Posted inDisArré
EXCLUSIVE! Interview with Jedi Master Yoda on Star Wars Day
Dropped by the Arré office, again, look who.
Posted inBollywood
Chhe Din, Ladki Not In: Will the Year of #MeToo Usher in a New Kind of Bollywood Hero?
No film in the ’90s had a woman character whose first “no” was accepted – instead her consent was treated as a challenge by the hero. But in a year when #MeToo ruled our cultural consciousness, will that old idea of what a Bollywood hero is supposed to be, change?
Posted inGender
Despite Bollywood Influences, I am Raising Two Feminist Sons. Here’s How To Do It
My sons and I love watching Bollywood movies together, but finding a film devoid of misogyny, objectification of women, and innuendo is a task. How do I explain to my kids what is wrong with “6 din, Ladki in” when SRK is mouthing it as if it’s the most chivalrous way to woo a girl in Kal Ho Naa Ho?
Posted inGender
The Silent Survivors of “Legitimate” Rape
Some women have been raped with unmentionable objects; some have been stripped naked. All victims of marital rape, their only refuge is a room at Mumbai’s KB Bhabha Hospital.
Posted inGender
Aziz Ansari and the Deafening Silence of Non-consent
After #MeToo and #TimesUp and seemingly ceaseless stories of sexual assault by famous, much-loved men, I dug up my own. Just like the girl in Aziz Ansari’s apartment, why didn’t I just leave? Maybe, because my body went into tonic immobility.
Posted inPOV
The 3 Mistakes of Chetan Bhagat
Dear Chetan Bhagat, you don’t get to play the victim card at a time when women are coming forward to share their stories of real oppression. To whine about how the controversy about your “wooing” chats has prevented you from promoting your latest book only makes you look like a self-serving schmuck.
Posted inGender
Hey Indian Men, Let’s Talk About Enthusiastic Consent
Over the last weekend, a number of men who spoke the right language, were equipped with the right vocabulary to express the right kind of views on liberal issues were named as sexual harassers. None of these progressive men seemed to know about the concept of enthusiastic consent.
Posted inPop Culture
How To Understand Consent Through Anu Malik’s “Do Me a Favour, Let’s Play Holi!”
Future civilisations will think of the original inhabitants of Earth as a primitive race, which played a game called Holi with each other, but not before respectfully asking for consent. Until they find news reports of the accusations against Anu Malik, at least.
Posted inGender
One Year of #MeToo: Do Men and Women Understand Consent Differently?
For many men, consent is a boundary that has to be challenged, rather than respected: Whether it’s Nana Patekar, who insisted there was a “misunderstanding” between him and Tanushree Dutta, or the allegations against Aziz Ansari that were chalked up to a bad date.
Posted inGender
Ram Kadam Proves That India Still Doesn’t Understand Consent
Consent is, to a large section of the country, what Vijay Mallya is to the Indian authorities: impossible to grasp. Case in point: BJP MLA Ram Kadam, who offered to kidnap any girl who refused the proposal of any member of his constituency. For men like Kadam, a girl who says “no” is painting a target on her back.