Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman
The secondary role played by women in Tamil films – both on and off screen – has been widely discussed in journalistic circles and academia. Nair’s assertion that in Indian films ‘women exist only in relation to the men, as their mothers, their wives, and especially their lovers’ is true of Tamil fi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Edinburgh Library
2013-12-01
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| Series: | The South Asianist |
| Online Access: | http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/172 |
| _version_ | 1818832146067881984 |
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| author | Ranjani Krishnakumar |
| author_facet | Ranjani Krishnakumar |
| author_sort | Ranjani Krishnakumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The secondary role played by women in Tamil films – both on and off screen – has been widely discussed in journalistic circles and academia. Nair’s assertion that in Indian films ‘women exist only in relation to the men, as their mothers, their wives, and especially their lovers’ is true of Tamil film narratives too (Jain and Rai 2002: 52). This portrayal of women has led to her social and cultural identity relying heavily, if not solely, on her being able to marry the right man. Moreover, the highly gendered Indian nationalism, relegating women to the ‘inner sphere’ and expecting them to remain pure (Chatterjee 1993), vests the responsibility of upholding culture in women, often subjecting them to standards higher than those set for men, the ‘outer sphere’. Weidman (2005: 754) adds that not only is inner sphere versus outer sphere a matter of men versus women but ‘as a difference between kinds of women: the respectable middle-class “family woman” and the lower class “prostitute”’, establishing idealised notions of womanhood that are manifested in tangible ways such as acceptable behaviour, appropriate language and appreciable clothing. This paper explores the role of clothing in cinema in establishing such an identity for a Tamil woman over the years. With specific emphasis on the role of a woman as a spouse, it investigates how clothing (jewellery and makeup) contributes to the marriage-worthiness of a Tamil woman in films over the century. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T01:58:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3d140f561b24e6db4cfc527bd8805a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-487X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T01:58:23Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Edinburgh Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The South Asianist |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3d140f561b24e6db4cfc527bd8805a52022-12-21T20:41:07ZengUniversity of Edinburgh LibraryThe South Asianist2050-487X2013-12-0123172Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil womanRanjani KrishnakumarThe secondary role played by women in Tamil films – both on and off screen – has been widely discussed in journalistic circles and academia. Nair’s assertion that in Indian films ‘women exist only in relation to the men, as their mothers, their wives, and especially their lovers’ is true of Tamil film narratives too (Jain and Rai 2002: 52). This portrayal of women has led to her social and cultural identity relying heavily, if not solely, on her being able to marry the right man. Moreover, the highly gendered Indian nationalism, relegating women to the ‘inner sphere’ and expecting them to remain pure (Chatterjee 1993), vests the responsibility of upholding culture in women, often subjecting them to standards higher than those set for men, the ‘outer sphere’. Weidman (2005: 754) adds that not only is inner sphere versus outer sphere a matter of men versus women but ‘as a difference between kinds of women: the respectable middle-class “family woman” and the lower class “prostitute”’, establishing idealised notions of womanhood that are manifested in tangible ways such as acceptable behaviour, appropriate language and appreciable clothing. This paper explores the role of clothing in cinema in establishing such an identity for a Tamil woman over the years. With specific emphasis on the role of a woman as a spouse, it investigates how clothing (jewellery and makeup) contributes to the marriage-worthiness of a Tamil woman in films over the century.http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/172 |
| spellingShingle | Ranjani Krishnakumar Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman The South Asianist |
| title | Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman |
| title_full | Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman |
| title_fullStr | Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman |
| title_full_unstemmed | Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman |
| title_short | Of marriages and families: clothing the marriageable Tamil woman |
| title_sort | of marriages and families clothing the marriageable tamil woman |
| url | http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/172 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ranjanikrishnakumar ofmarriagesandfamiliesclothingthemarriageabletamilwoman |