Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

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International Women’s Day!

March 9, 2023

I am celebrating seminal moments, art, experiences and people in my life today that have brought me joy, inspiration and hope and helped me discover glory, strength, beauty and power in being a woman over the years.

Consider this my very own feminist millennial version of Billy Joels “We Didn’t Star the Fire” (Gen X will get that reference).

  • The first time my dad played Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” when I was all of 6 years old.
  • As an elementary school kid, watching Hillary campaigning for healthcare reform in the early 90’s
  • Meeting the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when I was 10. She showed more interest in me than all the adults in the room after delivering a talk in Cupertino about women’s rights and I still remember the tenderness she had and interest she took in my thoughts.
  • My first feminist literary theory class at single sex college prep high school in late 90’s
  • Discovering Emily Dickenson’s poetry in aforementioned literary theory book
  • Taking a rape prevention class in lieu of traditional physical education at said high school.
  • My dad explaining to me why a womans right to choose is undoubtedly the right policy anytime it came up in the news.
  • The first time I saw the music video for “Sleep Now In the Fire” by Rage Against the Machine
  • My first sociology class in college where i truly understood why social stratification mattered.
  • Beginning Yoga in 2007 allowing me to discover newfound physical & emotional strengths.
  • Campaigning for Hillary in 2008
  • The first time I realized the Beatles Dear Prudence is a feminist anthem while in savasana.
  • All the times I was discouraged to do what I wanted to do but still did what I wanted to do even when it took years to shake off the discouragement while simultaneously learning that late blooming is not just okay, it’s beautiful.
  • Learning to use Ujjayi breath.
  • My dad through example, always demonstrating what liberalism really means, economically and socially.
  • Living on my own.
  • Marriage.
  • Carrying 2 pregnancies for 18 months.
  • Nursing 2 kids for a total of 42 months.
  • Hillary’s presidential campaign fighting fake news and the patriarchy in ways no one could have foreseen in 2016.
  • The Womens March 2017.
  • Multitasking from home through a pandemic managing kids’ school, a team remotely for work, accelerating sales, and managing my home.
  • Raising kids.

Women are not a monolith; we don’t all think with homogeneity, and we have vastly unique experiences. Yet we share a common space in this world that is too often defined by our societies as us being smaller or weaker, or lesser; we are deemed the ‘other’. But still I smile, because everywhere I look, and for as long as I can remember I see women rise, nonetheless.

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A Super Bowl of Our Own

February 13, 2023

I’m not going to pretend and say the Kansas City Chiefs were amazing yesterday and I love football. Truth is, I love a winter Sunday afternoon amidst a new year, with game day eats and this big American production that is the Super Bowl. Even the years I don’t watch the game, I make sure to catch the national anthem performance, the halftime show and the ads – it’s fun leaning into the cultural zeitgeist, this grand snapshot of mainstream consumer and pop culture for any year.

And this year’s Super Bowl collage was unsurprisingly geared toward Millennials and our purchasing power. I was looking forward to ads with Alicia Silverstone and Ben Stiller, but both ads fell a little short – they were not particularly clever or original, yet they weren’t total disappointments either. They let us relish in the nostalgia of Zoolander and Cher Horowitz from Clueless and Ben Stiller and Alicia Silverstone haven’t missed a beat since their heydays and that was a treat to see.

This is a whole vibe that stands the test of time. Alicia Silverstone reprising her lead role from Clueless
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: Ben Stiller is a genius. Here he’s reprising his role as Zoolander.

But what I loved most were Millennial sentiments of parenthood on full display at the Super Bowl. We saw it in Rihanna’s halftime show which doubled as a pregnancy announcement, and in some of the biggest advertisements from Amazon & Kia.

In “Binky Dad” we get a glimpse into the glory that is Millennial fatherhood as a dad goes full superhero to urgently retrieve his infants favorite pacifier in a Kia he drives like a Batmobile. It’s funny, it’s cute and speaks volumes about how dads today consider parenthood a central part of their identity and are more involved with their kids than ever before. And market forces have responded in kind – we see less male gaze and men being lauded for being able to crack open beer cans at a beach in today’s Super Bowl ads, and more of men actually gazing at their babies and being celebrated for changing diapers and grocery shopping. Millennial dads and I’d say Gen X as well, are redefining parenthood, for the better.

Amazon’s “Saving Sawyer” gives us a view into the chaos and closeness of Millennial life and how pets are an integral part of our families. It’s an homage to the humanity and resilience of Millennials as we withstand the challenges of our time like parenting in dual working families and through a pandemic — and how nonetheless, our parenting extends to our furry family members who are non-negotiable. This ad takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion in under two minutes, and in the best way possible.

