The unsafe sex : the female binary and public violence against women /

The unsafe sex : the female binary and public violence against women /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Natarajan, Nalini, author.
Edition:	First edition.
Imprint:	New Delhi, India : Oxford University Press, 2016.
Description:	xxii, 177 pages ; 23 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Women -- Violence against -- India. Sex crimes -- India. Sex crimes. Women -- Violence against. India.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11403025

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780199463107 0199463107
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-163) and index.
Summary:	"Not too long ago, India woke up to the heart-rending horror of the 'Nirbhaya' rape case. While the brutal violence against the victim sent shockwaves throughout the country, the rapists (as well as other men on the streets) caused further moral outrage by blaming the victim for being out at night and holding her responsible for her rape. What does this signify? Is there an ongoing visceral war waged by men against women? The Unsafe Sex addresses this phenomenon and provides a socio-historical and cultural context to explain why public violence against women is rooted in the binary within which they are viewed--women as, ideally, a source of dignity within the home, while being a source of shame outside it. Probing the intensification of this war on women's bodies, it delves into issues about their safety and security in an increasingly unpredictable world. Drawing from anthropology, myths, literature and film, history, sociology of class and change, and feminist theory, this book explores the reasons underlying a glaring fissure in our public life--cruelty towards women in public places"--Publisher.

Table of Contents:

Sita Apaharan and Draupadi Vastraharan: abduction and disrobing in the epics
Militarization and mutiny: safety and sexuality for peasant women and prostitutes
Gandhi and the 'purity' of assaulted women
Westernization and latent gender violence
From national symbol to victim of a new 'freedom': Bombay cinema and violence
Cut down by the cutlass: violence against women in indenture.