Read this, please!

This article brings out may pts I made earlier about women contestants.  I found that Mini Mathur really explains it very well .

TELE EXPRESS   Girl interrupted Whether it's a reality show or a sitcom, Mini Mathur says the woman never wins Express Features Service Mumbai, March 12: My husband will kill me for saying this, but whenever he watches Indian Idol, he says, ''Why aren't there any good-looking women on your show.. err.. besides you that is?'' Whether it's Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge or any other talent hunt, my theory is simple. A woman is evaluated on more parameters compared to a man. While a male contestant is judged on his vocal talent and the X factor, for a girl, the audience will also note whether she's wearing too much or too little, got attitude, if her hair is too straight, or whether her eyebrows are plucked. Trust me, I've been a TV presenter for years. I get feedback on my sari, earrings and hairdo. They are even discussed on blogs for heaven's sake. How come people never notice what Aman (Verma) is wearing? Farah (Khan) hit the nail on the head when she spoke about Meenal's chances on the result episode: ''Because she's good-looking and sang a song that is unusual and sexy, she probably won't make it.'' When people watch a girl who's well groomed and articulate, they think she doesn't need the help. Antara, a small town girl, got loads of votes after her makeover. In Season one, on the other hand, when Prajakta and Aditi wore Western outfits for an episode, they looked fabulous, but emerged at the bottom of the list. This made them paranoid that people hadn't voted for them because they'd worn Western outfits, and stuck to Indian wear. It's certainly not because girls lack talent. I watched Sa Re Ga Ma Pa...; Himani was by far the best, better than both Debojit and Vinit. I was stunned when she was voted out. On Idol this time, we even ensured there were enough women on the top list but the results were the same. On television in general, men tend to have a better profile and it extends beyond music and reality shows. Why isn't there an Indian woman stand-up like Ellen DeGeneres or Whoopi Goldberg? Why are there no women on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge? When I joined MTV, I spoofed Simi Garewal and the channel thought they'd finally found a ''female Cyrus.'' Well hello! We did so many shows with my ''funny stuff''. We had discussions for years, but something just didn't look right. A funny woman who looked hot? Naah! To be funny, I had to look funny, or worse look like ''one of the boys''; I even cropped my hair. But I looked too radical, even by MTV standards. Think about it. A woman comedian's physicality plays a huge role. Think Tun Tun, Guddi Maruti, Delnaz Paul or Archana Puran Singh (only when she goes into asexual mode). Find something? There is a deep dichotomy here. The joke has to be on us. Not by us. Virginia Woolf called it ''the politics of appearance''. My deepest desire is to do stand-up on TV using content I have written. But till I don't look reasonably asexual, I'll just never know where to pitch it. I've found acceptance as a presenter when I play by the rules: look feminine, with coloured hair, off-shoulder corsets—all of us becoming clones of each other. I was part of The Great Indian Comedy Show for a day. All the characters played by the women were peripheral, like a dumb bar dancer, where the joke was on them. No one was deliberately discriminatory; it's just that all humour on TV is sexist. But it seems to be changing now, and trust me, I am smiling. Even in fiction serials, which are touted as being woman-centric, I find a lot of woman-bashing. The ''virtuous'' ones wear silk saris and stand behind their men and watch them eat parathas. The ''fast and easy'' types are easy to spot—they are wearing jeans! And of course they frequent discos and get pregnant too. Ha Ha! Pure entertainment, I say. Just because you have a Ba heading a family, it doesn't make the show matriarchal. Tulsi has nobody interested in her, but at 65, Mihir has five women vying for his gaze. Even Jassi, who gave me hope, had to become beautiful to win over Armaan. If she had won him in her old avatar, I would have applauded. I think the audience enjoys watching women weep on screen. It makes them feel sorry for the protagonist and happy that their lives are just a wee bit better. I have a sneaky suspicion that it's the women voters themselves who are unable to make a choice, that they're the ones saying, ''Oh, I love her sari... I'm sending her a vote.'' Here's to being a woman, I say. (The writer hosts Indian Idol) < = src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> < =1.1 src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?client=ca-indianexpress_js&dt=1142198204248&adsafe=high&lmt=1142198204&num_ads=3&output=js&adtest=off&channel=express_india&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcities.expressindia.com%2Ffullstory.php%3Fnewsid%3D173538&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.google.com%2Fnews%3Fhl%3Den%26tab%3Dwn%26q%3Dsa%2Bre%2Bga%2Bma%2Bpa%26ie%3DUTF-8%26scoring%3Dd&cc=355&u_h=768&u_w=1024&u_ah=738&u_aw=1024&u_cd=32&u_tz=-360&u_his=53&u_java=true"> Ads By Google Highland Dress Traditional and modern Highland Dress. Great prices. www.kiltstore.net Free 50 Cents Downloads Get 50 Free Tracks of 50 Cent or the artist of your choice! No Cost www.musthavefreegifts.com The Scotland Yard USA Formal Wear and Kilt Rentals Complete Service and Sales www.scotyard.com   Your comment[s] on this article Be the first to comment on this story.   Write to the Editor Mail this Story Print this Story   < =http://cities.expressindia.com/search/search.php method=post> < = value=10 name=ps>Search News < size=23 name=q> < =image height=20 alt=search width=36 src="http://cities.expressindia.com/grfx/search.gif" border=0 name=submit> Advanced Search  </>   Page One  |  News  |  Talk  |  The Real Page  | All Headlines   More Tele Express Headlines TALKING POINT with Archana Puran Singh

