Be(com)ing a Woman: Body, Authority and Society

Abstract

The contemporary Indian society apparently seems to be at a juncture where it claims more number of women to be educated and independent but, on the other hand, the incidents of vicious mental, social and corporeal violations of women are at peak. Amidst all the ongoing blazing talks and movements, this study is a small attempt of delving into the tale of being women, which may help in cognising the discourse which might be at the core of this double-bind social picture. For this purpose, 30 Bengali (Indian) married women were selected through purposive sampling technique for interview, all of whom were within the age range of 18–40 years. Participants had minimum school-level education and belonged to lower middle to upper middle socio-economic status. They were reportedly free from any mental or physical handicap. The data gathered through open-ended semi-structured in-depth interviews were analysed using thematic analysis procedure. Analytical readings of findings explored a socially structured world of women; the becoming rather than being of women. The findings indicated how every sphere of their lives—mental, social or corporeal—seems to be under several mediums of authoritative forces; how their lived life, myths about womanhood and socialisation construct their present life, and how the historicised power-politics of gender craft their conceptualisations of body, rights, independence and subjectivity. This study aspires to contribute to the knowledge of women’s subjective positioning in an attempt to depict the backdrop which makes their lives accessible for violation.