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The Body in Constructions of Identity
Ratnawali Sinha
C e n t r e f o r S o c i a l S t u d i e s , S u r a t . E m a i l : [email protected]
Living the Body: Embodiment, Womenhood and Identity in Contemporary India
by Meenakshi Thapan,
Sage Publication, Delhi;
2009, pp. 220; Rs. 550.
Women as a subject of study have long enriched the feminist literature and have
generated scholarly discourse around the gender issues. From questioning the social
inequality between the sexes, it has moved on to capture the wider spectrum, defining and
redefining the complexities in the women’s lives. The book by Meenakshi Thapan Living
the Body: Embodiment, Womenhood and Identity in Contemporary India not only lies at
the continuum to this end but is an important contribution that gives a perspective to
women’s self and identity as embodied by them in their day to day life experience, from
different locations and stages of life.
Locating the site in postcolonial habitus, the author argues that women have to confront
with varied value sets: one that is rooted in tradition and the other unleashed by the
liberalized economy where global values get transformed into modern and are
incorporated in the contemporary life. The binaries thus produced entrap women into
inner and outer world where her identity and interests are redefined and articulated to suit
the capitalist interests. ‘Recolonisation’ thus become the defining process where a
particular set of ideas, values and norms get incorporated in constructing women’s self
and identity.
While the cultural and social world may seem to impose gender roles that are often
internalised, these are at variance in the recognition of her identity and self where
resistance and confrontations are expressed and alternatives are played out. The body
thus is not a passive one but a site of active engagement with the inner and outer world.
In her engagement with women, the author successfully brings out such contradictions in
the embodiment when it is acted out as the performing bodies. As the habitus is an
important signifier in the embodiment, the voices of women from different locale too
reveal these differences in their articulation and expressions.
Thus while adolescents from privileged and underprivileged background converged at the
point of gendered role of parents, their communication or engagement with them differs.
It is spontaneous and more communicative among the privileged class whereas it is
constrained and limited in the other one. Internalization of gender dimensions of family
eSS Book Reviews, Sinha Living the Body
January 2010
is so entrenched that these values are regenerated in the construction of their prospective
family life and career selection. Hence, the aspiration of professional choices is to be
calibrated by balancing the career with the family life though not without contestation.
Consciousness towards sexual attributes of body is reinforced by peer culture and media
representation which broadly follow the normative pattern. As the physical attributes of
the body constitute an important part of self, it is also contested or substituted by more
positive presentation incorporating social attributes like confidence, assertion and high
self esteem. However, a low self esteem for having a fat body, denounced in media and
their social world alike and hence ugly is palpable among young women. Nonetheless
commitment, aspiration and confidence to achieve something appear to be a part of their
embodied self.
Adolescents from the under privileged group relate their identity mostly within family
and marriage as it happens quite early in their life. Lack of education robs them of their
independence and social standings so the desire to do better for their children becomes a
defining part of their self. Gender identity is constructed around the family and work and
sexuality is seen in the context of their sexual encounters with the partners. Women have
an ambivalent attitude towards marriage. At one plane it is perceived constraining their
independence but at the same time it was liberating in commanding certain privileges.
Among adult women the contest is more evident in the limitation of her agential role
either within the family or between interpersonal relationships with their spouses. The
dominating role of mother-in-law over their material and matrimonial life is resented, and
compromises are made in an apparent show of submission. An apparent disjunction
between self and performing body thus results in poor sexual life as women state that
such oppressions are instrumental in fostering discontent in their sexual life.
While women from the upper economic background were more conscious of their sex
and sexuality and were articulate in expressing the discontent, the same was not the case
with the women from the slum areas. Sexuality for them is more for gratifying their
partner’s desire rather than for themselves. It is considered a male’s preserve and is
viewed more for its utilitarian aspect like procreation.
In a candid acceptance of sexual violence, women from the privileged group emphasised
its psychological and physical dimensions. The attack on her embodied self is mediated
by subtle denigration of her cultural moorings, denial of sex as also a show of neutrality
towards her existence. Such aggressions are contested and resisted to manipulate the
situation in their favour either in the form of defiance to the social norm or in an apparent
show of compromise to ensure peace.
Print and visual media play an important role in the construction of gender and identity.
