Embodied Violence: Communalising Female Sexuality in South AsiaBloomsbury Academic, 1996 - 299 pages This book is a major investigation into the myriad of ways in which societies play out the struggle for cultural identity on women's bodies. It explores the relationship between ideals of motherhood, tradition, community and racial purity and uncovers the ways in which women's bodies become the recording surface of repressive cultural practices and 'symbolic' humiliations. The distinguished cast of contributors explore a wide range of issues ranging from the status of women as bargaining counters of national identity in India after independence and partition to the presence of women as an empowered presence in Hindu nationalism, from the legal definition and legitimation of sexual violence to the relationship between an idealised nationalist femininity and the tourist trade in Sri Lanka. This is an essential book for anyone exploring contemporary debates around feminism and post-colonial theory in South Asia. |
Contents
Rape and the Construction of Communal Identity | 32 |
Ethnicity and the Empowerment of Women | 113 |
Notes on Contributors | 297 |
Copyright | |
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Age of Consent andar mahal Arasanayagam bania belief Bengal Bombay Brahmanas British Calcutta caste Hindu Ceylon Chitpavan claim colonial construction contemporary cultural Delhi Deorala Devi discourse economic elite essay event female feminine feminist frescoes gender girls goddess Golwalkar hegemony Hindu Nation Hindu nationalist Hindu women Hinduism husband Ibid ideal identity ideologies institutions Islam issue Jhardli Jhunjhunu Kelkar lives lower castes Maharashtra Malathi de Alwis male marriage married middle class mother movement Mridula Sarabhai Muslim Muslim women Narayani nineteenth century organisations paintings Pakistan Pandita Ramabai patriarchal Peshwai political Poona popular position pyre Rajasthan rajput Rakhmabai rape recovery reformers religion religious represented rituals Rokeya role Samiti Sangh satt secular sevikas sexuality Shekhawati Sigiri Sigiriya signifier Sinhala social society Sri Lanka status structures struggle symbolic Tamil texts Tilak tion tradition upper caste village violence widow immolation widow remarriage wife woman worship