Good Girls Don’t Laugh
When loud, mocking, female laughter was heard in Parliament, Vice President Venkaih Naidu chided the boisterous MP Renuka Chowdhury, asking her what was wrong with her, did she need a doctor? To which Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him to let her be, since he hadn’t had the good fortune of hearing such laughter since the serial Ramayan. The comment was made in jest, but Union Minister Kiren Rijiju posted a video clip of the cackling demoness Surpanakha from the Ramayan . Social media was in an uproar, though Chowdury was not directly called a demoness. Why did Rijiju and so many on Twitter assume the reference to laughter had to be directed at Surpanakha? Because according to the rules for women in Indian culture, good women do not laugh loudly. So it could not have been Sita, Urmila, or even Mandodari, right? Good women do not laugh at men, and if they do, it is a disaster. Supanakha’s lust and arrogance led to Laxman cutti...