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Priyanka Chopra has transformed from the girl-next-door to a global star owing to her dedication and talent. There is no denying that she has tread a difficult path to achieve many accolades, and in many ways has contributed to shattering society norms through her perseverance.
Penguin Random House chose to honour this very dedication and invited Priyanka to speak at their annual lecture series titled ‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling’ on December 25. However, considering the under-representation of women writers in literature, this decision did not go down very well with netizens.
It was not long before the keyboard warriors hopped onto Twitter and condemned Penguin’s decision of picking Priyanka Chopra to be the first woman to speak on the platform.
1. Resorting to sarcasm.
Thanks for reaffirming your faith in literaturehttps://t.co/PeyxmeVe6u
— Raghu Karnad (@rkarnad) December 25, 2017
2. Being downright angry.
"In the last ten years, Penguin’s speakers have included the Dalai Lama, Amartya Sen, Ramachandra Guha, Dan Brown…
And the first time they bring in a woman, it’s Priyanka Chopa?"https://t.co/irAmUCImnQ— Raghu Karnad (@rkarnad) December 26, 2017
3. Ouch.
The real glass ceiling: the idea that women are only of public interest if they're beauty-queens or actors.
— Raghu Karnad (@rkarnad) December 26, 2017
4. No representation for women in literature?
I'd rather have another man. There's no empowerment on offer here, only a different flavour of patriarchy.
And I'm a staunch feminist.— Deepa Kurup (@deepakurup) December 26, 2017
5. There are others…
https://twitter.com/squeakmemory/status/945647539545665536
6. We shouldn’t be taking what we get.
I disagree. We need to expect (and push for!) more. The sheer number of women creating waves in publishing in India deserves a festival and lecture unto itself (…which I’d be interested in, too.)
— harnidh (@chiaseedpuddin) December 26, 2017
7. Accusing Penguin of hankering after publicity.
more a reflection on these publishing houses who only care for buzz and trps…which our friend wont say or state publicly!! Its the markets and markets…glitzy media bt let them open their mouth against 'popularization' of publishing and media!! Who cares abt these houses??
— Krisb (@Krisb39) December 26, 2017
Zubaan books an independent feminist publishing house even went on a Twitter thread condemning the decision of choosing Priyanka as she does not belong to the literary world.
1. Accusing Penguin of discrimination.
What does this say about which kinds of women we value, in public? Who are given venues to speak (over and over again) about their successes and experiences? Women literally have to be beauty queens to warrant headlining a lecture?
— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) December 27, 2017
2. Happy to be killjoys.
That’s all we’ve got for now. If dissent and critique aren’t your thing, it’s cool—we’re happy to be those #feministkilljoy aunties for you. 🥂
— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) December 27, 2017
3. Citing numerous writers.
Should we talk about other women academics, historians? Uma Chakravarti, Kumkum Sangari, Kamla Bhasin, Sunita Narain, Githa Hariharan, Urmila Pawar. Each of these women, we think, have written more books than Priyanka Chopra.
— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) December 26, 2017
4. That was hurtful.
We're through with our itinerant list for now, but there are so many worthy names we've missed: women thinkers, activists, writers + critics, editors and publicists, who would've made hella more interesting speakers than Piggy Chops.
Come on, PRH India. You've got to do better.
— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) December 26, 2017
A lot of people came to PeeCee’s defence, saying that the outrage isn’t justified as she has accomplished a lot too. We wonder what Priyanka has to say about the whole fiasco. What do you think? Is this outrage over under-representation of women in literature going in the right direction?
Cover Image Source: ABC
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