Feminist Archives - Page 2 of 2

Can You Be a Feminist and an Old-Fashioned Romantic?

As a feminist, I strive for equality in every sphere, but it also leaves me in a grey area when it comes to “traditional” relationships. I want to be whisked away to a private table at the beach and dine under the stars. But I also know that if I have an ideal date in mind, I’m as capable of making it happen as he is.

Arnaz Irani June 2, 2016

Gender

I Was All for Body Positivity… Until I Gained Weight and Couldn’t Fit In My Clothes

We’ve been trained to believe that hating the way our body looks, feels, and weighs is another way of subscribing to societal demands of female beauty. It’s dangerous and self-destructive. But if I’m being honest, maintaining a veneer of body positivity, when you can’t stop thinking of your weight, feels much the same to me at this point.

Meghalee Mitra June 1, 2016

Pop Culture

Rediscovering the Charm of Elaine Benes, TV’s Favourite Feminist

Sitcoms have long used what I’d call the “Robin/Lily binary” for female characters – they’re either nurturing, quirky, non-threatening women, or rebellious, outspoken women who aspire to maleness in the most superficial way. But Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes is nothing like that. She lives an independent, self-sufficient life, one in which she has all the career and personal issues that someone in their 30s might.

Mudra June 1, 2016

Gender

Are Ladies’ Nights Really Sexist?

Can you be a feminist and support ladies’ nights? Of course, women shouldn’t get free liquor for just wearing make-up and high heels. But the other side of the argument is that women tend to make less money than men, so surely they’ve earned a few free drinks.

Devrupa Rakshit May 20, 2016

Love and Sex

Why Indian Women Need to Tell More Lust Stories

Erotica for women, by women, is only just coming of age, even though the earliest writings of female desire go back to 600 BC. The new novel, Kama: The Story of the Kama Sutra, hopes to change that.

Kavya J May 7, 2016

Pop Culture

18 Years of Legally Blonde: Can We Finally Give the Criminally Underrated Reese Witherspoon Her Due?

In her speech after winning the Emmys for Big Little Lies, Reese Witherspoon spoke of how important it was to “bring women to the front of their own stories and make them the heroes of their own stories.” Eighteen years ago, that’s exactly what she did in Legally Blonde. Witherspoon’s Elle Woods embodied the unspoken rules of sisterhood.

Kahini Iyer April 28, 2016

Bollywood

Is Radhika Apte Now Bollywood’s Token Angry Feminist?

There’s a new stock character type in Bollywood, and she is the token feminist. Always powerful, headstrong, and argumentative, you’ll see her in everything from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to Sacred Games. She’s the effeminate gay man of this decade.

Sreemoyee Mukherjee April 8, 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

There’s No Such Thing as “Too Feminist”

The authorities of the city of Paris were fined for employing too many women in senior positions. To impose such ridiculous fines is to imply the existence of an imaginary “reverse inequality”.

Sahej Marwah March 1, 2016