Armed masculinity, Hindu nationalism and female political participation in India

Abstract

Male and female bodies as well as societal ideas defining cultural interpretations of masculinities and femininities are potent metaphors for expressing nation. This article examines two cultural expressions of nation and manliness -the Hindu soldier and warrior monk -disseminated by Hindu nationalist organizations in India. These images, among others, emerged from India's experience of British imperialism and are defined by values of martial prowess, muscular strength, a readiness to go to battle and moral fortitude. Men and women both respond to the call of a nationalism glorifying muscular warriors radiating an uncompromising moral resolve to defend their nation (us) against an easily recognizable enemy (them).This article argues that this masculinized vision of nation carries important implications for women. Women enter this masculine environment through roles such as heroic mother, chaste wife and celibate warrior. Although divergent in their articulation at the grassroots, all three models of female behavior articulate two social themes. One, women's bodies represent national honor and two, this embodiment only works if women are chaste and virtuous. Indian feminists view such feminine activism with suspicion because the considerable empowerment women may derive from Hindu nationalist politics ultimately does not challenge the gendered power imbalances within the patriarchal Hindu family.---

Institutionalizing Insurgency

“…Contributors to IFjP have illuminated the tensions between the putatively inclusive language of nationalism and the raced-gendered hierarchies that mediate inclusion (Banerjee 2006;Das 2006;Vickers 2006). In an investigation of gender and nationalism in Israel, for example, Tami Jacoby (1999: 398) demonstrated that despite the persistence of egalitarian rhetoric, women tended to be 'included in nation building on the basis of their familial and biological functions as mothers of soldiers and ideological appendages of male leaders and fighters'.…”

Bound from Head to Toe: The Sari as an Expression of Gendered National Identity

“…Hindu nationalists see the Indian people as representing the cradle of civilisation, who are under attack from Christian and Muslim ‘others’ in its midst (Luce :154). Banerjee (:72) argues that in Hindu nationalism, women embody national honour:

[T]heir lives, in their perception, remain anchored in a context that valorizes asexual, chaste women who are responsible for the honor of their body, family and nation. … [A] chaste wife and mother (whether she be warrior, administrator or leader) represents a strong family which in turn represents a powerful and honorable nation worthy of protection which is represented by a strong yet chaste woman.

As symbolic representatives of the Indian nation, women and women's bodies play a central role in the Hindu nationalist imagination by placing Hindu women in the inner domain and in opposition to Muslims and the West.…”

What Factors Predict Exposure to Caste, Political and Religious Violence in India? A Cross – Sectional Survey of 1000 Indian Men

“…Furthermore, violence and physical aggression are key elements of inter-caste relations (Krishnan, 2005), the expression of Indian masculinities (Banerjee, 2005(Banerjee, , 2006, and resistance to caste-based subordination (Shani, 2007). While the dalit reassertion movement has changed the landscape of caste dynamics in many areas of India, there remain caste-related tensions/violence within the Indian cultural landscape which feed into sites of violence in specific communities (Jafferlot, 2003).…”

“…Even though most political, religious and caste-related violence is either instigated by, or targets, men (Banerjee, 2005(Banerjee, , 2006Coleman, 2007) there has been relatively little focus on men's experiences by researchers. However, there is considerable work that illustrates the interplay between masculinity and violence in India (Mehta, 2000; see also Broom et al, 2012).…”