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Most 45 or 50 plus male stars are still found desirable, said to be ageing like fine wine, and paired with female stars half or more than half their age.
Recently, Netflix had a show Decoupled in which actor R. Madhavan was the protagonist. He was shown to be a middle-aged, out of shape, grey haired, blunt author.
Many people liked this show and called Madhavan sexy and charismatic, and heaped praises.
Just reverse the gender…would an out of shape, grey haired, blunt female protagonist have received the same epithets or applause? I doubt.
In a country where Malaika, Shamita Shetty, etc. who are younger to Madhavan are called oldies, aunties such a scenario is highly unlikely. Most 45 or 50 plus male stars are still found desirable, said to be ageing like fine wine, and paired with female stars half or more than half their age.
This is applicable for all the movie industries, Indian or not. Can we expect just the opposite, where older women are considered just as desirable for the screen?
Why is age shaming, body shaming, looks shaming just meant for women, more so after they have crossed 40? Why do all the beauty products, slimming centers, yoga classes specifically target women and assure them that they will knock off their age by 10-15 years and not target men?
Do men really not get old?
An out of shape and grey haired man is still desirable but not a woman… why the double standards?
Next time, I want to see (which is not likely) a 45 or 50 plus female protagonist with the same attributes as the Decoupled male protagonist, and see if it evokes the same positive response. Will it? Highly unlikely..
I am a travel expert by profession and an avid blogger by passion. Parenting and women's issues are something that are close to my heart and I blog a lot about them. read more...
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Shows like Indian Matchmaking only further the argument that women must adhere to social norms without being allowed to follow their hearts.
When Netflix announced that Indian Matchmaking (2020-present) would be renewed for a second season, many of us hoped for the makers of the show to take all the criticism they faced seriously. That is definitely not the case because the show still continues to celebrate regressive patriarchal values.
Here are a few of the gendered notions that the show propagates.
A mediocre man can give himself a 9.5/10 and call himself ‘the world’s most eligible bachelor’, but an independent and successful woman must be happy with receiving just 60-70% of what she feels she deserves.
As long as teachers are competent in their job, and adhere to the workplace code of conduct, how does it matter what they do in their personal lives?
A 30 year old Associate Professor at a well-known University, according to an FIR filed by her, was forced to resign because the father of one of her students complained that he found his son looking at photographs of her, which according to him were “objectionable” and “bordering on nudity”.
There are two aspects to this case, which are equally disturbing, and which together make me question where we are heading as a society.
When the father of an 18 year old finds his son looking at photographs of a lady in a swimsuit, he can do many things. What this parent allegedly did was to dash off a letter to the University which states: