Sexuality, Patriarchy and Social Reproduction in India

Paper Code: 
WMS-124
Credits: 
4
Contact Hours: 
60.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 

This paper is an attempt to understand social reproduction and sexuality and how patriarchy plays a part in both.

12.00

Patriarchal ideologies: question of consent, complicity, chastity, honour, legitimating of violence.

12.00

Sex and Gender: Facts and Myths; Biological, Social, Cultural and Attitudinal factors;

Social Constructions of Sexuality

 

 

12.00

Introduction: conceptualizing social reproduction – women’s consent; stereotyping

12.00

The politics of procreation and sexual control: marriage, motherhood and ‘legitimate’ reproduction

12.00

Historicizing sexuality: norms, deviance and punishment

  1. Courtesan traditions: The hetaira, ganika, nagarvadhu and the devadasi; Prostitution and sex work
  2. Renunciation and sexual abstinence: The enforced celibacy of upper caste widows.
Essential Readings: 
  1. Background Reading (especially for those who have not studied history in college) – government high school text books of History.
  2. History of Ancient, Medieval, Mughal, also rise of Modern History.
  3. For Ancient India D.D. Kosambi, R.S. Sharma, DN Jha.
  4. For Ancient and Medieval World History –translation of Korovkin, and Agibalova and Donskoy

 

References: 
  1. Uma Chakravarty and Kumkum Roy, In Search of Our Past: A Review of the Limitations and Possibilities of the Historiography of Women in Early India, EPW 23 WS-2-10, 1988 .
  2. Vijay Ramaswamy, Aspects of Women and Work in Early South India (from the same. Pp 150-171)
  3. Gerder Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy.
  4. K. Roy, article Invoking the Goddess, also article on marriage as communication.
  5. Kunal Chakravarti article in From Myths to Markets – Shakti-Shiva.
  6. Chodorow, Nancy, The Reproduction of Mothering, Berkeley

 

Articles from EPW

  1. Poonacha, Veena, ‘The Rites de Passage of Motherhood and Social Construction of Motherhood Among Coorgs in South India’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 32 No 3, 18 January 1997 
  2. EPW Issues: 30th Oct- 5th Nov 1999, 15-21st  Jan 2000, 17-23rd June 2000, 24-30th June 2000, 29th July – 4th August 2000, 24-30th  March 2001, 30th June- 6th July 2001
  3. EPW articles in Vol 25 No 41, 20-27 October 1990 Bhattacharji, Sukumari, ‘Motherhood in Ancient India’,  pp Ws 50-57; Gokhale, Sane, ‘Mother in Sane Guruji’s Shamchi Ai’, pp Ws 95-103; Krishnan, Prabha, ‘In the Idiom of Loss: Ideology of Motherhood in Television Serials’, pp Ws 103-116; Lakshmi, C S, ‘Mother, Mother-Community and Mother-Politics in Tamil Nadu’, pp Ws 72-94.
  4. Uma Chakravarty, Conceptualizing Brahmanical Patriarchy in Early India, Gender, Caste, Class and State, EPW 28:579-85

 

Academic Session: 
2015-16
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