A humming word

An excolleague had once neatly explained to me, how we are taking feminism in the wrong sense and how it began for a focus on equality and basic rights and now has its own sects, which is fine. But with the remake of Pink as Vakeel Saab, there is choice to focus on entitled feminism. Why entitled? Take the premise. Three women who go out late at night.... The entire sentence reeks with entitlement. Many women are not even allowed to step out. There itself lies in the entitlement.  Pink is a beautiful movie. It was also great for the careers of the women and the man involved.  But what about movies like Parched which ask for basic rights to still be looked at? The film neatly portrays the camaraderie of three battered women who are victims of Khap Panchayat in Rajasthan. In one scene a young bride, abused by the father-in-law, is asked to return only because that is the law for a married women. There are several such scenes like these which question the purpose and existence of...

Feminism, as per dictionary.com, is equal opportunities to both men and women. But often, this definition is reduced to male bashing and disempowerment of their rights. And, Feminist Rani (published by Penguin in collaboration SheThePeople.TV), make an honest attempt to capture voices of feminists. Feminist Rani by Shaili Chopra and Meghna Pant is a record of conversations with fourteen modern men, women, and a transgender. It doesn’t complicate the concept of feminist. Instead, it gives layers to its meaning with each of these celebrities adding a colour with their life story. For them, feminism is not a choice but a way of life. Kalki Koelchin to Gauri Sawant, the range of dialogue, discussion and dissent is vast and deep. The most popular version of feminism is humanity and defying the mind-numbing rules that serve no purpose but demean women and their desires. While Kalki did not want to be boxed into any role in Bollywood and enjoyed the variety of roles she perform...