Paper
Navigating Sexuality through Intersectionality: A Sociological study of Indian Films
presenters
RAMSHA AVEEN
Nationality: India
Residence: Delhi
Jamia Millia Islamia
Presence:Online
Keywords:
Sexuality, Intersectionality, Indian Cinema
Abstract:
Female sexuality is always a taboo topic in the society. The sexuality of women is always seen through the one prism that is to satisfy men`s sexual needs and for procreation. There is always a binary categorization between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ women. Women are either sex object for the patriarchal society or the victims of the sexual assault. Therefore, a woman coming out and being vocal about her sexual needs and desires is a big threat to the male dominated society. There is a commonsense notion that women do not want sex and they are passive when it comes to fulfilling one` sexual needs and desires. Female sexuality is treated something like a hysteria, ‘unnatural.’ On the other hand, sex is a basic need of human beings but it is through the prejudices that women sexual needs are sidelined. Women sexuality either in a homosexual relationship or within the institution of marriage is treated as the “other.” A woman being vocal about her needs, exercising her sexual agency is a political statement, in the sense that it questions and changes the power relations in the society. One's sexual orientation becomes a way of life, a political statement, a self – assertation of one`s identity. The society gets bombarded with a sexual pluralism (Giddens, 1992) but at the same time sexuality is also the outcome of power relations in the society or simply one can say that sexuality interacts and intersects with other markers of social difference such as caste, class, disability, race, gender, religion etc to produce and reproduce the hierarchical nature of sexuality. Thereby, an individual identity is multidimensional in nature and one` sexuality is a vector of oppression and privileges. Therefore, this paper will analyze five contemporary Indian films to understand and question the intersection of sexuality with intersectionality.