Female Body Image and Beauty Politics in Contemporary Indian Literature and Culture
Female Body Image and Beauty Politics in Contemporary Indian Literature and Culture
edited by Srirupa Chatterjee and Shweta Rao Garg
Temple University Press, 2024
ISBNs
Cloth: 978-1-4399-2251-4
Paper: 978-1-4399-2252-1
eISBN: 978-1-4399-2253-8
About the Book
Female Body Image and Beauty Politics in Contemporary Indian Literature and Culture is the first volume to analyze the myriad conceptualizations of South Asian women’s body issues in film, literature, advertising, and other media. Showing how body image and self-identity are constructed in contemporary neoliberal India, the editors and contributors theorize issues of body image vis-à-vis Indian womanhood while touching upon political, socio-economic, and cultural parameters.
Influences from the colonial period through the age of the internet and globalization have reinforced Eurocentric ideals about femininity and womanhood. This long overdue volume addresses the pressures of beautification that Indian women face as they struggle with body acceptance and are often denied pride in their natural bodies.
Contributors: Annika Taneja, Anurima Chanda, Aratrika Bose, Kavita Daiya, Ketaki Chowkhani, Nishat Haider, Samrita Sinha, Shailendra Kumar Singh, Shubhra Ray, Sucharita Sarkar, Sukshma Vedere, Swatie, Tanupriya, Turni Chakrabarti, and the editors.
Influences from the colonial period through the age of the internet and globalization have reinforced Eurocentric ideals about femininity and womanhood. This long overdue volume addresses the pressures of beautification that Indian women face as they struggle with body acceptance and are often denied pride in their natural bodies.
Contributors: Annika Taneja, Anurima Chanda, Aratrika Bose, Kavita Daiya, Ketaki Chowkhani, Nishat Haider, Samrita Sinha, Shailendra Kumar Singh, Shubhra Ray, Sucharita Sarkar, Sukshma Vedere, Swatie, Tanupriya, Turni Chakrabarti, and the editors.
About the Author
Srirupa Chatterjee is Associate Professor of English, Gender Studies, and Body Studies in the Department of Liberal Arts at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India. She is the editor of The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings and coeditor of Gendered Violence in Public Spaces: Women’s Narratives of Travel in Neoliberal India.
Shweta Rao Garg is an academic, poet, and artist based in Baltimore, MD. She is a former Associate Professor of English at DA-IICT in Gandhinagar, India. She is the coeditor of English Paradigm in India: Essays in Language, Literature and Culture.
Shweta Rao Garg is an academic, poet, and artist based in Baltimore, MD. She is a former Associate Professor of English at DA-IICT in Gandhinagar, India. She is the coeditor of English Paradigm in India: Essays in Language, Literature and Culture.
Reviews
"This book offers a subversive commentary on body image, body shaming, beauty standards, and other aspects of beauty politics for women in contemporary India.... [T]he book successfully intervenes in the normalized acceptance of female adherence to self-criticism to attain an unnatural body image. It undertakes the task of making the discussion more inclusive by encompassing caste, colourism, (dis)ability, and sexuality. The book’s purpose aligns with one of the major and less talked about crises Indian women undergo, that of attaining the homogenized ideal body image and the resulting severe scrutiny that women experience on a daily basis."—Journal of Gender Studies
"The book serves as an important resource for understanding the ongoing discourse on female body image and beauty politics in India, demonstrating the power of literature in reflecting and shaping societal values. This volume is essential for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of body image and its impact on Indian women. Chatterjee and Garg’s work not only highlights the pervasive nature of beauty standards but also celebrates the resilience and agency of women who navigate and resist these norms. This book is a testament to the power of literature in reflecting and shaping societal values and serves as an important resource for understanding the ongoing discourse on female body image and beauty politics in India."—Fat Studies
"[T]his book is commendable as it significantly contributes to the current debate on beauty standards/ body image. While discussing literature, culture, media, films, fictions and other texts, this book provides an altogether unique perspective on the issue of body politics, which makes it a must-read for those who are working in the area of Body Studies and Gender Studies, especially in India."—University of Bucharest Review
Tags
Beauty Personal, Body image in women, Physical-appearance-based bias, India, Democracy, Political Ideologies, Political aspects, Public Policy, Sociology, Political Science, Social Science
Open Access Information
License: CC BY-NC-ND
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