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Tell us about your favourite female characters among the women in books you’ve read for the Women's Web 'My Favourite Female' contest!
Tell us about your favourite female characters among the women in books you’ve read for the Women’s Web ‘My Favourite Female’ contest!
Welcome to the Women’s Web’s ‘My Favourite Female’ contest, where all you need to do is write about a fictional female character that really appeals to you. (For purposes of this contest, we’re defining ‘fictional’ as a character from a novel).
What? Pick any female character from a novel, that made you sit up, that made you go wow, that made you laugh or cry, that got you angry, that got you thinking, that made you fall in love – in short, a character that made you feel, ‘I wish I had written that!’
How? Tell us what you liked about this character in a blog post. If you don’t blog – drop a note in the comments here, or mail us at [email protected]. Remember, the character herself doesn’t need to be likeable, so long as you can talk about why the character appealed to you – actions, qualities or anything else.
Rules
– Stick to 500 words or below
– Choose a fictional character – in other words, someone from a novel, who did not exist in the real world (sorry, historical novel characters based on actual people won’t qualify!)
– Your entry must be dated between 12th Oct and 22nd Oct, 2010 (or reach us between those dates)
– If you’re submitting a blog post, include a link to this page – we’ll track your entry that way. (http://womensweb.in/top-level-documents/favourite-females.html)
THE PRIZES
The best written entry a.k.a 1st prize wins a Rs. 500 Flipkart voucher (or a $10 Amazon voucher if you happen to live outside India). The next two best written entries (2nd and 3rd prizes) get Rs. 250 worth Flipkart vouchers each (or a $5 Amazon voucher if you live outside India).
All 3 winning entries will also be published on the Women’s Web blog.
And the Judges?
We have two people from the world of words, who’ve very kindly agreed to act as judges for the My Favourite Female contest. They are: Devaki Khanna, Freelance Writer and Editor, who is fascinated with literature and history and Nivethitha Kumar, who, along with two friends, runs The Banyan Trees, a literary magazine featuring a variety of creative content. Nivethitha is passionate about writing and blogs at Nivispace. (A preliminary evaluation of entries may be done by Women’s Web, if we have a whole of entries – which, we hope we do!)
Go on then – remember, entries close on 22nd Oct 2010, so get your entry in before that…
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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