Women in India Exploring Work, Life, and Freedom

Introduction

PART I: Literature and culture

1 Crafting écriture féminine: History, womanhood, and “taboo” in Bengali women’s poetry

2 Women folk songs as a history of female resistance: A feminist reading of Bhojpuri folk songs and Malabar’s Kathu Pattu

3 Engendering Chhau dance of Purulia: Deconstructing the binary

Rahul Mahata and Doreswamy

4 The dichotomy of conservatism and freedom: Analysing Amulya Malladi’s The Mango Season

5 “Femvertising”: A critical analysis of the evolution of Indian sanitary napkin advertisements over time

PART II: Body, health, and violence

6 Contesting maternity: Reading Zehra Naqvi’s The Reluctant Mother: A Story No One Wants to Tell

7 Broken reproductive health of women sugarcane cutters in Maharashtra, India

Saroj Shinde and Bal Rakshase

8 A gendered analysis of waist-to-hip ratio and its association with diabetes and hypertension in India

9 Tracing a way forward: Analysing the lives of female acid-attack survivors in India

10 Beyond violence and victimhood: Examining Anuradha Roy’s Sleeping on Jupiter

PART III: Social movements, employment, and livelihood

11 The visible invisibility of Dalit Christian women in the anti-caste movements of Kerala

Bincy Mariya N

12 Gendered division of labour and the environmental burden: A critical analysis of Kiran Nagarkar’s Jasoda

13 Stepping into forbidden avenues: A study of biopics on Indian sportswomen

14 Higher education and women’s participation in technology-based industries in India: A regional outlook

Appendix 14A

15 Trials within and beyond courtrooms: A study of gender politics and legal parlance in select Malayalam courtroom films

16 Impact of organisational gender culture on occupational well-being: Has the glass ceiling shattered?

Biography

Seemita Mohanty is Professor of English in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India.

Jalandhar Pradhan is Professor of Economics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India.

Ipsita Roy is Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India.

Debanjali Dutta is a research scholar in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India.

“The place of women in Indian society has always been at par with their male counterparts in all walks of life. History is replete with numerous examples of women with laudable accomplishments in their respective fields since ages. However, the multiple vulnerabilities that women face today are of a very serious concern and are a stark reminder that no society can move forward without exploring, and utilising women’s energy who constitute almost half of the human population. Written by young scholars with their very illustrative and learning experiences, this book is of immense value to both researchers and policymakers alike, besides discerning readers interested in women’s cause and their well-being.”

Bani Chatterjee, Former Professor of Economics, IIT Kharagpur

“Despite significant advancements, women continue to encounter systemic inequalities and struggle for respect and agency even in the twenty-first century. This book is a reminder of the constant sense of precarity and vulnerability that Indian women experience irrespective of their social conditions. The wide range of topics presented here will be of immense help to researchers, students, and the general reader alike to obtain a nuanced understanding of the social, cultural, and economic forces that continue to shape women’s lives in India today.”

Sanghamitra Pati, Additional DG & Director (Additional Charge), ICMR-National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science, New Delhi