Girl Up Neev

To call women the weaker sex is slander. If she did not have more inner strength, self-sacrifice, and resistance then men and mankind would not have survived. India’s struggle for freedom, commonly referred to as the Indian Independence Movement was a series of historical events with an ultimate aim of bringing an end to the British colonial rule in India. Whenever the record of India’s freedom struggle is composed, the sacrifices created by Indian women will surely find the most prominent place in it.  Leaders like the Rani of Ramgarh, Rani Jindan Kaur, Rani Tace Bai, Baiza Bai, Chauhan Rani, and Tapasvini Maharani led their troops into battle against the British in the First War of Independence in 1857. We can’t talk about this battle without mentioning the heroism displayed by Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, who valiantly defended the fort of Jhansi against the rebellion by the East India Company. Even after her troops were overwhelmed, Rani Laxmibai did not surrender.  Further...

A popular actress once said that “in the world of Kardashians, be an Audrey.” This is probably because of the beauty standards being defined as “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.” The Kardashian are known for creating trends which are now affecting the youth: losing a large amount of weight in less time, plastic surgery, fillers etc. The youth today is becoming so influenced that in order to feel capable and qualified, they need to be perfect all the time. While on the other side was Audrey Hepburn, who said that with beauty comes kindness and love for humanity, two polar different thoughts depend on which affects us deeply.   Being Indian, the beauty standards were always bothersome: “Oh look she is not fair like her mom.”  “Kitni Moti Hai re woh!”  (look how fat she is) “How can she even wear such clothes?”  Sometimes, I even wonder with going further in time if people are becomi...

I get ready to go out, wearing a strappy top and a relative tells me to cover up with a jacket.   "Your bra strap is showing." "You don't know how these boys' minds work!"  "Why do you want to show so much?" are some things I hear on the regular.   Walking out of my house, I'm met with the ogling eyes of the public as I tend to hold my bag closer to me, phone in hand in case I need to call someone urgently. I have seen my college berate girls on the basis of what they wear and in school I've been a victim of it. Every time my mother constantly pesters me with my location, the numbers of who I'm out with and keeps calling me if I don't message back, reminds me of the one basic fact that my life seems to revolve around. The fact that I'm a female in a male dominated world stuck in the deep embedded institution of patriarchy. You fight for something, you're triggered. You express emotions, you're hormonal an...