In a sexist industry where extremely talented, older and not the stereotypical looking women actors, are hoping to get a break and are grappling to make sense of the extremely competitive entertainment business, is Nora Fatehi, with not great acting talent, sitting pretty on the couch of a very popular platform and with misplaced entitlement spewing venom against feminism and what women must do.
It's 2024 And We're Still Explaining Feminism
Passing judgement and spewing “gyan” on how women must be nurturing, marry a man, bear children, and be dutiful with her husband, is being delusional and highly insensitive. The comment is definitely in bad taste as it reduces all the work that social workers and reformers are doing to bring a change in the mindset towards equality.
It has been an uphill task for the first wave of feminism that began with the suffrage movement in the mid-1800s. Since then there have been multiple movements and protests for gender equality. With the advent of technology, #MeToo brought many men in powerful positions to their knees, as women boldly began confessing their sexual assault, and harassment experiences at workplaces. This activism is considered historical in the modern era. According to Nora’s theory, it appears that harassment must be the norm for women to pass through the eligibility criteria at work because as women, one must learn to accept and tolerate.
Abortion rights have been challenged as women participate in taking agency of their bodies. A young girl was murdered in Iran and the world stood together in protests against the hard-liners who killed her for her visible hairline. The queer community too is fighting gender wars in many countries. In India, only recently the SC unanimously ruled that Section 377 is unconstitutional as it infringed on the fundamental rights of autonomy, intimacy, and identity. Thereby legalising homosexuality in India.
Many authors, writers, artists and activists are working tirelessly towards a society that respects women at levels that need serious support and attention. Noted author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, “I decided to call myself a Happy Feminist’.
We all agree gender isn’t an easy subject to discuss, it makes most people uncomfortable as it requires tremendous amounts of perseverance to change the status quo. In such circumstances, Nora Fatehi’s comments prove how little she knows about gender wars, gender apartheid and appalling inequalities towards women.
India is grappling with reported cases of violence against women, in 2023 of the 28,811 complaints, 6,304 were related to domestic violence. In 2021, domestic violence complaints accounted for 6,633 out of 30,864 cases. In 2022, the number of complaints rose to 30,957, including 6,970 domestic violence cases. The number of crimes against women keeps increasing and gets more heinous with each passing year.
Evidently Nora Fatehi in her wish to be appealing on a show has spewed the most unappetising comments on feminism. She is overlooking the rising cases of rape survivors, the honour killings, the gender pay gap and many other issues that stare at our faces. The pace at which change is happening is very slow and that is a worrying factor ahead.
With her fleet of success, she forgets that there are many women who with great trepidation and fear tread in public spaces after dark and freely use transport at night to earn their living.
Mohua Chinappa is a poet, and author and runs two podcasts called The Mohua Show and The Literature Lounge.
Views expressed are the author's own.
/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/2024/11/11/2024-11-11t082606806z-shethepeople-black-logo-2000-x-2000-px-1.png){kind=logo}
Just Dance Nora, Dance: There's No Cure For Foot In Mouth Disease
Fatehi's comment is definitely in bad taste as it reduces all the work that social workers and reformers are doing to bring a change in the mindset towards equality.
In a sexist industry where extremely talented, older and not the stereotypical looking women actors, are hoping to get a break and are grappling to make sense of the extremely competitive entertainment business, is Nora Fatehi, with not great acting talent, sitting pretty on the couch of a very popular platform and with misplaced entitlement spewing venom against feminism and what women must do.
It's 2024 And We're Still Explaining Feminism
Passing judgement and spewing “gyan” on how women must be nurturing, marry a man, bear children, and be dutiful with her husband, is being delusional and highly insensitive. The comment is definitely in bad taste as it reduces all the work that social workers and reformers are doing to bring a change in the mindset towards equality.
It has been an uphill task for the first wave of feminism that began with the suffrage movement in the mid-1800s. Since then there have been multiple movements and protests for gender equality. With the advent of technology, #MeToo brought many men in powerful positions to their knees, as women boldly began confessing their sexual assault, and harassment experiences at workplaces. This activism is considered historical in the modern era. According to Nora’s theory, it appears that harassment must be the norm for women to pass through the eligibility criteria at work because as women, one must learn to accept and tolerate.
Abortion rights have been challenged as women participate in taking agency of their bodies. A young girl was murdered in Iran and the world stood together in protests against the hard-liners who killed her for her visible hairline. The queer community too is fighting gender wars in many countries. In India, only recently the SC unanimously ruled that Section 377 is unconstitutional as it infringed on the fundamental rights of autonomy, intimacy, and identity. Thereby legalising homosexuality in India.
Many authors, writers, artists and activists are working tirelessly towards a society that respects women at levels that need serious support and attention. Noted author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, “I decided to call myself a Happy Feminist’.
We all agree gender isn’t an easy subject to discuss, it makes most people uncomfortable as it requires tremendous amounts of perseverance to change the status quo. In such circumstances, Nora Fatehi’s comments prove how little she knows about gender wars, gender apartheid and appalling inequalities towards women.
India is grappling with reported cases of violence against women, in 2023 of the 28,811 complaints, 6,304 were related to domestic violence. In 2021, domestic violence complaints accounted for 6,633 out of 30,864 cases. In 2022, the number of complaints rose to 30,957, including 6,970 domestic violence cases. The number of crimes against women keeps increasing and gets more heinous with each passing year.
Evidently Nora Fatehi in her wish to be appealing on a show has spewed the most unappetising comments on feminism. She is overlooking the rising cases of rape survivors, the honour killings, the gender pay gap and many other issues that stare at our faces. The pace at which change is happening is very slow and that is a worrying factor ahead.
With her fleet of success, she forgets that there are many women who with great trepidation and fear tread in public spaces after dark and freely use transport at night to earn their living.
Mohua Chinappa is a poet, and author and runs two podcasts called The Mohua Show and The Literature Lounge.
Views expressed are the author's own.