India’s Supreme Court has said that a 59-year-old union ban on female make-up artists in the country’s film industry is illegal and must be lifted.
In the film industry, only men are allowed to become make-up artists while women are classified as hairdressers.
Nine women petitioned the Supreme Court in January 2013. On Monday, judges said the film set ban was “constitutionally impermissible discrimination”.
“How can this discrimination continue? We will not permit this. It cannot be allowed under our Constitution. Why should only a male artist be allowed to put make-up? How can it be said that only men can be make-up artists and women can be hairdressers? We don’t see a reason to prohibit a woman from becoming a make-up artist if she is qualified,” Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit were quoted as saying in the Indian Express newspaper.
“You better delete this clause on your own. Remove this immediately. We are in 2014, not in 1935. Such things cannot continue even for a day,” the court told the Cine Costume Make-up Artists and Hair Dressers Association (CCMAA). The court said the film industry, as a unit, could not be allowed to prolong this “gender bias”
Well this is a great news for all the female makeup artists and now onwards they too will be a part of the film industry.
