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IN OPEN SPACE, Nandini Rao on The Neurosis of Being Perfect:

Over the years, worldwide, there has been an attempt at “homogenising” notions of beauty. A global standard of age, height, weight and colour seems to have been drawn up, not connected in any way to race or natural laws of body type differences. For a while, it was mainly those who were a part of the beauty industry who were the “victims” of the malaise to conform to these “global” standards. We’d see actors (women and men) and models who had had, say, a chin tucked in, or hair “grown back”. And we’d chuckle about their vanity and forget about it. But today is different, much more serious somehow. We don’t laugh at the breast enhancements, the liposuctions to reduce body fat, the Botox pout and the “new” aquiline noses in the market. We’d instead rather try and

trace the cosmetic surgeons who did such good jobs and find out if they’d “repair” our flaws too!

 

AWID or the The Association for Women’s Rights in Development has just launched Young Feminist Wire, their new portal that brings together young feminists from all over the world. From their mailer:

The Wire is a hub of information by, about, and for young feminists: tools and resources, opportunities and calls for participation, news and updates, in addition to collaborative activities. It also features blog posts, interviews, directories, and a registration form that allows you to plug in to a network of young activists and older allies.

 

Kalpana Sharma on Sunanda Pushkar (in India Together):

There is another dimension to this story. Sunanda Pushkar is not the first professional woman who has had to face innuendo and sexist remarks. This is something many professional women worldwide would have faced to a lesser or greater degree at some stage in their lives. Of course, there is a tendency amongst women who are successful to forget such experiences, or brush them off as occupational hazards of being a professional woman. But scratch the surface, talk to women who are still struggling to get ahead, and you will hear many similar stories. “How did she land this job?” “Who is her godfather?” “Whose favourite is she?” “Did she use her ‘womanly wiles’ to get ahead?” Etc, etc, etc.