Many of the women who live and work in English-speaking environments probably don’t give too much thought these days to o the simple two-letter title that often precedes our names on official letters and envelopes.

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India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) made headlines this week after finally lifting its ban on the theatrical screening of “Lipstick Under My Burkha”. The film opens in the cinemas on 21 July. Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, it follows four Indian women and their quiet acts of rebellion against cultural, religious and societal restrictions.

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Social media was recently ablaze with reports and opinions about Donald Trump’s “creepy comment” to Brigitte Macron (wife of French President Emmanuel Macron) about being “in such good shape.”

The main issue that most commentators had was that the compliment somehow insinuated that the “looking good” bit came with the unspoken addendum, “for her age.”

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There is one ad on German TV that particularly irks me.

It peddles a weight loss formula that features a woman and her bulldog. Yes, you read right: bulldog. And frankly, the pudgy pooch is probably the ad’s only saving grace.

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Fashion is fickle. What’s passé one year becomes au courant  the next. But watch it long enough and you’ll notice repetitions. So how to market recycled fashion? Maybe give it a novel sounding name.

Like “modest fashion.” A term that somewhat irritates me.

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Summer is finally upon us in the northern hemisphere. With rising temperatures, clothes are getting scantier, regular bodies are being exposed to the critical eyes of the tabloid press and those who prey on our insecurities. This in turn has led to the next head-scratching body trend.

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This was the topic of a panel discussion I attended at the Global Media Forum that was recently held in Bonn, Germany.

Featuring four female panelists and a male moderator, the discussion covered everything from the Women’s March on Washington and the use of social media to communicate women’s narratives that are not  published by the mainstream media in certain countries, to female quotas in the workplace and the UN’s sustainable development goals to achieve equal rights for women.

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