#SpeakUp: Nandita Shenoy

(This interview series features Shaun B. Fauntleroy in conversations with the artists of #SpeakUp. Learn more here, RSVP here, and tell the world you’re coming here.)

Why did you get involved with #StandUp? Because you and Sol asked me!

What do you want people to take away from #StandUp? I want people to realize how common harassment is in our society and how that is a problem for everyone.

In the course of writing the piece, did anything surprise you? I learned that harrassment even happens at ComiCon which blew my mind. It really put into perspective the extreme double-standard in portraying women even in completely made-up worlds.

What changes in our society do you think need to happen in order for street/gender-based harassment to disappear? The message about street harassment needs to be directed at men rather than women.  Right now most messages are to women about how they should protect themselves instead of encouraging respectful behavior from men.

Favorite song? Push It by Salt-n-Pepa – my all time favorite song!  I will dance any time it comes on!

Nandita Shenoy is a writer-actor in New York. Her comedy Washer/Dryer recently received its world premier at East West Players in Los Angeles and will be produced this fall by Rasaka Theater in Chicago. Nandita won the 2014 Father Hamblin Award in Playwriting from the Abingdon Theater Company. Her one-acts, Marrying Nandini, By Popular Demand, Rules of Engagement, and A More Perfect Date, have been produced in New York City as well as regionally. She is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. Nandita holds a Bachelors Degree in English literature with distinction in the major from Yale University.