women empowerment Archives

“Period Room” in Public Toilets: Maharashtra Leads the Way in Gender-Sensitive Public Facilities

The Period Room, a public toilet in Thane, Maharashtra, targets people who need it the most: slum dwellers. Having a unit of public space dedicated to menstruation is empowering for women whose needs and struggles are otherwise relegated to low-priority, ignored, or rendered invisible.

Rhea Arora July 18, 2016

POV

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

Why We Need to Stop Judging Women Who Sport the Sindoor

To sindoor or not to sindoor, is just one of the big questions in the lives of married women today. It has been vilified as a sign of patriarchy. We rarely have such intense feelings about toe rings and mangalsutras.

Ashwina Garg May 8, 2016

Features

Dreams Are Now #WithinHerReach: WFH Empowers More and More Women to Join the Workforce

The corporate world is known for long hours, late nights, and hardly any time off — in short, it is not always conducive for women who have responsibilities outside the office. But work from home gives them the liberty to manage their day better, finding the right balance between chores and office tasks.

Ananya N April 29, 2016

Bollywood

Girish Karnad’s Utsav is that Rare Bollywood Film that Both Sensualises and Empowers its Women

Utsav, directed by Girish Karnad, is a whimsical yet beautiful ode to the golden age of sexual and social freedom. This story of Vasantsena, a wealthy courtesan in Ujjain, put women’s agency, their desire first. In today’s Bollywood that seems like a thing of the future.

Manik Sharma March 19, 2016

Gender

A New Wish for the New Year: #MeToo Must Reach Small Town India, And How Bollywood Can Help

In the small-town imagination, the idea of modernity is borrowed from Bollywood – the feisty Tanu from Tanu Weds Manu, the rebellious Rumi from Manmarziyaan. Where are all the well-rounded girls who are compassionate and caregiving, but fierce and independent? The limitations of this modernity will always come in the way of a small-town MeToo movement.

Manjiri Indurkar March 15, 2016