Gender Archives - Page 21 of 24

Why We Should Retire the Phrase “Girls Mature Faster than Boys”

When we tell little girls that they mature faster than their male counterparts, we’re indirectly teaching them that the onus of being the “bigger person” will always be on them. This is how we create a society where women are forced to look after the men in their lives in a way that will never be reciprocated.

Sanjukta Bose March 23, 2016

Gender

On Consent, Men Are From Mars, Women From Venus

In a world where focused pursuit of one’s goals is seen as macho and attractive, it doesn’t surprise me that Aziz Ansari saw Grace’s rebuttals as merely a speed-bump: An obstacle he not only felt he had to overcome, but was expected to overcome.

Bruce Vain March 21, 2016

Gender

The Many Hands on My Body

“Bad touch” caught me by surprise in many different ways while I was growing up. Unwarranted proximity suffocated me. After one point, no one could touch me.

Aarti Shetty March 20, 2016

Gender

“Time Maa Chhe?” How Indian Women Are Constantly Made to Feel Guilty About Menstruating

Years of brainwashing has made menstruating women across the world feel unclean and unwanted for generations. And India has done little to change that.

Runa Mukherjee March 20, 2016

Gender

The Silent Suffering of Male Sex Abuse Survivors

I was surprised by the pervasiveness of the #MeToo confessionals and the women who spoke about sexual assault. And then I began to hear the experiences of my male friends who had been similarly violated.

Mad Marx March 20, 2016

Gender

Where Are Our Female Sherlock Holmes & Dr House? Why It’s So Difficult to Write Disagreeable Women Characters

Male characters in books and pop culture can be disgusting assholes and own that personality, but women characters – barring a few outliers – are mostly pretty, passive, and perfect. Where are the women that behave like jerks simply because they can? Where are our female Sherlock Holmes and Mr Darcy?

Sonali Kokra March 20, 2016

Gender

I Am a Tawaif’s Son: Growing up in Mumbai’s Brothels

I grew up amid the sounds of thumris, ghazals, the heady scents of mogra and whiskey in the kothas near Mumbai’s Kennedy Bridge. My earliest memory is of my mother fighting a drunken man, who was calling her a “randi”.

Manish Gaekwad March 20, 2016

Gender

Smriti Irani’s Sanitary Napkins Remarks Were Twisted Out of Context. But They’re Still Regressive

Whatever her intentions, union minister Smriti Irani’s remarks on taking sanitary napkins into homes and temples fall neatly into a cultural norm that considers women “impure” for menstruating, capable of “desecrating” any place by their mere presence.

Kahini Iyer March 19, 2016

Gender

Congrats Kangana Ranaut, You’ve Insulted Urmila Matondkar, “Soft-Porn” Stars, & Your Own Feminism

Urmila Matondkar’s comments that Kangana Ranaut was leveraging the public’s anti-Bollywood sentiment, prompted an unsavoury response from Ranaut, who appeared on a TV news channel to call Matondkar a “soft-porn star”. For a supposed feminist, how much further will Ranaut go in shaming women.

Arré Bench March 19, 2016

Gender

Why Do Women Suck at Negotiating Salaries?

Why do so many women settle for lowball salary offers, far under the value that our experience merits? For all our idealism and outspoken feminism, when it is time to bat for ourselves in the most elementary of ways, why do we consistently fail ourselves?

Sonali Kokra March 19, 2016