misogyny Archives

“Saheb Kahaan Hai?”: The One Question that Makes Every Married Woman Instantly Invisible

Ask any married Indian woman, and they’ll tell you about how easily the world renders them invisible. It’s as if the minute you take your husband’s surname, you cease to exist. From then on, you’re just a floating genie, who has only one master: “Saheb”. But instead of fighting it, I'm going to make my invisibility my superpower.

Ashwina Garg July 22, 2016

Gender

#Throwback 2018: What We Thought of the #MeToo Movement

The revelation that “the woke” didn’t shy away from being predators behind closed doors and mobile screens was the catalyst for India’s #MeToo movement. Here are extracts from some of our best essays on the subject.

Arré Bench July 16, 2016

Pop Culture

Reconsidering Eminem in a Post-Me Too World

Eminem and controversy go together like McDonalds and indigestion – the latter inevitably follows the former. Today, it’s easy to look at his body of work and dismiss it as an offensive collection of regressive ideas. But, maybe, there is another way to look at the controversial rapper.

Dushyant Shekhawat July 1, 2016

Gender

It’s 2021, So Why Are Politicians Still Making Comments about Women Belonging in the Kitchen?

As far as misogynistic jibes go, the “women in the kitchen” stereotype is the lowest hanging fruit. If a woman like Mamata Banerjee, who has proven her prowess in a male-dominated field like politics, is also subjected to such silly comments, how many others are relegated to the background without even a chance to first prove themselves?

Arré Bench June 22, 2016

Columns

Rearview: Hardik Pandya, Rahul Gandhi, & Bipin Rawat are Just Shades on the Pantone Card of Misogyny

Is there really much of a difference between the comments made by Bipin Rawat, Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, and Hardik Pandya? At this point they just seem like hues on the Pantone shade card of sexism and ingrained patriarchy.

Karanjeet Kaur May 1, 2016

Gender

The UP Constable Acid Attack Proves That Even Empowered Women Can’t Escape Misogyny

A woman constable in Uttar Pradesh was attacked with acid by a jilted lover. The fact that she is a cop did not deter the attacker. This is the stark dichotomy between the freedom women now have to make waves at work and the basic freedoms they continue to be denied in their personal lives.

Kahini Iyer April 15, 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

Bollywood

The Half-Yearly Report Card: Ranking the 10 Worst Female Characters in Bollywood

It’s 2019 and yet in some of the year’s biggest scripts, actresses continued to play second fiddle. Save for Gully Boy’s Safeena, most of them were devoid of a personality. In one of the highest grossers of the year, Kabir Singh, Preeti exists only to get exploited, and in Kesari, we still don’t know if Parineeti Chopra is a ghost or a memory.

Poulomi Das March 31, 2016

Gender

Misogyny Spares No Woman. Not Even Right-Wing Queen Kangana

In the past, Ranaut herself has been guilty of making character judgements of her fellow women based on their appearance or work. Now, that same way of thinking came home to roost for Ranaut as the same people who normally cheer her on rebuked her for posting a bikini photo.

Arré Bench March 13, 2016

Pop Culture

The Great Indian Kitchen Review: Misogyny is a Dish Served in Every Household

Jeo Baby’s The Great Indian Kitchen does not minimise women’s hard work in the kitchen to “mamta aur pyaar”. Instead, it follows the “show don’t tell” route to narrate the story of women whose entire day revolves around the four meals demanded by the men who feel entitled to their labour.

Nalini Nair March 7, 2016