Women never escape public discussion about their looks and their appearance

Opinion » Columns » Kalpana Sharma the hindu August 12, 2009
Power dressing

Women are supposed to laugh this off, take it on the chin and even be flattered by such attention. Yet, it is irritating and insulting. Women who make it to positions of prominence work their way up just as men do. Yet, when they get there, they are confronted by a barrage of speculation about how they made it followed by all-out attempts to trivialize their very presence in public life. If this happens once or twice, you can write it off as an aberration. But if it happens consistently, admittedly in some countries more than others, then you realise that it is a norm.

In India, partly due to our willingness to be utterly mindful of hierarchies, there is rarely an open comment about the looks or dress sense of the most powerful women in this country. Email the writer at sharma.kalpana@yahoo.com Keywords: Column, The Other Half, Kalpana Sharma, Gender, Women, Dress

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from *DesiPundit* - A Little Wit. A Little Wisdom. Lots of India - Aug 12, 2009