It’s on page fifteen of the newspaper. A three point seven inch by three point seven inch colour photograph of a woman resting in a martini glass. No points for guessing the attire of the woman in the picture- black garters, feet shod in black stilettos, black thongs, black gloves, her breasts are bare but they are covered by a gloved hand that holds a long pencil/ paint brush..oh wait maybe a cigarette attached to a filter. with inch by seven inch colour picture of. She is of course striking a provocative pose against the backdrop of a purple curtain. Ok now that I have the description out of the way, I really had no idea what the article was about- was it about fashion, was it about art, was it about showgirls (because the woman resembled a showgirl in a glass)?
You idiot readers, the article could be about anything as serious as poverty and unemployment or anything as political as the Naxal problem, didn’t you know we always add pictures like these to make the serious and depressing content of the article more bearable.
Ok so the article actually was about how premature onset of menopause raises death risk and it was titles ‘Ladies, kick the butt or risk early death’. The caption under this very sexual picture was ‘Early menopause is tied to osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s.’
Try as I did, I could not even vaguely connect the picture to the theme. Alzheimer’s, Menopause, black garters, health insurance, medical bills and black thongs….where pray was there any relevance?
Basically it means that women are here, in this world to be used as we please alright! We will use them half naked to show how skin cancer is on the rise and we will show topless pic with pixelated breasts to show how young women who are earning want to have fun even if our idea of fun is simply to be with friends or watch TV or just potter about at home (which is what most people do regardless of gender). But these articles have to be represented with a picture that is sexist, utterly shameless in its use of the female body to depict something completely irrelevant to the language of the picture.
I am still surprised that an article that was made to order for such photographs titled ‘Sinful pleasure- The growing popularity of Ooty’s homemade chocolates……….’had surprise surprise a picture of chocolates! Isn’t that amazing? I mean what do chocolates have to do with an article on chocolates? I was quite expecting a woman wearing a pair of matching black bra and thongs, bending over a kitchen counter and gorging on this pleasure with an expression of ecstasy on her face, her red lips poised to devour…...or whatever
Surely TOI, you are losing touch!
On a different and a brighter note- Aishwarya Rai is simply being her good old sensible self and not flaunting her pregnancy. That is completely normal. Attagirl! I would not want strange pairs of eyes on my belly. I am completely uncomfortable with it. Seeing as Ash would trigger a hysteria among shutterbugs, she has wisely stayed away and under the radar. In fact it was Bachchan Sr who flouted the famous family discretion by announcing her pregnancy on twitter and not infrequetly mentions her pregnancy on KBC shows. I am sure Ash squirms at this intrusion. Not done!
All the best to you Ash and thumbs down again to TOI!
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