Feminine Fables

by Sen, Geeti

• ISBN13: 9781890206314
• ISBN10: 1890206318
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-13
• Publisher: Mapin Publishing Gp Pty Ltd

Summary

A new iconography of the Indian woman seems to be emerging which challenges the traditional "images" and roles of women. Dramatic changes in projecting the woman reflect changes in societal norms and taboos -- in a country which has both defiled woman and idolized her. These roles for the modern woman are subversive, mapping out bold new frontiers for her to explore.

Set against the feminist discourse, these images raise different questions about "seeing" the Indian woman. Traced over the century, they suggest an extraordinary transformation in imaging the Indian woman as manifested in painting, photography, popular posters and classical cinema and as examined here in works by both men and women.

In five seminal essays this book examines central issues regarding the woman, whether she is viewed as a woman or a goddess; whether her body is treated as an object or subject of pleasure; if she has the freedom to move from the home to the world outside; if she is expected to play multiple roles or is perceived in her integral self; and if she has learned now how

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	6	(2)
Feminine Fables: introduction	8	(7)
Bharat Mata: woman or goddess?	15	(46)
Woman Resting on a Charpoy: the semiotics of desire	61	(40)
The Home and the World: inner and outer spaces	101	(32)
The Ceremony of Unmasking: the ambivalence of roles	133	(38)
Hatyogini Shakti: the goddess within	171	(34)
Glossary	205