16-year-old Malala may be a heroine in her own right, having survived an attack by the Taliban. However, people in her country think there is a huge hype around her created by the local media. Afghanistan’s parliament is scheduled to discuss a law which will protect men who have committed crimes against women and bar dancers in Mumbai are getting back their jobs.

Find out which women’s themes made it to the headlines in South Asia.

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Anjum Hasan is a young Indian writer who won the Man Literary Prize in 2009 for her book “Neti, Neti”. Her latest book “Difficult Pleasures” has been listed for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. “Difficult Pleasures” is a collection of short stories in the form of a montage of characters who go about their busy lives in big, anonymous metropolitan cities – Mumbai,Bangalore,Calcutta. Anjum Hasan casts a spell on these characters and they bare their deepest, darkest emotions to the readers. There is rebellion and disappointment, love and melancholy and the reader experiences the intimate emotions of her characters. Hasan delves into the emotional spaces of the characters and bares all without any inhibitions leaving one with more questions than one had bargained for. 

DW’s WomenTalkOnline had the opportunity to speak to her:

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Love’s labour is lost in a country where many women feel that they are not treated equally and are even denied basic constitutional rights. Controversy is never far away because girls’ schools are burned down denying them education. A shot in the head as in the case of Malala is enough to kill off any revolution stirring a woman’s right to freedom of expression.

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One of our readers, Ridhi Rajpal, is very upset about how men treat her at the workplace. And no, it’s not sexual harassment she is complaining about. Women colleagues in the cinema industry are often considered “softer” than their male colleagues, their abilities are questioned constantly, but they are also pampered.

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“Living in the country I live in, especially when you want to be ‘yourself’ as a woman, especially when you choose for yourself, when you become the God of your own life and when you try controlling your own body, can be difficult”. Women Talk Online reader from Pakistan, Rukhsana Shama pleads her case.

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“… A tall, dark, handsome guy earning a six-digit salary. Should have the qualities of ‘Lord Rama’ because my parents have trained me to be like the goddess Sita.”

Apparently, an ideal wife looks best when paired with an ideal husband! But Tanushree Sharma Sandhu believes the ideal daughter should be assured of an equally good husband, on her own terms.

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Who is a feminist? Are feminists groups of women fighting to change the world order, organizing a coup d’état to overthrow the “regime” of men? Are feminists women who organize rallies and scream slogans around the street?

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