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The colour red has many kinds of effect on women, happy at times, but sad in many others. Hence it cannot be trusted, writes Anindita Nag.
Recently I was reading in Harper’s Bazaar magazine about how Christain Louboutin got inspired by the red nail polish to make all his ladies shoes have the red sole at the bottom. One day he was looking at a pair of black shoes and saw his assistant’s red nail polish lying around by him. He liked the colour so much that he decided to paint the bottom sole of the pair of shoes, he had designed, red.
Today obviously he does not use that same nail polish to paint the bottom soles red, but that is his trademark and everyone loves a pair of high heels with the red bottom. Yes, they are also very expensive, looks so stylish and sexy. Who knew a bottle of red polish could create a huge inspiration for such a famous designer.
In another part of the world, a school girl wearing the white uniform gets a red stain at the back of her dress. Everyone is laughing at her. Her periods had started and that has caused the red stain in her dress. She is ashamed of herself and runs to the school nurse to get another dress. She will never forget the ridicule she faced. And then her cramps and pains start, she bears them all as she knows Ganesh Chaturthi is coming up, and she will have to decorate the idol.
But alas! As soon as her family got to know that she is having her periods, she is barred from entering the puja room, let alone touch the idol. She sat all rejected and alone. Why is a woman considered untouchable because of a natural phenomenon occurring in her body? Is it her fault?
In yet another part of the world, a woman is getting married. Her husband applied sindoor which is red in colour in front of the holy fire and all her relatives. This included her family with whom she has grown up, learned to trust and believe since birth. The relatives also included her new family with whom she will have to now live with, respect and listen to. Everything in a marriage that the woman is doing is to go live with strangers and wear the red sindoor on her head. For the guy, it’s just a ring on his finger and that’s it. Today the woman has attained the status of Lakshmi coming into the house and bringing in good luck and wealth to her new family.
In another part of the world, a woman just lost her husband. She was married only for a few years. Her husband was hit and killed by a drunk driver. This same society now comes and mercilessly wipes off her red sindoor. She is looked down upon by the people. Everyone blames her for her husband’s death. They say she brought bad luck to the family, she killed her husband.
She was at home when the accident happened yet it is her fault. Did they think about her dreams of living a life with this man? What about her life that has been shattered? And the old ladies say that she cannot wear anything red because she is a widow now. In every so-called happy occasion, she will be asked to stand away, separately and no one will ever apply the red sindoor on her forehead.
The colour red drives a woman crazy. At times it brings her joy and also deep sadness at other times. How can we trust the colour red when it plays with our feelings and emotions. I can’t trust the red colour. It will betray me when I need it the most. I shun the colour red.
Image Source – Wikipedia
I love to write on women's issues. I strongly believe that every woman is capable of being more than just a homemaker. They are the leaders of our world. They can multi-task more read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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