If you want to understand how to become better allies to people with disabilities, then join us at Embracing All Abilities: Including People with Disabilities at Work.
Watch Nanette. Hannah Gadsby makes you uncomfortable with her words, but also makes you laugh and makes you recognise the truths she speaks about.
Netflix special ‘Nanette’ by Australian standup comedienne Hannah Gadsby has been gathering a lot of attention since its debut online in June 2018. It is making headlines and garnering appreciation from people from all walks of life for the discomfort caused from watching it.
Yes, you read right- Discomfort.
But it’s standup comedy- it’s not supposed to make you uncomfortable. It’s supposed to make you laugh.
And Hannah Gadsby does make you laugh, even when she goes about her act, educating and priming you during parts for harsh revelations, known but oft neglected truths, and hope. She is a brilliant story teller, with a knack for creating tension and diffusing it effortlessly, all the while making you feel more and more uncomfortable as you enter her world of experiences and gain comprehension.
Hannah Gadsby’s content, while based on her personal experiences growing up as a lesbian, raised in a bible belt of Tasmania is just as relevant and identifiable for heterosexual women and the LGBTQI community of India. She talks about being closeted, about the ‘shame’ of knowing she was not heterosexual, and the fear and the impact that this has had on her psyche.
How many of us have our own personal stories of experiencing and living with ‘shame’ in similar or adjacent context? She talks about the importance of societal and family acceptance. We need this more than ever in the Indian family, the nucleus of Indian society, particularly towards young children and people who are still exploring and navigating through their own personal discoveries.
She calls out patriarchy, misogyny, and male privilege, of how we as a collective society are more than willing to sweep under the carpet a man’s misdoings just so that his reputation is maintained, but are more than ready to throw a woman under the bus and hold her responsible.
Hannah’s experience cutting over violence against women, particularly assault with bystanders watching, and her own rape, are subjects that hit very close to home. ‘If I’m the only woman in a room full of men, I’m very afraid’ is a statement that all Indian women can relate to.
One would think Hannah Gadsby is an angry lesbian standup comedienne. She isn’t. She tells her story to give us insight into the other side, one which we often don’t make the effort to understand. She wills you not to be angry, to channel that discomfort towards being accountable. To take ownership for all times you’ve turned a blind eye or criticized something or someone that was different from your own sensibilities.
Throughout the show, Hannah is fierce, funny, cheeky yet vulnerable. As a self-deprecating comic, she talks about how mentally damaging it can be to humiliate oneself to make others laugh. ‘It is not humility’ she says, ‘but humiliation’. And continual humiliation can reinforce one’s own beliefs about themselves. That is an epiphany that will hit you straight in the gut. Many of us will struggle to accept and come to terms with it because how many times have we convinced ourselves, and reinforced to others, that we were just not good enough?
She reiterates her decision to leave comedy so that she can rewrite her story and come back anew. Because as Hannah Gadsby concludes powerfully- ‘There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself.’
Although Hannah Gatsby’s states that ‘Nanette’ is her swansong from comedy, I believe we’ll be seeing much more of her. Watch ‘Nanette’ an impressive live performance on Netflix.
You won’t regret it.
read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
What I loved was how there is so much in the movie of the SRK we have known, and also a totally new star. The gestures, the smile, the wit and the charisma are all too familiar, but you also witness a rawness, an edginess.
When a movie that got the entire nation in a twist – for the right and wrong reasons – hits the theatres, there is bound to be noise. From ‘I am going to watch it – first day first show’ to ‘Boycott the movie and make it a flop’, social media has been a furore of posts.
Let me get one thing straight here – I did not watch Pathaan to make a statement or to simply rebel as people would put it. I went to watch it for the sheer pleasure of witnessing my favourite superstar in all his glory being what he is best at being – his magnificent self. Because when it comes to screen presence, he burns it, melts it and then resurrects it as well like no other. Because when it comes to style and passion, he owns it like a boss. Because SRK is, in a way, my last connecting point to the girl that I once was. Though I have evolved into so many more things over the years, I don’t think I am ready to let go of that girl fully yet.
There is no elephant in the room really here because it’s a fact that Bollywood has a lot of cleaning up to do. Calling out on all the problematic aspects of the industry is important and in doing that, maintaining objectivity is also equally imperative. I went for Pathaan for entertainment and got more than I had hoped for. It is a clever, slick, witty, brilliantly packaged action movie that delivers what it promises to. Logic definitely goes flying out of the window at times and some scenes will make you go ‘kuch bhi’ , but the screenplay clearly reminds you that you knew all along what you were in for. The action sequences are lavish and someone like me who is not exactly a fan of this genre was also mind blown.
Recent footage of her coming out of an airport had comments preaching karma and its cruel ways, that Samantha "deserved her illness" because she filed for divorce.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu fell from being the public’s sweetheart to a villain overnight because she filed for divorce. The actress was struck with myositis post divorce, much to the joy of certain groups (read sexist) in our society.
A troll responded to Samantha’s tweet, “Women Rising!!” by adding to it “just to fall”. She replied, “Getting back up makes it all the more sweeter, my friend.”
Here’s another insensitive tweet by BuzZ Basket showing fake concern for her autoimmune disease. “Feeling sad for Samantha, she lost all her charm and glow. When everyone thought she came out of divorce strongly and her professional life was seeing heights, myositis hit her badly, making her weak again.” Samantha responded, “I pray you never have to go through months of treatment and medication like I did. And here’s some love from me to add to your glow.”
Please enter your email address