This is an ode, a salute to the women I
absolutely adore. I look up to them and they restore my faith in humanity every
time that I watch them work, talk, and be. I choose to go alphabetically to
avoid the implication of bias.
Adele : She has brought back the swagger in the
world of feminism through her in-your-face music and lyrics. Never has a
post-breakup phase been so cool and empowering. She belts out her revenge
through her divine voice and you wonder whether that poor ex-boyfriend of hers
is writhing in regret right now. She flips the bird in the middle of a
tongue-in-cheek song like a boss, and you feel the rush of adrenalin that she
might be feeling in that moment. Her loud cackle and the cocky sparkle in her
eyes are refreshingly contagious. What makes her different is her constant
determination of choosing to be happy. Yes, it’s a choice. It always was.
Beyoncé : She is graceful, grounded, and sings
like an angel. She knows where she is and she knows how she got there. And that
makes her so damn attractive. She rocks a concert in killer heels while giving
a lesson in feminism. She knows she is a role-model to lots of women and girls
and she keeps working at being an even better one. She has made feminism
glamorous. She has made the world refer to the King of Rap, Jay-Z, as
“Beyonce’s husband” Now that’s something, isn’t it. She rules, and people don’t
mind it. She looks at you from that flood-lit stage but she knows how it is to
be on your side too. She is definitely the Queen. But the beauty is that she is
an elected one. Now, “GIMME SOME!”
Jennifer Lawrence : She is a rebel and that’s
why you love her. She rebels by not being thin in Hollywood and she rebels by
retorting to Kate Moss quotes. She gushes over how she loves food and says
“F*** off” to those who try to talk her into changing her body. She doesn’t
want you to go “Oh I want to be thin like Katniss” and she triumphantly ignores
the critics who say “Isn’t Katniss supposed to be a lot thinner?” You respect
her for tripping at the Oscars, and for defending her ‘armpit fat’. She has
made it cool to be a feminist. She is real, she seems approachable, and most of
all, she doesn’t try to be pretty all the time. What’s real is what’s for you
to see.
J.K. Rowling: She has that calm assuredness
that keeps you in constant awe of her. Whatever she is is out there for you to
read. She has nothing more to prove. She has got all the Answers and she has
been selfless to share Them with you. You will always owe her for what she has
told you through her works. It’s the secret and laws of the universe, if you
think about it in detail. Instead of going into the depths of depression after
a nasty divorce she chose to rise from it like the phoenix she so beautifully
describes. She decided to turn things around and used her anger and grief. And
the result is for the world to witness. She gives feminism a feel-good feeling.
“Is fat really worse than vindictive, jealous, shallow, vain, evil, boring, or
cruel? Not to me.” All hail the Queen.
Lalitagauri Kulkarni: I like to call her a
working class heroine. The Karl Marx woman. She cooks for the family in the
morning and leaves for work at 9. She is an economist (sometimes I also call
her an “eco-geek”); she is an economist who likes watching Modern Family. Oh and
she is also my mother. She doesn’t have an Oscar, a Booker or a Grammy. But she
has a PhD. What makes her a heroine is that she couldn’t care less for the
things she doesn’t have. Her contentedness, her gratitude towards all that she
has and all that she is is empowering. She is a working woman with a job that
she loves and a daughter who loves her, and she couldn’t ask for more. That’s
right , the husband doesn’t come into the picture. Sorry Dad, we’re all about
feminism.
Mirka Federer : People don’t get why I love her
so much. Sometimes, even I don’t get why I love her so much. It’s just that she
is so motherly, and warm, and reminds you of the person you always wanted to be
like. She gets sullen when he’s losing and starts furiously texting on her
Blackberry. She shouts and cheers for him with clenched fists, and she calmly
smiles when he wins with an “I told you!” expression on her face. And despite
being so involved in her husband’s career she gives off a feeling of complete
indifference as if she is the one who has settled. You’d never know if she has
or hasn’t. But when you see her cuddling the twins you wish you were one of
them. She has no qualms about where she is and who she is. She knows she rules
the roost. And without her, there won’t be any roost at all.
Mrunmayee Saudade : That’s not her actual surname but she’d rather adopt this one than get stereotyped and judged on the basis of her real Marathi surname. That’s her. She cares. She is a poet who never admits she is one. She is an activist who doesn’t know she is one. She is a teacher who never lets herself think she is one. She is adorable but I’m pretty sure she is oblivious to that too. She is a feminist and a thoughtful one too. That’s the one thing she is aware of. She knows she is intelligent and capable of ruling. If you are French or German and deem yourself too cool to speak English, she would be delighted to have a chat with you about anything under the sun and around it. And don’t be surprised if you meet her in Tuscany or Provence. She has a highly feverish wanderlust.
Tanvi Joshi : No matter how anti-social you are, you won’t mind having her as your friend. She is non-judgemental to the point of annoyance. But that’s what warms you to her. She is unequivocally, a feminist. She has no doubts about that. She will point it out if you are being unfeminist and will ask you about it. Most of the times, you don’t realize what you were doing was unfeminist until she tells you. You try to cover it up. You even think she is a bit impertinent but then you know better. She comes off as detached. But she loves you like she loves every other friend of hers. She is who she is and she has no intention of being anyone else.
The women who are on this list inspire me to be myself. They remind me of
what I want to be like. They make me realize that I am what inspires me. They
are beautifully and unapologetically themselves. Watching them be drives out my
insecurities. They prove success to be the best revenge. They ooze confidence
and make feminism delightfully stylish. They all have their own “You’d be a
fool to mess with me” look. They use it as a weapon. They rule their worlds
like a boss. And they are sexy. And boy, they know it.
*Lalitagauri Kulkarni is my mother. Mrunmayee Saudade is a friend, philosopher, and guide. Tanvi Joshi is the carziest best friend I've got.