Thanks..... I loved all the pts she made and it gives us a lot to think about.

I know you love Nihara and can understand that you did not agree with that part of it 😉

It's ok, I liked both but enjoyed Himani about .01 percent better.

Still think there are a lot of issues around women who are talented or powerful and why the public does not really like that.

Glad , You would be okay with it. Not many men would though. I guess the Abhimaan complex would get in the way.

What would happen to twinkle? 😉

Anyway, you must not leave now and try to stay away from the fanatics. I know it's hard.

thanx 4 sharing.
i agree wid mini 😃 well done mini 👏 👏

Originally posted by: ranig

This article brings out may pts I made earlier about women contestants.  I found that Mini Mathur really explains it very well .

TELE EXPRESS   Girl interrupted Whether it's a reality show or a sitcom, Mini Mathur says the woman never wins Express Features Service Mumbai, March 12: My husband will kill me for saying this, but whenever he watches Indian Idol, he says, ''Why aren't there any good-looking women on your show.. err.. besides you that is?'' Whether it's Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge or any other talent hunt, my theory is simple. A woman is evaluated on more parameters compared to a man. While a male contestant is judged on his vocal talent and the X factor, for a girl, the audience will also note whether she's wearing too much or too little, got attitude, if her hair is too straight, or whether her eyebrows are plucked. Trust me, I've been a TV presenter for years. I get feedback on my sari, earrings and hairdo. They are even discussed on blogs for heaven's sake. How come people never notice what Aman (Verma) is wearing? Farah (Khan) hit the nail on the head when she spoke about Meenal's chances on the result episode: ''Because she's good-looking and sang a song that is unusual and sexy, she probably won't make it.'' When people watch a girl who's well groomed and articulate, they think she doesn't need the help. Antara, a small town girl, got loads of votes after her makeover. In Season one, on the other hand, when Prajakta and Aditi wore Western outfits for an episode, they looked fabulous, but emerged at the bottom of the list. This made them paranoid that people hadn't voted for them because they'd worn Western outfits, and stuck to Indian wear. It's certainly not because girls lack talent. I watched Sa Re Ga Ma Pa...; Himani was by far the best, better than both Debojit and Vinit. I was stunned when she was voted out. On Idol this time, we even ensured there were enough women on the top list but the results were the same. On television in general, men tend to have a better profile and it extends beyond music and reality shows. Why isn't there an Indian woman stand-up like Ellen DeGeneres or Whoopi Goldberg? Why are there no women on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge? When I joined MTV, I spoofed Simi Garewal and the channel thought they'd finally found a ''female Cyrus.'' Well hello! We did so many shows with my ''funny stuff''. We had discussions for years, but something just didn't look right. A funny woman who looked hot? Naah! To be funny, I had to look funny, or worse look like ''one of the boys''; I even cropped my hair. But I looked too radical, even by MTV standards. Think about it. A woman comedian's physicality plays a huge role. Think Tun Tun, Guddi Maruti, Delnaz Paul or Archana Puran Singh (only when she goes into asexual mode). Find something? There is a deep dichotomy here. The joke has to be on us. Not by us. Virginia Woolf called it ''the politics of appearance''. My deepest desire is to do stand-up on TV using content I have written. But till I don't look reasonably asexual, I'll just never know where to pitch it. I've found acceptance as a presenter when I play by the rules: look feminine, with coloured hair, off-shoulder corsets—all of us becoming clones of each other. I was part of The Great