Historicizing Gendered Modernities in India

Book excerpt: This book shows how gender is central to our imagination and understanding of modernity. The essays in this volume unravel the complexities of modernity's relationship to femininity and the cultures of gender construction amidst the diverse manifestations of colonialism and nationalism. The essays cover varied aspects of gender identities, including the private spheres of elite women who expressed their freedom through their subversive, restricted sexuality, thus shaking off the shackles of domination; the debates regarding dress codes for women; the deplorable condition of girls after marriage; legislative battles to achieve the right to divorce; challenges to notions of sports as a masculine activity; the different meanings of modernity for women writers; the implications of print cultures and cinema on women; gendered meanings of peace and partition; women's preferences, perceptions and practices; the politics of resistance; and questions of agency and autonomy.