The sassy lady. Unladylike. Unapologetic. Comedy Queen. Looks like an Angel but a Rebel in disguise. This generation’s Feminist voice.

She has been called ALL of these.

Meet Radhika Vaz!

Radhika is one of the country’s most well recognized stand-up comedians with an international following. Considered as one of the pioneers of the stand-up movement in India. she has been featured in Vogue’s ‘The power of 50’ and features in many TV and radio shows. She is a prolific writer and freelance columnist and her column in a popular newspaper and other magazines reaches millions of readers.

Q-1: You are touted as “This generation’s feminist voice”, please elaborate.

What would you like to tell those who say, “No? I am not a feminist”?

A-1: I think it may be due to the content of my shows, as my shows focus on issues related to women like body image and social stereotypes.

What I say to the people who say they are not feminist is that they have to accept that they are sexist – because that is the opposite of feminism. Feminism is a very simple thing – it is all about economic, political and social equality of genders. If you are not a feminist then obviously you do not stand for any of that.

Q-2: What is your take on expectations a woman has to fulfill in the society to be a “Lady like”?

A-2: I think expectations of society are a huge burden. Even if somebody doesn’t outright say you should be lady like, they still tell you that there are certain types of behavior are not what a lady does or there are certain words that should not be used by a lady. Women are perceived in a binary way, we can be good girls or bad girls. But there is huge grey area in between where we women really exist. Though things are definitely changing there still is a lot of pressure and there is no question about it.

Q-3: What was your prime motivation or inspiration behind your ongoing famous comedy show “Older. Angrier. Hairier?”

A-3: I wrote my first show when I was in my mid-30s – that was “Unladylike”. The content of that show was basically everything that happened to me between getting my periods and getting married. ’Older. Angrier. Hairier.’ is what happened after that.

Q-4: What do you feel about the taboos revolving around women’s reproductive and sexual life in India as well as across the world?

A-4: I think it depends upon culture in which you’re living in. In India, pre-marital sex is still considered a taboo. Instead of acknowledging it and telling our children to have safe sex; we are so afraid to talk about sex, as if, if we talk about sex then they will go and have sex.

In western countries, abortion is a big taboo and it has nothing to do with anybody’s health or safety but it has to do with religion! If I get pregnant accidentally in western country then to get an abortion I have to travel for hours because it may not be allowed in my state and that is because someone else has decided what I can and cannot do with my body.

I believe that there is lot of unnecessary moral pressure on women’s sexuality in India and elsewhere.

Q-5: Have you ever felt that life would have been better if you would have been a man?

A-5: I have no idea! I might have been one of those unfortunate men with the dominating mother and girlfriend who made his life miserable, you never know I might not have been lucky!

I am very lucky in life in terms of people who raised me, because of that upbringing I have made the friends I have and married the kind of man my husband is! From a personal perspective I am not sure I can complain at all. But let’s be honest, our country has the most abysmal sex ratio and I can completely understand why some women think that it might have been better being male. All of us should try to make life better for women in general so no woman feels that way.

Q-6: Was performing a “Nude act” liberating experience or just another act?

A-6: It was completely liberating to perform that act; I took lot of time to accept myself the way I am and I may not have been able to do this 10 years ago. We all go through body image issues and I think due to my age and the experiences I have collected in my life; that phase is over. The “Nude Act” was an advertisement which I was doing, in fact I had wanted to make that video even more ridiculous because I can not take the naked body seriously – but the branding team wanted to keep it simple!

Q-7: What would you like to tell those people who don’t understand the difference between being “Childless” and “Child free”?

A-7: The choice of having a baby or not must be made by the woman. She can ask a man before marriage and if he wants child and she doesn’t then she can choose not to marry him, but it must be a woman’s choice as she has to do all heavy lifting and nobody can say that a man is 50% involved in the process as he’s just 5% involved – especially when the children are very young. Once the baby gets a bit older father’s role is important but the responsibility of biological creation and nurturing of the child is more on a woman and that should naturally make HER the decision-maker in this case.

My mother-in-law still tells me “It’s not family without a child.” But I think a child can’t be the only reason to hold a family together. I am child free or whatever you want to call and have a very happy and fulfilling life.

Q-8: What are your views on notions of beauty in India and its side-effects on psyche of women?

A-8: I think women have to unfortunately battle a lot against what society considers being “good-looking”. We have to accept that media plays a very big role in how a woman sees her own body. More than media, even parents keep telling their daughters that they have to be fair and thin to find a good husband which leads them to think “If I want to find a good husband, my looks have to be that certain way.” Here’s from where the body image and self-esteem issues start cropping up!

But what if parents say, “See you are beautiful and you have to be smart because you may NOT HAVE TO find a husband as husbands are obsolete and you can have fun without them as well.” – then maybe it can stop us from worrying too much about how we look. Why can’t we raise next generation girls with this attitude?