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How often have you heard a girl, in her enthusiasm to dissociate from the norms of ‘girlhood’, say, “Oh, I’m not like other girls.” The statements could range from “I ride a bike. I’m not like other girls,”, “I don’t like makeup, I’m not like other girls,” so on and so forth. We are conditioned to pigeonhole the idea of girlhood.
Is a woman less of a girl if she rides a bike or does not wear makeup and conversely is it mortifying to be ‘like the other girls’? Is it only one or the other? Aren’t we shaming the ‘other’ girls by ostracising them as the ‘other’?
Championing diversity and solidarity, Ellie Lee and Mumbai illustrator Tara Anand embarked on an Instagram project called I’m like other girls. It breaks down the binaries that we subscribe to and that separate us from our own tribe. Simple and vibrant creatives with speech bubbles make a strong case for shunning the tyrannical idea of femininity and embracing a more inclusive idea of the gender, on this Instagram page that boasts of over 4000 followers.
Take a look at these images and you’ll wonder if you perceived girls who don’t live up to your lofty ideals, as ‘the other’ and snubbed them. The project aims to dispel the negativity around ‘being a girl.’ A girl need not distance herself from other girls to define her individuality or emphasise her pride.
Girlhood can be layered and heterogenous. These illustrations are submissions from girls hailing from countries like Estonia, France, Saudi Arabia, Canada, US and India.
All of 19, this woke girl, a JB Petit High School for Girls alumnus enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, NYC in August last year.
“We met a lot of women who, in their attempt to strive for individuality, would say things like, ‘I don’t care about fashion,’ or ‘I like Maths or Science,’ and end it with, ‘I’m not like other girls.’Tara Anand to a newspaper
Anand has also helmed other women-centric projects on social media. One of them (a project on forgotten Indian women warriors from varied reigns and periods) recently earned her a felicitation at Rashtrapati Bhawan, as part of the ‘First Ladies’ initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Anand ensured that she doesn’t overlook any social caste or class and put together a diverse set of warriors.
The others who shared the glory with her for different achievements were - the first female Indian mountaineer to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the first Indian woman Sarpanch and others.
Anand’s project I AM NO MAN was motivated by the female character Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings, who screams out ‘I am no man’ while slaying the Witch-King of Angmar in a war.
Tara Anand’s project resurrects these intrepid warriors from their tombs of obscurity.
An unabashed feminist, Anand’s illustrations on these women warriors have been published in international publications.
Source: With inputs from Mumbai Mirror.
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