Camouflaged Protocols of Womanhood: Inherent Paradoxes of Bengal

Title

Camouflaged Protocols of Womanhood: Inherent Paradoxes of Bengal

Creator

Chakraborty R.; De S.

Description

Contemporary India is part of a global community where modernizationand urbanization including consumerism is on the rise; but not leaving behind its historic cultural essence. Old scriptures, myths, folklore, literature, cultural proverbs as well as media, have a noteworthy role in shaping the perspectives of Indian people. The current study was done in parts of urban Bengal to explore the influence of these forces from socio-political, psychological as well as philosophical registers, in shaping the self-image and identity of contemporary women. 50 participants were interviewed using a semi-structured in-depth interview method and data were analyzed following qualitative analytical methods keeping the cultural-relational-social context in perspective. The method of pluralism in the qualitative analysis was followed using three data analysis methodsGrounded Theory, Interpretative Phenomenological Approach, and Narrative Analysis. Analyses revealed anintriguing social-crafting of theconcepts of gender and identities of women through idealization and internalization of traits and notions incessantly presented through celebrated literature, myths, folklore, proverbs, and media. Furthermore, the analysis showed how the deep-rooted paradox, inherent in Bengals cultural discourse, is internalized even by educated urban women and infuses a sense of lack, vulnerability, self-loathing, blame, and stigma in their identity. On the contrary, it was also observed in a few instances that optimum use of media and global knowledge led to the construction of a new-age individual and subjective discourse. 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India.

Source

Psychological Studies, Vol-67, No. 4, pp. 488-500.

Date

2022-01-01

Publisher

Springer

Subject

Culture; Discourse; Identity; Media; Subjective

Coverage

Chakraborty R., Department of Psychology, CHRIST (Deemed to Be University), Bengaluru, India; De S., Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 332968

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00687-2

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85141611764&doi=10.1007%2fs12646-022-00687-2&partnerID=40&md5=8767f2c8f11d2984bb8f8f97b4fde563