Millennial Parenthood in Amazon’s ad – How we’re raising our furry family members

And redefining parenthood was personified at halftime, where Rihanna brought mom power to the show; performing with a confidence that for many of us, comes precisely with motherhood. Her minimalist (relative to past performers) choice of wardrobe and choreography amplified her achievements and her baby bump; she performed one hit after another from a catalogue spanning 15 years and it was a stunning visual. Seeing this superstar pregnant, looking gorgeous, and performing on this grand stage without missing a beat speaks volumes about how millennial moms juggle work and our personal lives. It’s testimony to the very high expectations we put on today’s moms and how still, we rise to them – redefining motherhood, womanhood and finding our confidence in the process. Rihanna actually said it best herself before the performance at a press conference promoting the halftime show:

“When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you can do anything”.

Let’s enjoy this moment as millennials – we’re kind of a big deal right now. Just like how we made sure skinny jeans are here to stay, (no matter how a fickle fashion industry may try to wrestle them away from us), we’re influencing culture for the better.

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 12: Rihanna performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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The Worlds Favorite Khan, Pathan

February 10, 2023

I don’t watch a lot of Shahrukh Khan movies but when I do, I post about it.

Shahrukh Khan is a polarizing figure, (funny to say that since he’s one of the most famous movie stars in the world) but amongst those I know, people either love, or completely dislike his acting style and movies.

I fall in neither camp, I enjoy a good Hindi movie and he’s been the star of a couple I feel alright about and some that I could never finish, but he hasn’t starred in any of my favorites (in case you’re wondering, my favorites are Dil Dhadakne Do & Kapoor & Sons – both on Netflix)

Shahrukh Khan 2023

And something I’ve thought a lot about over the years is the age-old dilemma: should you separate art from the artist? It’s a question we ask ourselves when a famous person whose work we may have liked, is problematic, like Kanye West, or Pablo Picasso. But what about the reverse – when the artist, in this case Shahrukh Khan, seems to be an all-around upstanding person and his art is something you feel tepid about at best?

Weeping Woman 1937.
My favorite Picasso painting. This is Dora Maar, a successful artist in her own right, also one of his many muses. Safe to say, she struggled in separating the art from the artist.

Well, I decided this past weekend that SRK has been a near flawless ambassador of Hindi cinema for decades, arguably the most famous man in India today, and still, his son was unjustly thrown in jail in a heinous show of unwarranted collective punishment after SRK voiced concern for growing intolerance in the context of religiosity in his country. So, I did not separate art from the artist and decided to support this mans comeback movie, Pathan.

I strolled into the theater last weekend with this intent and low expectations, although a friend’s review did spur my curiosity. I dislike action movies in general (only two exceptions Tom Cruise’s first Mission Impossible and Harrison Fords the Fugitive) mostly because I flinch and cringe at most “action” scenes but let me just say, despite flinching through very disturbing action sequences in Pathan, I found myself otherwise smiling and walked out of the theater a newly minted Shahrukh Khan fan.

Why? Because this is the first time SRK looked like he, pardon the slang, DGAF. It’s the first time I’ve seen him outside of a romantic lead role; he’s a spy master. He’s a full tilt action hero with Iron Man-esque jet packs, Jason Bourne fight moves every 15 minutes and consuming low-fat Yogurt while casually strategizing world class heists a la Brad Pitt in Oceans 11.

He is incredible as Pathan and I don’t say this because of his flowy hair and 8 pack abs, but because it’s the first time we see him not eager to please. He’s not here desperate to please a woman’s unyielding family, he’s not here solely to please his dogmatic parents, he’s not even pleasing his handlers as a spy. He’s his own man, on a mission to do right by everyone for the sheer sake of upholding justice. Everyone else be damned, this SRK came to play.

The story is over the top, the CGI’s are weak, the gratuitous violence is extremely difficult to watch, but the screenplay and direction are great and the cast is incredible (John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia and Deepika are fantastic). SRK carries the movie with a mesmerizing nonchalance as Pathan and does such a phenomenal job as a spy master and it makes for a rollicking watch.

Plus, in the context of this being his big comeback movie, I’m here for it being splashy and over the top. It’s meta – it’s a guy who was swiftly torn down by conservatives for supporting secularism, went on hiatus, and comes back with a roar to say you can’t stop me and I’m going to break box office records in Hindi cinema on a movie where I double down on those very progressive values you tore me down for.

So here’s to Bollywood; Aditya Chopra, Yash Raj Films, Siddharth Aanand, Sridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala. You brought out the best in Shahrukh Khan after his 3 decades in acting, and brought millions of moviegoers sheer joy in a smorgasbord of a film. If ever a country did soft power right, it’s India through Bollywood. Because when Bollywood gets it right, it’s really something special and we’re lucky India shares her artistry with the whole world.

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