India

While we might scoff at the spray-tanned guys of "Jersey Shore" and their year-round pursuit of bronze, skin lightening isn’t so easy to laugh off. First, skin lightening is far more globally and culturally pervasive than tanning, with pressure to lighten being highest for those of Asian, Latino, and African ethnicities. For instance, baseball star and native Dominican Sammy Sosa made headlines in 2009 when he copped to using a nightly skin bleaching cream that had noticeably whitened his face. A couple weeks ago, Jamaican dancehall artist Vybz Kartel sparked controversy regarding his forthcoming cosmetics line that includes a skin lightening solution called "cake soap."

This is the last week to catch the Portland International Film Festival, which the Northwest Film Center has been running since February 10th, screening several films a day in venues around Portland. One of the films on our radar here at Bitch was Pink Saris, a British documentary about a gang of women in Uttar Pradesh, India who wear hot pink saris to demonstrate their revolt against tradition and patriarchy. See the trailer and read what we thought after the jump...

This week's Feministory subject, Phoolan Devi, had a life that read like an action movie screenplay. In fact, her life BECAME an action movie screenplay. But integral to discussions of Devi and her harrowing story is the search for truth. Who knew the truth about her? Did she tell the truth? Did the books and movie about her tell the truth? Who WASN'T telling the truth? And which truth were her assassins following when they shot her in front of her home in 2001?

Shobhaa Dé came to the Indian publishing scene in the late-1980s like a South Asian Jackie Collins and has been credited with paving the way for a new generation of female Indian writers who represent a subsection of modern India that doesn't receive enough international attention: the über elite. Dé’s cheeky, Bollywood-inspired chick lit novels feature storylines set in Mumbai’s high society that have captivated the imaginations of the country’s newly emerging and rapidly growing middle class—male and female alike—who fantasize about being able to live like their favorite Hindi film stars. Fifteen bestselling books later, Penguin India recently announced a new addition to its roster that will start making its way into bookstores next year: Shobhaa Dé Books.

Trouble, thy name is woman. India is a country in the throes of a sexual revolution, and young women are firmly planted at the center of the controversy.

In some of the world’s most populous cities, generational and ideological divides have become starkly visible. Saris, salwaar kameez, and kurtas are being replaced by jeans and t-shirts—or, even more scandalous, mini skirts and tank tops!—and the once-standard British English is being drowned out by the American pop cultural slang in the under thirty crowd who grew up watching Friends and Adam Sandler flicks instead of Absolutely Fabulous. While there’s definitely a widespread adherence to conservative social norms, there are an increasing number of young people who push the boundaries of what’s acceptable. Artwork: Pink Chaddi Campaign

Blank Noise Project works to end eve teasing (street harassment) in India by reclaiming public space for women through direct action and artistic projects intended to raise awareness.

Sign Location: Joggers Park in Mumbai (Photograph by Manu)

The late Kamala Das' poetic words of female sexuality and desire stirred the world.

Who knew a puppet could be so effective in spreading HIV awareness in India?

Women are making their entrance into cricket as players, team owners, and purveyors of sexism and White privilege?

Barbie was all over the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai this year. The doll celebrated its 50th Anniversary by sponsoring the event. At first I thought it was the company’s obliviousness to irony that prompted the fashion show sponsorship, but then it all came together when I read this article last week.