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When Sania Mirza shut down Rajdeep Sardesai's sexist question on 'settling down' like a boss

Rajdeep Sardesai asked about Sania's plans to settle down and embracing motherhood and Sania had enough of the dog whistle sexism.

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We live in an era in which the country's Prime Minister never fails to repeat the slogan of "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" (Save girl child, educate girl child). We live in an era in which everyone talks about women empowerment over a cup of tea or coffee. We live in an era in which women are said to be not only walking parallel to men, but also surpassing them in various fields.

Yet it doesn't matter, whether you're a top sportswoman or an actor or author, at the end of the day, society hasn't moved past the notion that a woman must have children. The very question of settling down, building a family and embracing motherhood at the peak of one's career explains what is wrong with the Indian mindsets. This is where the double standards of the patriarchal society is seen best at its play.

For those who are caught unaware, the incident that has once again brought to spotlight the flaws in the mental setup of the countrymen is Sania Mirza's interview with Rajdeep Sardesai.

Sania launched her autobiography titled Ace Against Odds, which was released by Shah Rukh Khan, on July 13 in Hyderabad. In an interview to discuss the book, Rajdeep Sardesai asked her, "Amidst all the celebrityhood, when is Sania going to settle down? ... What about motherhood? Building a family? I don’t see that in the book. It seems like you don’t want to retire yet to settle down.”

Now, the very fact that even when you are ranked as No.1 in the world in your field, still your countrymen cannot get past the idea of equating you being "settled" with having a child and nurturing a family is downright outrageous. However, being the sensible woman that she is, Sania slammed the question with the most befitting answer. Here's what she said:

"You don't think I'm settled? You sound disappointed that I am not choosing motherhood over being No.1 in the world at this point of time. But I'll answer your question anyway. This is one of the questions, as women, that we have to face all the time...Unfortunately, that's when we are settled and no matter how many Wimbledons we win or No.1s we become, we don't become 'settled'."

Though, Rajdeep apologised immediately on realising the ill construction of his question but he also admitted that he would never have asked the same question to a male athlete. Well, we can only hope what Sania aptly summed up in her words, "I hope a few years from now, a girl, when she is 29 isn't asked the question about when she is going to have a child when she is No.1 in the world."

You go girl. More power to you!

 

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