The Wall Street Journal has a great blog post about Prime Minister Modi’s “Clean India” campaign and the role of celebrity Priyanka Chopra in cleaning up a garbage infested area of the Mumbai neighborhood of Versova. It includes an 11 minute YouTube video. But my beef is with the implications of the second word of the post which begins “In pink rubber gloves and a surgical mask, former Miss World and Bollywood movie star Priyanka Chopra is the latest celebrity to be enlisted…” In American culture, pink is associated with feminine characteristics and it seems that the journalist is also insinuating that Ms. Chopra is somehow being flippant or frivolous by wearing cutesy pink gloves as a photo op.
But the reality is that many, if not most, medical rubber gloves used in India have a pink or light red hue. She is simply wearing gloves (and glasses) to protect her hands and eyes. The former Miss World is dead serious in my view. But by one little word, even if is true literally, the tone of the article is altered. (The Wall Street Journal is actually doing a great job of covering India this year, unlike most American media, so this is just a minor peeve with one article).
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
