The Fair and the Lovely

THE STEREOTYPES: homemaker, femme fatale, bold and beautiful, supermom, sex bomb. The creators: television, cinema, advertisements, magazines. All depict women who can be beautiful only if they are white-skinned, reed-thin and look like Barbie dolls. Take mainstream Indian cinema. What is common across most of it is the depiction of women, who can never look [...]

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

THE DAY FOR THE Elimination of Violence against Women passed yesterday and kicked off 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991. Sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, the 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals [...]

Women in the Media, Listen Up!

Maybe there will be a shift some day between the power held by blogs versus mainstream media. For now, no matter how you slice it, the media still rules with its ability to reach critical mass, stir up discussion and engage with citizens in dialogue. While blogs like Ultra Violet are doing a bang-up job [...]

Shylaja Praveen: When Despair Replaces Anger

AT 24, Shylaja Praveen’s life was ahead of her — an untrammeled space to be explored, full of possibilities and promise. That’s not quite how it turned out though. Shylaja committed suicide last month, allegedly driven to despair by continual sexual harassment by the regional head of ING Vysya Financial Services in Bangalore where she [...]