Two ‘women of substance’ expressed similar opinions about the glass ceiling that women face in the world of entertainment.

In India, filmmaker Kiran Rao said it is sad that women have been suppressed through generations and it is “shameful” that they have to fight for equal pay even today.

The director said women have always had to struggle to fight for their rights.

“Historically, girls and women have been suppressed. It’s known to all that for 1,000 years, women have been given secondary position. Not in India, but in other parts of the world women got voting rights much later.

“All over the world, women have to struggle to get their rights and recognition. If we talk about pay, the fact that women have to fight for ‘equal pay for equal work’ is shameful,” Kiran told reporters.

Meanwhile in London,writer Sally Wainwright said women have always faced tough odds and had to prove their mettle more than men.

The “Happy Valley” screenwriter says she had no idea if she had faced any sort of discrimination when she embarked upon her career in films and television but life taught her things the hard way, reports RadioTimes.

“When I started out, it didn’t occur to me that I would ever be discriminated against. But later in life I experienced the difference between how men and women are perceived.

“Men are trusted more, it’s just assumed they’ll be good at something. Whereas women have to prove they’re going to be good at it,” says Wainwright.

The writer adds she finds women characters more interesting and heroic.

“Things don’t come as easily to them or they’re questioned more, doubted more. They have to put themselves out there more,” she says.

  Media, women’s rights