Yahoo News Anita Rani on having to work that bit harder as a British Asian woman on TV
TV presenter Anita Rani is a staple face of British TV, having worked on the likes of The One Show, Watchdog and now Countryfile, however her journey to success hasn’t been without challenges.
Good Housekeeping's May cover star Anita has spoken about the struggles she’s faced as a British Asian TV presenter and how hard she’s had to work to reach her goals.
“First of all, it feels great to have worked so hard and achieved something like that; smashing glass ceilings is a pretty great feeling. But it’s important to me to speak out about the struggles I’ve had, too,” she said on her GH cover shoot.
“The perception of Asian women has always been very binary; people think we’re quite square and clever and that we don’t have sex until we’re married (of course, Mother, I didn’t have sex until I got married!). But that’s just not the case. I’ve hated being put into boxes my whole life.”
Anita also spoke about the racism she’s experienced within her industry.
“Ridiculous things all the time, such as people thinking it’s okay to imitate an Indian accent in front of me. And things have happened at work, too," she said.
“Ask any ethnic, black or Asian person who works in any big industry – we just know we have to work a bit harder. I’ve had to prove myself a lot more than others and it’s frustrating, but it’s not just about race. All women feel it, don’t they? We just have to keep ploughing away,” she added.
Elsewhere in the interview, 42-year-old Anita spoke about the joy of getting older.
“There’s so much focus on youth and beauty but, for me, there’s more beauty in wisdom. You don’t get that without a few years under your belt. Some of the most beautiful women I know are in their 60s, 70s and 80s and still doing their thing, and the best part is that they don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
Read the full Anita Rani interview in the May of Good Housekeeping, on sale from 1 April.
Anita hosts Countryfile every Sunday on BBC One. Britain’s Best Parent? Starts on Channel 4 in late April.
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