India’s raunchiest feminist says a headline featuring Radhika Vaz. And why not. Here is a women who talks about vaginal farts, hairy legs and details of her own experience with the porn industry. And that’s just the start.
Risqué, bold and even downright vulgar, Radhika is the perfect thing to have happened to the Indian feminist moment (and to the comic industry of course).
Stepping away from the double innuendo jokes and man hating feminist references, here is a comedian who is refreshing herself. “I am usually drawn to ideas that either make me laugh or make me angry – then I go in from there. While my first show ‘Unladylike’ did deal with some pretty taboo material (virginity, blow jobs and pussy farts in one show YIKES!) my second ‘Older. Angrier. Hairier’ covers housework, children and aging – not too taboo I’d say but definitely with my own spin on things.”
The 42-year-old, New-York based, Mumbai born comedian recently hogged the limelight with her FabAlley ad. An act where she got on stage stark naked (almost) and spoke about societal pressures to have the perfect body. “The idea came from absolutely nowhere. I wrote the script and then called my friend and asked ‘do you think it would be funny if I were naked?’ and she laughed and that was that. Not too complicated. I am very simple woman!”
While she loves to deal with the idea of feminism in her risqué style, body image issues remain a favourite with her. Ridiculing the absolutely silly ideas of beauty in the society in her show Unladylike, she says, “I have spent the better part of my life, and my savings, waxing and shaving and tweezing and threading and plucking and pulling and epilating and depilating every square inch of myself. I have been forced to keep up with the latest technology in hair removal because someone, somewhere, decided that the authentic female body was too vile to be seen as it is. Now people ask me, why do Indian women get married so young? Is it because your parents insist upon it? Is it because of the religious and social pressures of your culture? No, actually, we just want to stop shaving our legs.”
It is the very dismissing of these norms that define Radhika’s freedom. “Being able to say NO is the way I define freedom. Giving up on being a lady to suit the society let’s me have my peace of mind. I say what I want and do what I want – I face resistance but in the end I sleep better at night.”
“Plus as I get older I really have stopped caring about being liked too much! As of now I am absolutely a feminist. I wan equal rights for both genders, politically, socially and economically. It is such a simple concept yet so many women are afraid to identify! They think it means being a hairy, man-hater. I am totally cool with men. But yes I am hairy,” she signs off in signature Radhika Vaz style.
Catch Radhika’s show ‘Older. Angrier. Hairier.’ at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi Sept 18, and JagritiTheatre, Bangalore Sept 30. Follow her on Twitter for more information.
This story is part of our series on #FreedomRedefined. We are looking for more stories of women who broke free from the shackles of society’s stereotypes and suppression. Write to us on idivaeditor@gmail.com if you know of such women or if you have a story to tell.
Image courtesy: Radhika Vaz
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