Now that we have collectively moved past Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s we-share-inside-jokes performance of ‘Shallow’ at the 91st Academy Awards (we have, right?), let’s look at what really shone at the Oscars this year: women’s health and wellness.
Ending silences
“I’m not crying because I’m on my period,” began a teary-eyed Rayka Zehtabchi, clutching the golden award for her film, Period. End of Sentence. , which won the Best Documentary — Short Subject. Set in Hapur district, Uttar Pradesh, outside Delhi, the film revolves around the taboo of menstruation and the arrival of Arunachalam ‘Padman’ Muruganantham’s sanitary pad-vending machine.
The movie’s win increased the buzz around access of menstrual health products, and took periods — a life process as natural as breathing — to the red carpet. Instead of turning the gaze at the women, Rayka hands the film in the hands of the women, empowering them to tell their own stories.
As producer Melissa Berton reiterated in her speech, “A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.”
Coming up roses
If Dr House were to quit medicine, and pursue modelling, he still wouldn’t have been able to pull off a look as glamorous as actor Selma Blair did, at Vanity Fair’s Oscars party. Making her first public appearance after having being diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis) last year, the Cruel Intentions actor made the cane look fashionable and empowering at the same time.
“When my life flashes before my eyes, I want this portrait by Mark Seliger to be front and centre,” she captioned a picture, holding her cane like royalty, with her multi-coloured gown cascading down, and her cape billowing in the wind.
MS is a condition that affects the nervous system: the brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves, causing problems with vision, balance, and muscle control. So when Selma, through multiple Instagram posts, spoke out about how she handled the disease, it resonated with women across the world, who responded, in the comments section, with their own stories of survival.
The ones who dream
But stealing the show was Nike’s powerful advertisement supporting sportswomen, that ran during the ceremony. Titled ‘Dream Crazier’, it was a successor to its ‘Dream Crazy’ advertisement that ran five months ago.
“If we show emotion, we are called dramatic… when we stand for something, we are unhinged, when we are too good, there is something wrong with us, and if we are angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just being crazy,” narrates tennis legend Serena Williams, over footage of iconic sportswomen crying, screaming, laughing, demanding, arguing, winning, living.
The video goes on to remind us that there was a time when the idea of women running marathons, boxing, or coaching NBA players, too was crazy. Making feel-good, inspirational ads out of social issues is an area in which Nike has considerable expertise. Its 2016 song, ‘Da Da Ding’, featuring Deepika Padukone, was a tribute to lesser-known Indian sportswomen.
Props to Nike for once again breaking the tired stereotype of women showing emotion termed ‘crazy’.
