Anita Rani has responded to the comments made by the ex woman's hour stalwart Dame Jenni Murray, who criticized the Country file presenter for “wearing not much more than underwear” at the Baftas.
The 46-year-old, who has hosted Country file since 2015 andwoman's hour Since 2021, she attended the TV Awards in May wearing a floor-length dress made of transparent mesh fabric and a nude bodysuit underneath, by designer Rebecca Vallance.
In response to Rani's outfit, Murray, who presented the BBC Radio 4 show for 33 years until 2020, dedicated a daily mail column to express how “shocked and horrified” she was to see Rani “wearing little more than underwear, probably a little of both, but my predominant emotion was one of deep disappointment.”
While Murray, 74, called Rani a “trustworthy” presenter, he criticized the presenter for “jumping on the bandwagon of wearing as little as possible to show off”.
Murray compared Rani to pop star Rita Ora, who wore a similar style dress to the Met Gala in May. Murray, however, claimed that “Anywhere” singer Ora “doesn't have to worry about her reputation as a thinker,” while Rani “does.”
He went on to tell his successor that woman's hour presenters must adhere to “the feminist principle that women should be considered valued for their minds.”
Rani has now responded to those criticisms, saying The Telegraph who found Murray's argument reductive and troubling.
“What was your argument: that Rita Ora can get away with anything because no one expects her to have a brain? I think it's a very reductionist and quite strange argument,” she said.
Rani said the world has “outgrown” those ideas, adding: “How amazing is it that you can have brains and wear sexy clothes?”
The presenter, who hosts the radio show alongside Nuala McGovern, said she was “a little worried” that Murray would make such criticisms, as the station was at the forefront of woman's houra radio show that has long advocated for women to express themselves on their own terms.
She continued, “It's really strange, because I'm not the first woman to wear a dress, but for some reason, that dress seemed really interesting to me.”
Rani pointed out the backlash she received on social media and asked if there was anything about an “Asian woman doing it that had left people speechless.” she before concluding: “I don't know.”
“I wonder if people even saw me,” he said. “It's not that they're noticing me, they're just freaking out about seeing me for the first time. I think: is this something to do with the fact that it is my body with that dress? That it is an Indian woman who has done something totally unexpected?
Her comments come just weeks after the host opened up about her experience of divorce when she was 40, stating that she feels like she “can take her first breath” and finally do what she “really wants to do.”
writing in Sunday timeEarlier this month, Rani said that becoming single in her 40s allowed her to realize that “she doesn't have to answer to anyone.”
“Being single in my forties has made me reevaluate everything. She has made me see the extent to which I have been conditioned to be an obedient woman, instead of a free woman. Until now,” she said.
“Now I feel like I'm starting to breathe for the first time, to do what I really want. And now reaching my forties has given me a sense of urgency.”
