Ivanka Trump may be here for an entrepreneurship summit, but on some television channels the focus was firmly on other matters.
Ivanka Trump is in Hyderabad for the 8th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which is to focus on businesswomen and increased collaboration between India and the US. But on some television channels the focus seems to be firmly on other matters.
For example, we know what Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be eating with India’s esteemed guest of honour at tonight’s gala dinner to be hosted at the Taj Falaknuma. Dahi ke kebab and kubani ke malai kofta appear to be on the menu in the 101-chair dining room dinner.
We also know that a rose petal shower awaits Ivanka when she enters the hotel lobby, and she will be travelling in her personal bullet proof-vehicle.
Little is said about Ivanka’s own conflicted brand of feminism and about her role as the presidential advisor. But we do know that “Ivanka Trump dodges controversy with a smile,” and that the “Trump sisters (were) criticised for short hemlines,” in the U.S. for Thanksgiving dinner.
Ivanka, an author, businesswoman, and chief presidential advisor, is repeatedly referred to as “Trump ki beti,” “style-guru,” and “fashionista”. After much debate, a decisive conclusion was reached that “she would easily win the Oscar if there was an award for the best-dressed first daughter.”
While one channel called her ‘Super Power Woman’ and said the world was impressed by Modi’s diplomacy, another called the Hyderabad event an ‘Ivanka Fest’, but there was worse.
The voice for India Today’s coverage of the event says: “At 11.25 am on the 20 November, the NITI Aayog handle tweeted that at GES 2017 the youngest entrepreneur is going to be a 13-years-old and the oldest a modest 84 years. But probably no one cares about that figure, when you can look out for this figure.”
The coverage is disheartening because it not only objectifies and reinforces gendered stereotypes. The aim of the Hyderabad summit is to promote gender equality in business, something which is clearly needed given a Nasscom report released earlier this month revealed that women comprise only 11 per cent employees in 5,000 startups in India.