Stand-up act takes apart myths on ageing, expectations of women

CHENNAI: The brightly-lit Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall on Harington Road was buzzing with polite conversation as people exchanged pleasantries while they waited for the curtains to go up on the show of the evening.
As the music started and the performer hit the stage, the ambience changed within a jiffy. Guffaws, raucous laugher, cautious giggles and chuckles filled the hall as stand-up comedian Radhika Vaz took apart stereotypes and picked on societal mores to tell women that it's okay to just be and not live up to expectations or live with social pressures.
For one-and-a-half-hours the New-York based Vaz had the audience rolling with laughter with her humorous take on the efforts women make to be "ladylike" in her show 'Older. Angrier. Hairier' as part of The Great Indian Comedy Show presented by The Times of India.
The no-nonsense comedian said that crossing 40 had made her angrier about everything in life and also hairier at times because she just didn't care anymore if the world got a glimpse of her unshaved arms or legs.
She was equally scathing and witty in her attack on the expectation that every woman should produce a child. "When you say you don't have a child, the reactions ranges from you are not trying hard enough to 'oh her husband must be gay' or 'a gay' as we say in India," said Vaz on her decision not to have a child whom she finds "at times stupid and generally highly overrated".
Painstakingly honest about her midlife crises, Vaz used her comic timing to open up discussions on topics that are generally considered taboo. Her act assured women that it is okay to have grey hair, sagging breasts and misshapen vaginas, and look old because ageing gracefully is not about not ageing at all. She rubbished society's expectation that women should be perfect in managing the household.
"I have read her articles on The Times of India blog but this is her first live show I am watching. It is so endearing to hear someone say that it's impossible to 'have everything' like society expects us to and that it is perfectly alright to prioritise our own ambitions and desires," said Priyadarshini M, a banker.