Patel

Hery Patel
Jessica Graue
English Composition 1121
June 25, 2015
Indian American Comedian success
Mindy Kaling is a writer and a comedian. She was born in Cambridge, MA. Her
parents were immigrants from India. Her father was an architect and her mother was a
doctor. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Was the best selling memoir, Mindy took
off from college for a semester to intern for Late Night with Conan OBrien. She won six
Emmys for her role on Tv sitcoms The Office and The Mindy Project She has publicly
stated that she would never want to be called the funniest Indian female comedian that
exists (Yuan par. 22). While many may be confused at her refusal of such a glowing
compliment, that statement is in fact inherently racist and sexist. The compliment may be
well intentioned, but it is also backhanded. By qualifying Kalings success by her race
and gender, her accomplishments are diminished. It implies that women or Indian people
are simply not as funny as the general population of comedians, so she is not allowed to
compete with them and does not receive the same level of respect. "She's so successful
for a woman!"

The foundation of benevolent sexism is that women and men are fundamentally
different, and that there are specific roles for which each gender has a propensity. Society
tends to see women as the more caring and compassionate sex, and pushes females into
roles such as motherhood and teaching, while discouraging them from roles traditionally

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seen as for men. Examples of this can be found in David Foster Wallaces collection of
short stories, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
The views into the lives of these hideous men shine a light on the many faces of
benevolent sexism that appear in the real world, highlighting the sad fact the we live in
what is by and large a hideous society.
As a result, women are often objectified in the media. Alex Bilmes, editor of
Esquire UK, and a real life hideous man, is on record having said the women featured in
his magazine are ornamentalobjects and that people are not interested in their
brains (Nolan pars. 2 and 5).
While women are seen as nurturing and weak, men are seen as the competent gender that
should take charge. In Pop Quiz 7 of Octet, the womans soon to be ex-husband is
regarded by his own family as the scion of [the] family (Wallace 134). They believe
that he holds all the power in the family and that he should get whatever he wants. These
gender roles have been perpetuated for so long that they are ingrained in everyones
minds as typical because thats just how it is, but this is a toxic view to keep promoting.
It discourages women from pursuing leadership roles and taking charge. By gently
steering women towards caretaking roles, we are enforcing the idea that a woman cannot
do a mans job because she is in some way incompetent or inferior.
wrong.

Although benevolent sexism may rest on good intentions and a desire to do right
by women, it has a seriously negative impact. And it doesnt just exist in a small

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microcosm of society. Benevolent sexism extends far beyond one book and a few hideous
men, and its impact cannot be ignored.

Another symptom of benevolent sexism is the idea that men are less emotional,
and as a result are breadwinners rather than caregivers. In the story Pop Quiz 7 from
Octet, a woman about to divorce her husband believes she will easily get custody of
their child because thats how things usually shake out in divorce law, even though it is
unfair to make the assumption that the woman will automatically be a better parent
(Wallace 134).

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Work cited
KALING, MINDY. "The Happiness Interview With MINDY KALING."Good
Housekeeping 256.5 (2013): 124. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 June 2015.
Kaling, Mindy, et al. "And The Rest Of The Best (And Coolest, Funniest, Wildest,
Deepest, Weirdest...)." Entertainment Weekly 1324 (2014): 28-32. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 26 June 2015.
Feeney, Nolan. "Mindy Kaling Breaks Silence On Mindy Project Cancelation."
Time.Com (2015): N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 June 2015.
YUAN, JADA. "THE NEW NEW GIRL. (Cover Story)." New York 45.29 (2012): 34-39.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 June 2015.