Can women and beer go together? The current beer debate reminds me of a particular incident at my book event where after the book talk, a young woman came up to me and said kind words about my book that how much she had liked my book and how strong I have portrayed the character of Leela. ‘But there is something which I didn’t like?’ she said.
‘What is it? Please tell me,’ I was all ears to get some constructive feedback from a reader.
‘Why did you show that Leela drinks beer? Alcohol is bad for girls.’ (For the uninitiated Leela is my protagonist in The Other End of the Corridor)
I’ve always believed I can absorb any kind of feedback positively but didn’t know how to take this one. All I could do was give a half smile. Everyone is free to have their own opinion about Leela, the book or the beer. If excessive alcohol is bad for the liver, it is bad for both men and women. Is woman’s body wired differently that alcohol can be bad for her but not for him? It doesn’t surprise me anymore when men are judgmental about what women should do and what they shouldn’t but how to react when it’s not a man but a woman. If keeping fit is essential for men so it is for women. If eating junk is unhealthy, it is unhealthy for both the genders. I wonder who decides that the acceptable standards should be different for men and women.