musings and more

What do you see when you look at the mirror? Fat arms, wide hips, stubby legs? Protruding teeth, uneven jaw, slanted eyes? Do you like many other women, including yours truly fail to see yourself in a better light in the mirror? Do you keep wondering if only my lips were fuller, eyes were bigger, cheek bones higher...etc. etc? But when it comes to describing other women you think of them as prettier, more beautiful, one with nice features? Why do we traumatize ourselves like this? Just the other day I met a friend who said she thinks she has fat Punjabi arms. I think of myself as fat whereas my mom likes to describe me as curvy and when I talk about my cousin I tell her that she is lean while she thinks she has wide hips. Do you notice the pattern here? Why are women so critical of their selves? And why instead of embracing our natural beauty do we try and correct what is not perfect?                  ...

Recently at a fund raising lunch while introducing the US Attorney general, President Obama called her by far the best looking law-maker of the country. The remark resulted in a huge outcry in the social blogging site, Twitter. And following that Obama called up Kamala Harris to apologise for his sexist remark. Sexist remark? really? Yes, commenting on a woman's personal appearance in a professional environment is a big no-no. But then, it is not like he made a derogatory remark. Apparently, the same day, in an interview, Mrs O made a slip-up and called herself a single mother. Apart from the can of worms that might open about their personal life, I feel that there is nothing wrong in noticing that your female colleague is well-dressed or good looking. It is not cocky when a Shah Rukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan does it while introducing their co-stars on stage at the many award shows they host! Nor is it considered to be sexist when TV show hosts use similar adjectives to introduce ...