Indian Comedy Show for a day. All the characters played by the women were peripheral, like a dumb bar dancer, where the joke was on them. No one was deliberately discriminatory; it's just that all humour on TV is sexist. But it seems to be changing now, and trust me, I am smiling. Even in fiction serials, which are touted as being woman-centric, I find a lot of woman-bashing. The ''virtuous'' ones wear silk saris and stand behind their men and watch them eat parathas. The ''fast and easy'' types are easy to spot—they are wearing jeans! And of course they frequent discos and get pregnant too. Ha Ha! Pure entertainment, I say. Just because you have a Ba heading a family, it doesn't make the show matriarchal. Tulsi has nobody interested in her, but at 65, Mihir has five women vying for his gaze. Even Jassi, who gave me hope, had to become beautiful to win over Armaan. If she had won him in her old avatar, I would have applauded. I think the audience enjoys watching women weep on screen. It makes them feel sorry for the protagonist and happy that their lives are just a wee bit better. I have a sneaky suspicion that it's the women voters themselves who are unable to make a choice, that they're the ones saying, ''Oh, I love her sari... I'm sending her a vote.'' Here's to being a woman, I say. (The writer hosts Indian Idol) < = src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads .js"> < =1.1 src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?c lient=ca-indianexpress_js&dt=1142198204248&adsafe=hi gh&lmt=1142198204&num_ads=3&output=js&adtest =off&channel=express_india&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcities.e xpressindia.com%2Ffullstory.php%3Fnewsid%3D173538&ref=ht tp%3A%2F%2Fnews.google.com%2Fnews%3Fhl%3Den%26tab%3Dwn%26q%3 Dsa%2Bre%2Bga%2Bma%2Bpa%26ie%3DUTF-8%26scoring%3Dd&cc=35 5&u_h=768&u_w=1024&u_ah=738&u_aw=1024&u_ cd=32&u_tz=-360&u_his=53&u_java=true"> Ads By Google Highland Dress Traditional and modern Highland Dress. Great prices. www.kiltstore.net Free 50 Cents Downloads Get 50 Free Tracks of 50 Cent or the artist of your choice! No Cost www.musthavefreegifts.com The Scotland Yard USA Formal Wear and Kilt Rentals Complete Service and Sales www.scotyard.com   Your comment[s] on this article Be the first to comment on this story.   Write to the Editor Mail this Story Print this Story   < =http://cities.expressindia.com/search/search.php method=post> < = value=10 name=ps>Search News < size=23 name=q> < =image height=20 alt=search width=36 src="http://cities.expressindia.com/grfx/search.gi f" border=0 name=submit> Advanced Search    Page One  |  News  |  Talk  |  The Real Page  | All Headlines   More Tele Express Headlines TALKING POINT with Archana Puran Singh

very well said and i applaud mini mathur ji for saying that!!!! Fabulous!!!

Thanks for the post. I applaud mini for writing something so thought provoking. I too always get very upset when I see the girls on the shows being stereotyped, and crying over a man. I mean these shows make me soo mad 😡 , even the "dadaji's" have two wives, while the woman is always at home crying 😡 !! I know this is forum for saregama..but i am really upset at these shows, that make things like marriage and women a joke.

"Read this, please! "

- read kar liya. ab mera test kab hoga? 😆

Originally posted by: chatbuster

"Read this, please! "

- read kar liya. ab mera test kab hoga? 😆

yes:
woman are:

1.only good to look at yet regarded has having no talent
2. only into shopping and guys
3. all of the above
4. none of the above

ans:
lol!!!!!!

Originally posted by: teenindia_usa

yes:
woman are:

1.only good to look at yet regarded has having no talent
2. only into shopping and guys
3. all of the above
4. none of the above

ans:
lol!!!!!!

cant be 2: who cares what extracurriculars they are into! 😉

yaar, answer has to be talent, bakee cheez ka kya karna. 😉😉😉

so ans is 4?😉😉😉

Okay....so I read it (first 2 paragraphs 😆 , I am not much of a reader 😉 )
Great in the Begginning 👏