In examining the portrayal of womenhood through texts and visuals in Femina, a popular
women’s magazine, the author has observed that it promotes the ideal that largely reflect
the normative pattern where feminity is encased within patriarchal norms and masculine
gaze. To serve the capitalist’s interest, promotion of consumerism is effected by
packaging the body in the most desirable global standard, yet rooted in traditional
eSS Book Reviews, Sinha Living the Body
January 2010
sensibilities to make it more acceptable in the public domain. The changing realities of
socio-cultural and political life of Indian women are often shown within the traditional
frames, thereby limiting the boundaries even if aspirations are made for liberating herself
from core traditions. This is consistent with the observation made by Ramu (1988) and
Bharat (1995) who have found that portrayal of women in non traditional way is not
acceptable to Indian men and women. Any change in the role portrayals of women has to
be done “while being posited clearly within dominant ideology, not from without”
[Munshi 1998].
The body is a medium through which feminine identity is asserted. The construction of
this identity shifts its focus from a body for others to body for oneself as women age. The
former imagery is associated with the youth, where the necessity to maintain the body
within the stereotypical feminine standard is asserted to flaunt its beauty for male and
peer gaze. But in the latter sense women experience their body as the inner one with
which they are more relaxed even if it does not conform to the feminine standard. The
contour of the body shifts its locus in the heightened sense of persona which lessens the
anxiety to keep their body contours in conformity to feminine stereotypes in apparent
rejection of male approval. Nonetheless, the conflict with this contentment is often
reflected in the desire to get acceptance of their feminine embodiment by the public or
male gaze which constructs their female identity.
Perceptions of the body change with the locale as evident in the expressions from the
women in slum areas. The body to them is the core of their existence which is mediated
by work and their strength to meet the familial expectation and social obligation. In spite
of heavily investing in the reproductive labour, their capacity to work attaches a premium
in their social milieu and they take pride in articulating this achievement which is attained
after enduring hardships for the betterment of their home, husband and family. This
endurance and forbearance gives them confidence to overcome adversity. It also allows
her to use her agential power to control her fertility. The over bearing importance of work
in their lives leave little space for them to experience their sexuality. Indulgence in the
sexual activity is often considered a male preserve and women participate in it to satisfy
the partners and to some extent, as a means of extracting certain favours to get hold of
resources necessary for the survival of family. The body in this sense becomes an
instrument to be used for utilitarian purposes. In the above perspective, the body needs to
be seen as a tool to meet its goal rather than a ‘weapon’ as suggested by the author. With
weapon the instrumentality of the body deviates from its goal hence its ends.
The lived experience of women in the whole gamut shows that the embodiment of
culture and practices do not necessarily construct an identity that conforms to normative
pattern, but the contest, rebellion and manipulation that are played out or held in give
women a perspective to relate and construct her self. The multiplicity and subjectivities
of embodied experience give insight into the agency that women employ to negotiate
with their everyday life and create a niche conducive to her existence. Identity in this
sense is fluid and is subjected to agency which when exercised give women an
opportunity to consolidate it. In its absence the overt submission appears a way out.
eSS Book Reviews, Sinha Living the Body
January 2010
Nevertheless it makes women conscious of her agential role. The choices though seem
limited; it never lets women go without exercising it with whatsoever little power she has
at her disposal. Despite the odds being high against her agency, women have shown
resilience and perseverance as is reflected in their narratives.
The book indeed is a revelation about women’s embodiment of their self and identity and
it is a pleasure to delve into their experiences as documented by a social scientist. Though
the voices are captured from the broad spectrum of women, the absence of women from
the older age group who exert considerable influence in shaping the lives and identities of
young women, leaves the scene little incomplete.
References
Bharat, S (1995): ‘Attitudes and Sex role Perceptions among Working Couples in India’, Journal of
Comparative Family Studies, XXVI (3):371-88.
Munshi, S. (1998): ‘Wife/Mother/Daughter-in-law: Multiple Avatar of Homemaker in 1990s Indian
Advertising’, Media, Culture and Society, 20 (4): 573-91.
Ramu, G. (1988): ‘Marital Roles and Powers: Perceptions and Reality in an Urban Setting’, Journal of
Comparative Family Studies, 19: 207-28.
eSS Book Reviews, Sinha Living the Body
January 2010