COVER STORY
For Phoolan, Who Wasn’t A Devi
Goddesses are a myth. Phoolan was real.
Outlook Magazine - Women’s Day Special - 11 March 2026 Issue
Daku-Sundari. Vishkanya. Seductress. Black-Widow. Characterless. These are not just words; but cages. For decades, whenever a woman has found herself at the center of violence, power, survival, or controversy, society has eagerly reached for a label. Nowhere is this dichotomy more glaring than the story of our cover subject, Phoolan Devi. To those who understood her struggle, she was a true 'Devi', a woman who survived unspeakable brutality and fought back in a language the system understood. But to the establishment, and the masses, she was deliberately reduced to a bloodthirsty outlaw. The media played a deeply complicit role in this framing. At Outlook, we understand the immense weight our words carry. In our pursuit of truth, we must constantly ask the ‘why’ behind the narratives and unflinchingly map the axis of power that sustains them. How a story is told determines who is afforded dignity, and who is sentenced to the court of public spectacle.For this Outlook Women’s Day Special, we are crossing out the "Femme Fatale". We are looking past the “Roop-ki-Ranis” and the “Honeymoon-Killers” to see the women buried beneath the headlines. The pieces in this issue deconstruct the biases that have painted women as either pure, unblemished victims or irredeemable temptresses, while exposing the systems that protect the men who abuse them. In this issue our reporters hold a mirror up the very industry we inhabit. N.K. Bhoopesh, Apeksha Priyadarshini, Sakshi Chavan,Mrinalini Dhyani, Lalita Iyer, Fozia Yasin, and Zenaira Bakhsh get the theme of the cover story right through. Seema Guha decodes PM’s visit to Israel while columns by Harish Khare and Arijit Sen talk about what’s happening around. Grab your copy of Outlook, March 11th issue now.
Killer, But Make It Beautiful: The Gendered Language of Crime Reporting
When a woman commits a crime, the storytelling often drifts from the nature of the crime to her physical attributes, moral values and the idea that she has transgressed the roles assigned to her by society
When Factual Becomes Sensational: Misogny And Titillation In Reporting Of Women Involved In Crime
Reporting crimes allegedly committed by women is often designed to titillate rather than to condemn, serving as an additional means of boosting viewership and TRPs
Phoolan Devi: Caste, Violence and the Burden of a Manufactured Legend
Media accounts simultaneously cast her as victim and avenger, until a life shaped by caste violence and gendered oppression was repackaged into a consumable myth of dishonour and revenge
The Second Assault At Hathras
In 2020, 10 Dalit women were raped daily in India. The Hathras victim was among them. The way her case was remade into fiction proves twisted headlines can rewrite rapes and erase women
The Spectacle Of The Woman Accused: How Sensationalism Distracts From The Offence And Amplifies Suspicion
Media narratives—especially when women are involved—can end up amplifying suspicion and weaponising gender
The Hierarchy Of Sympathy: How Media Narratives Influence Justice In Crimes Against Women
In crimes against women, justice is shaped not only in courtrooms but in newsrooms where narrative determines whose suffering becomes national conscience and whose fades into procedural silence
Through The Male Gaze: Silver Screen's Obsession With The Rape-Revenge Trope
The trope of transforming sexual violence against women into a springboard for rage that can only be channelled through counter-violence has long served as a popular framework in cinema, both globally and in India
The Chic Cartel: Autonomy, Control And Morally Ambiguous Women
Women are not just victims or side characters in recent crime-and-power OTT dramas. They are complex forces—capable of empathy, strategy and ruthlessness—whose narratives demand both recognition and reckoning
The Stink Of Epstein
Why are the rich and powerful of the world scared of what lies buried in the Jeffrey Epstein files?
Killer, But Make It Beautiful: The Gendered Language of Crime Reporting
When a woman commits a crime, the storytelling often drifts from the nature of the crime to her physical attributes, moral values and the idea that she has transgressed the roles assigned to her by society
When Factual Becomes Sensational: Misogny And Titillation In Reporting Of Women Involved In Crime
Reporting crimes allegedly committed by women is often designed to titillate rather than to condemn, serving as an additional means of boosting viewership and TRPs
Phoolan Devi: Caste, Violence and the Burden of a Manufactured Legend
Media accounts simultaneously cast her as victim and avenger, until a life shaped by caste violence and gendered oppression was repackaged into a consumable myth of dishonour and revenge
The Second Assault At Hathras
In 2020, 10 Dalit women were raped daily in India. The Hathras victim was among them. The way her case was remade into fiction proves twisted headlines can rewrite rapes and erase women
The Spectacle Of The Woman Accused: How Sensationalism Distracts From The Offence And Amplifies Suspicion
Media narratives—especially when women are involved—can end up amplifying suspicion and weaponising gender
The Hierarchy Of Sympathy: How Media Narratives Influence Justice In Crimes Against Women
In crimes against women, justice is shaped not only in courtrooms but in newsrooms where narrative determines whose suffering becomes national conscience and whose fades into procedural silence
Through The Male Gaze: Silver Screen's Obsession With The Rape-Revenge Trope
The trope of transforming sexual violence against women into a springboard for rage that can only be channelled through counter-violence has long served as a popular framework in cinema, both globally and in India
The Chic Cartel: Autonomy, Control And Morally Ambiguous Women
Women are not just victims or side characters in recent crime-and-power OTT dramas. They are complex forces—capable of empathy, strategy and ruthlessness—whose narratives demand both recognition and reckoning
The Stink Of Epstein
Why are the rich and powerful of the world scared of what lies buried in the Jeffrey Epstein files?
OTHER OUTLOOK MAGAZINE STORIES
Prince Pervert: How The Past Caught Up With Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Are rumours of the death of the rule of law vastly exaggerated?
Passing The Watermelon: Questions Over Timing Of Modi's Israel Visit
Narendra Modi’s presence in Israel is being read not just as a bilateral engagement, but as an endorsement of Israeli action in Gaza and the West Bank
The Big Boong
Perhaps Boong’s recent BAFTA win, and the international attention it should bring to Manipur, will be the first step towards better things in a region that truly deserves it
Book Review: Parallel Lives, Shared Legacy Of Hindi's Trailblazer Writers
Poonam Saxena’s translations of Mannu Bhandari and Rajendra Yadav’s memoirs present a portrait of the trailblazing Hindi writer-couple’s marriage and of newly independent India
A Campaign Diary: Working With Prashant Kishor
Whether speaking through a downpour or addressing a minority outreach meeting scheduled on the evening of Chhath Puja, the act of showing up despite unfavorable conditions became a powerful statement of commitment and resilience in the long political fight, Gaurow writes.
