Badass Brides: Nimisha Bhanot and Art That Challenges Socio-Cultural Norms

I grew up understanding that as a South Asian woman, I was under a constant magnifying glass. All my actions (and non-actions) were being intensely watched and augmented by the Desi (people from the South Asian diaspora) community. People were eager to wait and witness what scandalous shit everyone else would get into (while secretly getting into their own tom-foolery), but judging everyone harshly all the same. The hypocritical, sexist, and sexually repressed culture I grew up in was steadfast to let all their women understand that their roles were simple: be a submissive, feminine lotus flower that never fights against the status quo, or be considered a repugnant disgrace to your family and to the community. [quote_left]Nimisha Bhanot does not shy away from discussing the double standards and ridiculous expectations placed on women and femmes [/quote_left]Any kind of deviation, whether it be a career path, fashion choices, revealing your sexual orientation that is not heterosexual, dating outside your race or religion, or choosing to be sexually independent was considered an attack on the values and cultures of your people. What it really was, is a systematic brainwashing that forces people to live in a classist and sexist binary, that erases any kind of autonomy; one with free will should be able to live the way they desire without harming others. However, rebelling against these ideals have always existed, and in today’s day and age has seen a unique transformation of how…