Woe'manly reactions!

Feminism is no longer just about women’s rights. It’s about why women should be treated any differently from men. After Sania Mirza gave a journalist an earful about his casually sexist remark about “settling down”, Bollywood’s begum, Kareena Kapoor Khan rammed down questions about taking a “maternity break” by being as clear as it can get — “I’m pregnant. Not a corpse.” Alarmingly, these aren’t one off cases.

Earlier this year, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson was asked about her diet while her The Avengers co-star Robert Downey Jr was asked about his character in the film. She made a fair point: “Why do you get the existential question and I get the rabbit food question?” If one remembers, Reese Witherspoon, too, started the #Askmemore campaign because all that actresses had to field on the red carpet were questions about their clothes!

This conversation is moot without a mention of how Jennifer Aniston owned a publication’s column last week. The actress, who is not on social media, was forced to pen down her thoughts because she was “fed up” of being asked about her alleged baby bump and being congratulated on it, while all she had done was eat a burger for lunch! Think it’s silly? No. It’s apparently just that ridiculous.

So, does this really have something to do with sexism or a downright voyeuristic need to pry into the personal lives of these women? “Since we have 24 hour channels now, people are becoming more obsessed with the lives of celebrities. But feminism has been around for long and women have been speaking up for it. It’s just that today it has become fashionable to say things like I’m not a feminist, which I personally don’t understand because there’s nothing wrong in being one. It doesn’t mean you aren’t supposed to have children. I have children and grandchildren and I am a proud feminist so I don’t understand why men and women don’t like the term. Coming to the issue, I really liked the way Sania Mirza handled the questions. These questions are just like a hangover from the past because you don’t see these anchors constantly questioning Salman Khan about his marriage, sex life or how many kids he wants and if he wants to settle down in life so why question her? But the trend is changing now and more women have started to stand up for themselves and are being proud feminists. I just feel sad for the anchors because if they continue to ask such questions, they’re in for it,” says Gita Aravamudan, a proud feminist and an author who writes on gender issues.