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To kiss or not to kiss is no longer the question. It has changed to - who kissed whom. And if it a woman taking that initiative: heavens forgive her!
To kiss or not to kiss is no longer the question. It has changed to – who kissed whom. And if it a woman taking that initiative: heavens forgive her!
A while back, I happened to be on a movie date with my husband. Luckily, not only was the movie extremely romantic but my teenaged son also refused to join us, owing to his exams.
Of course, most Bollywood movies do have a kissing scene now. And my spouse and I are among those who have lauded Bollywood actors and film makers to have the courage to express romance, sex and even homosexuality.
The movie we watched had its fair share of kisses too. And as I sat there, revelling in the lovely feeling inside myself, my husband whispered, “She is a serial kisser, isn’t she? Her last movie had so many scenes too. Guess she kisses every actor she works with!”
All night long, I thought about what he said. I mean, my husband is an educated, liberated man. Both of us are employed and he happily helps me with the domestic chores. In fact, he is a better cook than I am. I can safely say that I am fortunate to not have been a victim of patriarchy. My parents and even my in-laws are quite cool too.
Then why, did he feel that it was the actress who was the serial kisser? Was kissing all on her own? Wasn’t her male counterpart just as involved in the kiss? I am pretty sure that the script writer and the director were males too. Trust me, this isn’t a sole incident. Recently, on a popular web series, there was a lip lock. My brother, too, passed a similar comment about that, as if the kiss was the woman’s sole responsibility.
I am talking about young, modern, educated men here. These men are the ones who treat all women well and with respect. But it is the stigma that surprises me- that girls from respectable families don’t drink, smoke or even mingle with men. If touching men wasn’t bold enough, they are now kissing them too! All this was a big no no. At the same time, the counterpart could kiss anyone he liked. The man was never to blame, even in today, in the 21st century. And in modern, liberated families like mine.
I wonder if and how this mentality would ever change. Would my young son pass a similar comment as well? I wait, as more leading ladies bear the heat of on-screen lip locks.
Picture credits: Still from Bollywood movie Jab We Met
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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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