{"id":2656,"date":"2016-07-25T13:47:41","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T08:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:08:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:38:53","slug":"a-good-reason-to-mind-the-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=2656","title":{"rendered":"A Good Reason to \u201cMind the Gap\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\u00a0\n

“S<\/span><\/p>he did the same work as me, it\u2019s not fair that she should get paid less!\u201d a young boy exclaims, in a <\/span>viral video<\/span><\/a> from earlier this year. The boy was upset because his partner \u2013 a girl \u2013 had been given fewer candies than him, even though she contributed equally to the task of sorting the balls in a playroom by colour. The injustice is redressed when the boy takes candy from his disproportionately large reward and shares it with the girl, until they both have an equal number. Everyone goes home happy. <\/span>\n\nUnfortunately, in the grown-up world, addressing the glaring issue of the <\/span>wage gap<\/span><\/a> between men and women isn\u2019t as simple as just redistributing candy. The wage gap is but one manifestation of a larger system of prevalent gender biases in the professional realm, which pose significant obstacles to women navigating the world of work. But sometimes, change can begin with a conversation. To this end, a panel discussion on #GenderAndTheJob, was held on Sunday June 3, at \u201cMind the Gap\u201d, a day-long event at We Work, the co-working space in Mumbai\u2019s Bandra-Kurla Complex. The event was organised by Generation Mixx and Dysco. <\/span>\n\n\"\"\n\u201cMind the Gap\u201d was the first step in kickstarting a conversation about gender, pay gaps, and barriers to the entry of women, especially in fields associated with art and culture. The panelists came from diverse backgrounds: There was <\/span>Aahana Kumra<\/span><\/a>, the actress and star of the disruptive film <\/span>Lipstick Under My Burkha<\/span><\/i><\/a>; Karen Dias, a photographer and videographer, and grantee of the International Women\u2019s Media Foundation; social media artist and art advisor Abhinit Khanna; and art writer Skye Arundhati Thomas. Arr<\/span>\u00e9 deputy editor Karanjeet Kaur chaired the discussion.<\/span>\n

\u201cMind the Gap\u201d was the first step in kickstarting a conversation about gender, pay gaps, and barriers to the entry of women, especially in fields associated with art and culture.<\/blockquote>\nAn important question that the discussion aimed to address was that in the amorphous space of creative pursuits, what defines the workplace? Given that most new-age creative work is an individual pursuit, how does gender interact with it all? Does the world of freelancers and contracted professionals have a grievance redressal system for gender-related issues like their <\/span>corporate counterparts<\/span><\/a>? The observations and anecdotes from the panelists, brought home the daily reality of the gender gap.<\/span>\n\n\nBoth Thomas and Dias offered their stories of how, as freelance artists, there were cases of industry influencers who expected them to work for free to gain publicity. Dias also shared her experience of putting together the photo-series, \u201cPlay Like a Girl\u201d. She worked in <\/span>Haryana<\/span><\/a>, a patriarchal bastion which is witnessing a soft feminist revolution with girls entering the <\/span>field of sports<\/span><\/a> in a big way. <\/span>\n\nThe freewheeling discussion encompassed many topics. Kumra was excited about the shifting perceptions of the Hindi film industry. \u201cThe good thing that has happened\u2026 is that there is a conversation around gender. Women were just made to look pretty and beautiful in most Hindi films all these years, but now there is an <\/span>Alia<\/span><\/a> or a <\/span>Kangana<\/span><\/a> who are trying to break the barriers and trying to do female-centric films,\u201d she said.<\/span>\n\nThere was an abundance of food for thought. Clearly, the conversation about gender cannot be contained within the safe confines of a panel discussion, social experiment, or viral video. Yet, for an issue that has remained neglected for a distressingly long period, \u201cMind the Gap\u201d was a good start.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Addressing the issue of the wage gap between men and women isn\u2019t as simple as redistributing candy. Sometimes, change can begin with a conversation, and this week an Arr\u00e9 Siren panel featuring actress Aahana Kumra and photographer Karen Dias, kickstarted the discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":2658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[3552,4978,2592,2402,5383,472,408,4323,735],"class_list":["post-2656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","tag-art","tag-equality","tag-gender","tag-men","tag-pay-gap","tag-people","tag-sex","tag-siren","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nA Good Reason to \u201cMind the Gap\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Addressing the issue of the wage gap between men and women isn\u2019t as simple as redistributing candy. 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