that if all the people on this planet start respecting themselves and the role of others, there will be no need for things like feminism or empowerment. We are just a step behind from acknowledging, understanding and respecting each other’s role on this planet.

I would want to end this by a statement given by Anne Hathaway at the UN Women on the International Women’s Day, ‘In order to liberate women, we must liberate men.’ If we want rights for women we must also understand at certain places men lack their rights. Have your opinions, but also respect others opinions as well.

Here is the link to the video: Fake Feminists be like by BLUSH channel. Enjoy!

-Tamanna Sharma

Everything changes with time be it thinking, mindset or lifestyle. Over the years there has been a drastic change in our lives and media has played a major role in influencing and molding our minds. It is usually said that either the media reflects in the society or the society reflects in media.

Over the years media has portrayed women as glamour dolls and is still doing it. Revolutions and protests have taken place, yet we haven’t stopped glamorizing women. All women are some sought of damsel-in-distress, waiting for their hero to come. In fact, a lot of times women are not even necessary in the frame, yet they are their showing off their beauty. Not only today, but going back in time we can see the portrayal of women by the media. Here are some vintage print ads that show how women were portrayed in these advertisements.

Ah Taj: Ah Taj or Wah Taj, as it is known today, had made this beautiful print ad of a women holding a cup of tea in her hand. As such there is no problem in the ad except for the fact that the woman is shown wearing a bikini. Well so what if she is wearing a bikini? There is nothing wrong in that, but the only thing is that the product and the model don’t go hand in hand. Or in other words the addition of the woman wearing the bikini is just to attract the male gaze and provide visual pleasure.

Cinthol Promise: Another impressive ad by Cinthol is here. We all know how refreshing and good Cinthol soaps are, but who would have known that they will be presenting it in such a way back then. A nude lady holding the Cinthol soap bar in her hand portrays nothing except drawing male attention to the product through her body.

Binaca Talc: Here comes another ad. This is the ad of a talcum powder. As you can clearly see that the lady in the picture is all nude, her torso portion is covered by the line saying “Don’t go Wild!” There are other ways as well to sell off your talcum powder instead of showing nude women.

Suraiya Lux Toilet Soap: The Lux Toilet soap luckily does not portray women wearing a bikini or complete nude, instead this ‘soap’ ad shows a women wearing a lot of make-up and heavy jewellery. Just a normal, light make-up and light jewellery could have done the work or in fact no jewellery would also have done the work.

These were a few ads that showed how women were portrayed back then; glamorous, doll like figures. The above 3 ads had women just for visual pleasure and to attract the male-gaze. You can imagine back then, even after independence, women were still not independent in the sense; they were still and in fact even today are seen as nothing more than objects. Their perfect skinny body, with amazing curves and a lot of make-up is how women must be. We’ve still not accepted ourselves the way we are, we still see ourselves through the lens of the society or maybe the media.

I believe not only women but men must have a great body with muscles and biceps toned or as we say a proper tall, dark and handsome physique whereas women must be slim, pretty and fair enough to entice the men. The day we all accept ourselves the way we are, respect each other and break through the chains we are tied to by the society will be the when we won’t need any protest or revolution.

-Tamanna Sharma.