TG: It's a scene that reminds me of one in your new show where your character is putting on some clothes for a date and you put on this incredibly, like, spangly [haha] top, and the Chris Messina character, your fellow doctor, says that's something, like, your girlfriend will love, not something the man you're on a date with is gonna like.
MK: Yes, yeah, that's something that I've observed in life, is that there's like a list of fifteen things that women tend to love and men tend to not like, fashion-wise. Um, which ended up being true, any guy who I show that scene to is like, "Yeah, that's a...terrible outfit."
TG: So you say that there were fifteen things in fashion that girls like that guys hate. What are some of those fifteen?
MK: Oh, I said fifteen? Wow, that's so specific...so confidently specific! Um...there's some things, you know, I've learned over the years...I think men--these, by the way, are all generalizations, uh...many people listening will disagree with them. I have found it to be true that men tend to not understand or like sequins very much.
Men don't like sort of the wedge shoe, I have noticed. Um, men don't tend to like the statement necklace or chunky tribal jewelry. These are, by the way, all the things that I LOVE. So the overlap in the Venn Diagram of things that men hate for women to wear and the things that I love to wear is almost a full overlap, which is unfortunate for me. What are other things...capri pants. I've noticed that men tend to dislike--this is not clothing, but I adore a short haircut. I don't know a single man, including my own brother and my own father who, if I cut my hair shorter than my shoulders...they think it's a huge tragedy.
Mindy Kaling in conversation with Terri Gross on Fresh Air, aired September 25, 2012.
Although I try to avoid broad gender-based tropes like this, I think Kaling chose some clever examples, and I'm interested in how those stereotypes can be made fun of on shows like those she writes, or reinforced. Or both.
Listen to it here.
MK: Yes, yeah, that's something that I've observed in life, is that there's like a list of fifteen things that women tend to love and men tend to not like, fashion-wise. Um, which ended up being true, any guy who I show that scene to is like, "Yeah, that's a...terrible outfit."
TG: So you say that there were fifteen things in fashion that girls like that guys hate. What are some of those fifteen?
MK: Oh, I said fifteen? Wow, that's so specific...so confidently specific! Um...there's some things, you know, I've learned over the years...I think men--these, by the way, are all generalizations, uh...many people listening will disagree with them. I have found it to be true that men tend to not understand or like sequins very much.
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| Character Mindy Lahiri, MD, in her "First Date" outfit, from "The Mindy Project", 2012. From here. |
Men don't like sort of the wedge shoe, I have noticed. Um, men don't tend to like the statement necklace or chunky tribal jewelry. These are, by the way, all the things that I LOVE. So the overlap in the Venn Diagram of things that men hate for women to wear and the things that I love to wear is almost a full overlap, which is unfortunate for me. What are other things...capri pants. I've noticed that men tend to dislike--this is not clothing, but I adore a short haircut. I don't know a single man, including my own brother and my own father who, if I cut my hair shorter than my shoulders...they think it's a huge tragedy.
Mindy Kaling in conversation with Terri Gross on Fresh Air, aired September 25, 2012.
Although I try to avoid broad gender-based tropes like this, I think Kaling chose some clever examples, and I'm interested in how those stereotypes can be made fun of on shows like those she writes, or reinforced. Or both.
Listen to it here.