Leading by example-Bollywood celebrities breaking the marriage and motherhood stereotypes and how
Marriage and Bollywood have always had an interwoven relationship. The majority of the Bollywood movies have one or the other wedding scene in them. Of course, the marriage scenes on screen are inspired by real-life customs and rituals, but Bollywood has also inspired many trends in marriages being followed in real life. From giving us the ultimate wedding playlist to the ideas for bridal entry, from giving us décor ideas to the ideas of a destination wedding, from giving the ideas of bride and groom look to the ideas of coordinating the outfits, and last of all starting the trend of bachelor and bachelorette parties in India.
Common folks have taken these ideas and have inculcated them in their weddings. But the only trends Bollywood celebrities have set are not from their marriages in Bollywood movies. These people have broken certain old-age rituals in their real marriages that can be done away with, in this day and age. This has prompted many people to do the same.
Celebrity weddings have always been a grand affair, attracting all the media’s attention. Mostly it is about the outfits and décor, and which celebrity wore it best. This has especially become relevant in the era of social media. But sometimes these weddings make the headlines when they inculcate some new traditions in the place of old ones. With the changing times, many celebrities have taken a step forward in redefining the rules and norms of weddings.
Here is the list of celebrities who lead by example and broke the stereotypes in their marriages.
Women have been often named and shamed for marrying someone younger than them. But it is no problem when the roles are reversed. For years an older man marrying a younger woman has been the norm and is totally acceptable in society. But if an older woman marries someone younger than her then a lot of eyebrows are raised. It is this double standard of society that is infuriating. But many female celebrities have shown the world that when it comes to love age is just a number. Actresses like Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai, and many more have partners younger than them. They have shown many young women that society’s opinion should never come in the way of their happiness.
Usually, it is the norm that a priest (male) officiates the wedding. There are rarely any marriages where we see a female priest performing the wedding. This has become the norm because of generation and generation of patriarchy. It is considered so usual that a priestess officiating a wedding has not crossed anyone’s mind. This is where Dia Mirza broke a big stereotype by choosing a female priest to perform her wedding when she got married in the year 2021. Really hope this prompts many couples to hire a female priest to get them married.
Though it is the norm for a groom to put sindoor on hisbride’s head, but when Rajkumar Rao married his long-term girlfriend Patarlekha in November of 2021, he asked her to put the sindoor on his forehead. And she happily obliged. Applying the sindoor is one of the many ways by which two individuals get married and it is usually on a women’s forehead that the sindoor is applied. So, when Rajkumar Rao too wore the sindoor it was a beautiful completely unexpected moment.
According to the rituals, the brothers of a bride holdthe dupatta or phoolon ki chaddar under which a bride walks while making her way to the groom. Katrina Kaif broke this stereotype by getting her sisters to carry her phoolon ki chaddar. Though she is not the first to do so as you can see many other brides doing the same in recent years. But owing to her massive following all over India, she is more likely to influence more women to do the same.
The pressure to get married and to do so at the right age is high in Indian society. As you enter your late 20s you start hearing people urging you to ‘settle down’, especially women. But these actresses did not give into society’s pressure and got married when they thought it was the right time. After all, marriage is a long-life commitment and you do not want to rush into it and do it just because society says so.
Suhasini Mulay got married at the age of 60. She said that marriage is not a compulsory thing that everyone has to go through and you should get married when you are ready. Similarly, Preity Zinta got married at the age of 41and Urmilla Matondkar at the age of 42.
Having a baby out of wedlock is still a big taboo in India. In society’s mind, people should first get marriedand then have a child. The stigma related to getting pregnant without getting married is too much, even today. Many celebrities like Dia Mirza, Celina Jaitley, Amrita Arora got pregnant before marriage but they got married before the delivery of their babies. But what Purab Kohli and Neena Gupta did was different.
They did not get married just because they had a baby. They waited and when they thought it was the right time then they got married. Purab Kohli got married after 2 years of having his daughter and Neena Gupta the trailblazer she is got married at the age of 50, years after she had her daughter Masaba.
Divorce is still a big taboo among Indian people and getting married to divorced men is even a bigger taboo. Society labels any divorce as damaged goods. But many actresses like Dia Mirza, Lara Dutta, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Vidya Balan, and many more have gone their own way and are happily married to a divorce.
Similarly getting married after a divorce or second marriage is uncommon, especially among women. But many actresses and actors have gone through a second marriage and are happily married. Celebrities like Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Dia Mirza, Kirron Kher, Neelam Kothari, Neelima Azeem, and many morehave had second marriages.
Celebrities who broke motherhood stereotypes.
Being a mother is the most rewarding and difficult role in a woman’s life. There are moments of complete joy andsometimes there are moments of despair in motherhood. To be a good mother there are not any hard and fast rules. But society has made some rules and they expect every mother to fit perfectly in that mould. Unfortunately, that is not possible, because even strong mothers break under pressure. So, it is important to not restrict yourself by putting yourself in a version you think motherhood should be.
Just like with marriages many Bollywood actresses havemanaged to redefine motherhood. These are the celebrities who broke the motherhood stereotypes.
Sushmita Sen has always been a strong woman and she set a big example for all the single women who want to be a mother without getting married or without in any relationship when she adopted her first daughter Renee Sen in 2000. She became the first celebrity to adopt a child when she was still single. This became a landmark case that inspired many women to embrace single motherhood.
Many women are told to stop working when they are pregnant. It is mostly done because they want the mother and baby to be healthy. But if you do not have any health issue that requires you to rest you should be able to work. And that is exactly what Kareena Kapoor did when she was pregnant with her first son Taimur. She set a great precedent for pregnant women when she walked the ramp while being pregnant and doing advertisements with many great brands.
Both of these actresses have set great examples and are the trailblazers in motherhood in their aspect. They both had their babies out of wedlock. India has still not warmed up to the idea of women having babies when they are not married. But they did not crumble under the judgmental eyes of society. They ignored all the pessimists and have raised or are raising their kids singlehandedly.
Many actresses and women while being pregnant have hidden their baby bumps. But many actresses like Lisa Hayden and Soha Ali Khan have proudly shown off their baby bumps on Instagram either in bikinis or sportswear. Following in their footsteps many actresses also did the same thing and did not shy away from hiding their bellies.
Postpartum depression is a widely ignored and taboo topic about motherhood. The fact that a mother may not feel an instant connection to their babies is unthinkable and unacceptable to most people. This leads to many women suffer from depression after birth silently, affecting their mental health. So, when a big celebritylike Sameera Reddy talked about postpartum depressionit bought the topic to the forefront.
Many people follow Bollywood celebrities religiously and are greatly influenced by the stuff they do. So, when they do something new that shatters the old stereotypes set by societymany of their fans will be influenced to follow in their steps and bring change to society breaking one stereotype at a time.
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