Later, I see him holding a young woman’s hand longer than she’d have liked. She pulls back, as he leans in, and comments on her off-shoulder dress.
While having a child may not make a bad marriage good, a strong one can weather the storm, and come out stronger!
The #MeToo movement brought conversation around consent to the fore. While that’s wonderful, we must avoid the trap of thinking that consent matters only under the sheets. While yes, with enthusiastic and ongoing yes is the only way to get frisky, consent goes far beyond sex.
Can star-struck women looking to get married now say, ‘I want someone like Ranbir,’ and mean someone who embraces a woman in all her glory, and not his good looks? Here’s hoping…
Out of my five closest friends, two are straight men. All three of us have partners, but honestly, that’s irrelevant for my argument. Having these two male friends has helped me see men as whole human beings in their own right, with hopes and heartbreak, fears and aspirations. I believe my presence in their lives has done the same for them. We don’t see each other as potential romantic partners, and this has allowed us to look at the opposite sex from a different lens – a lens that has no agenda. It’s just individuals hanging out together. Just… being.
Ray is both endearing and annoying at once. He doesn’t want to hurt women, but still ends up making them feel unsafe. This contradiction highlights the problem with gender discourse today – men are given a long list of ‘Don’ts’ for their dealings with women. But in the absence of a list of ‘Dos’, many men find themselves lost and confused.
It may or may not be biologically inherent, but where we know that the brain is plastic and changes with skill development, there’s no denying that there is a social component here which assigns more burden to women, which in turn, makes them work harder, which in turn, makes their memory sharper.
According to the APA (American Psychological Association), resilience is the ability to ‘adapt well in the face of adversity trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.’ Now, that’s rather vague, isn’t it? What does ‘adapting well’ mean in this context?
When Neelam (Shefali Shah) from Dil Dhadakne Do sees her husband Kamal (Anil Kapoor) flirt with another woman on their anniversary, she goes to her room and gobbles up a slice of cake. No, she stuffs her mouth with cake, trying hard to not break down. This was one of the most memorable moments of this hard-hitting movie, and that’s because it’s all too real. Like many women, the stress of her husband’s many indiscretions pushed her to seek pleasure and relief from food. Although temporary, this sense of pleasure is exactly why we tend to eat when we’re stressed.
I buy myself flowers every week. These dainty bunches are my favourite pick-me-up on low days, and the cherry on top of the cake on good days.