There are different societal standards set for men and women, aren’t there? A man can continue going to work, even on work trips, after having a child, but a woman is expected to sacrifice her job and cut back for her newborn child. Alia Bhatt, in a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, spoke about this double standard.
Last year, Alia Bhatt got married to Ranbir Kapoor and after a few weeks of their marriage, she announced that they are expecting a child together. And after a couple of months, their daughter Raha was born.
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In the interview, Alia revealed that interviewers often ask her if she is going to cut down on her work now that she is a mom. She said that you would never ask a man this sort of a question.
“You would never ask a man a question about whether having a baby at the peak of his career was a brave decision. I’m being asked, ‘Are you willing to cut your pace down because you’re having a family?’.”
However, after having relentlessly worked for 10 years in the entertainment industry, she feels that it is okay for her to pace down a little for the sake of her daughter.
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“Maybe after working for 10 years at a certain pace, I felt that, okay, maybe I can cut that down and be a mum. I feel like it was very much led by love. I’ve always been that person who just does things with love. Whatever decision I make, if it feels right, I’ll do it. But if it doesn’t feel right, you’ll always see me taking 16 steps back. I could be offered the biggest movie, the biggest team, but if it doesn’t feel right, I wouldn’t be able to take that step forward. So (having a baby) was just purely nominated by that. And I don’t even think there was a question. It was just a very happy, natural decision,” she said.
Interviewers should definitely try to come up with better questions to ask female actors, especially the ones who’ve just gotten married or given birth. Don’t you think?