India’s Got Latent and the 60-second feminism test

Sometimes young women encounter patriarchy before they encounter feminist theory.If you’re chronically online, you’ve probably seen the latest India’s Got Latent episode (or at least the memes). If you haven’t, one performance in particular on Samay Raina’s controversy-ridden show has dominated the conversation. Sakshi, an 18-year-old contestant, built her minute-long set around a single premise: that she hates men.Throughout the performance, she mocks, generalises and derides men, presenting herself as a “man-hater”. She briefly touches on a truth many women recognise—that no matter how hard she tries, she can never be a “big man” because she is a woman. “I want to get drunk and hit a man with a hunter too, I need some sort of red flag in my life.” The larger performance is less a critiqu