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KANCHANA NATARAJAN is a reader in Philosophy at Delhi other. Many are the articulations of women, indigenous people
University, Delhi. and ordinary folk of the oppressed classes — the subalterns
— who intelligently resist the norms of the prevalent dominant
T
hierarchy by introducing refreshingly new and alternative
he Chandogya Upanisbad, a widely read religio-
philosophical classic from the pre-Buddhist era, has a conceptions of female sexuality and body through their oral
and performing arts.
wishful prayer by a spiritual aspirant: “May I never,
ever, enter that reddish, white, toothless, slippery and slimy This essay exposes some essential differences in perceptions
yoni of the woman”1 thereby depicting the vagina, body and of female sexuality and body in the Samkhyakarika 3 of
sexuality of a woman as something repugnant and Isvarakrishna, an important philosophical text of the fourth
abominable. From time immemorial, a woman’s sexuality century AD, and the Alliyarasanimalai4, a popular Tamil folk
has been seen by the dominant classes as threatening, ballad. The Samkhyan understanding of prakriti and purusha
troublesome and dangerous, and hence to be kept under has had immense influence on the constructions of the physical
vigil and control. Her body is regarded as and social woman and man in the
Courtesy: Jyotindra Jain’s Everyday Art of India (2000, New Delhi: Sanskriti Pratishthan)
a field (kshetra) where male seed can be Indian social system, including the
sown for male progeny. By virtue of perpetuation of dominant hierarchies
possessing a biological body with a womb, and inequalities. These culturally
vagina and breasts, the female is ascribed sanctioned constructions, based on
a restrictive gender role and rel-egated to male privilege, were seen as part of
a position of subordination within the the larger scheme of nature, and
family unit and society in many patriarchal therefore as inviolable truth. This
social orders. In the orthodox Vedic school of philosophy, which upholds
tradition, by virtue of possessing a female a sharp dualism positing two
body with biological functions such as independent realities, matter and
menstruation and reproduction, the consciousness, ascribes the feminine
woman is declared unfit for philosophical gender to matter or prakriti and the
scholarship, or for higher spiritual pursuits masculine to consciousness or
such as liberation. Even today, the Vedic purusha. Materiality or prakriti is
orthodoxy does not permit the constituted of a tripartite process,
communication of Vedantic mahavakyas (the called sattva, rajas and tamas, with an
highest spiritual instructions) to women ethical dimension of moral excellence,
and Shudras. Even if we ignore Manu and moral decadence and amoral
the misogynistic lawgiver’s views on the indifference. Lack of intellectual
woman’s body and sexuality, we are still capabilities, desire and deviance are
confronted with the wellpreserved genre construed to be feminine, while
of Sanskrit literature called the Puranas, renunciation, asceticism, sophisticated
both ancient and medieval, many of which intellectual capabilities and spiritual
abound with anecdotes and stories about pursuits as masculine.
Kali trampling upon the body of Shiva
good/chaste women and bad/unchaste Though every biological male or
women. An unchaste woman has a loose tongue and licentious female possesses soul/consciousness/purusha, and every
behaviour, while the one of few words, who allows her body physical body is a product of prakriti, in many places the text
and sexuality to be controlled by men, is declared a good Samkhyakarika blurs the philosophical principles with those of
woman. She silently suffers all her trials and is ever anatomy. Biological females are identified with prakriti and
subservient to the patriarchal norms. To illustrate this, we her evolutes, while males are equated with purushas. Thus
have a quotation from the Brahmavaivartapurana,2 which the perceptions of both are rendered almost permanent, and
categorises women into three groups on the basis of sexuality. cultural constructions are assigned the status of nature. The
It proclaims: “All women are sprung from prakriti/ The best, text feminises prakriti by calling her a dancer who performs
the worst and the intermediate,/ The best are derived from for her male. As a dancer, she is a seductress, stimulating
the sattva portion,/ The intermediate are parts of rajas,/ Seeking desire in purushas/men. She is fecund but anarchic, requiring
pleasure and ever intent on their own ends,/ The worst are control and order by the masculine principle. She is also a
parts of tamas, of unknown ancestry,/ Bad-mouthed, unchaste, nurturing principle, benevolent like a cow that provides milk
licentious, independent, fond of quarrel,/ Unchaste women for others. She is likened to a bashful virgin, who will flee if
on earth and the heavenly nymphs,/ Are known as her nudity is exposed.
prostitutes, and are parts of tamas.” What develops from this scheme — purushas bondage
Such orthodox views have percolated deep into the mass by prakriti and his struggle to rediscover his essential identity
psyche in many parts of the subcontinent, creating a powerful and subsequent liberation from her force — is the different
patrilineal and patriarchal Indo-Aryan kinship form of social spaces allotted to prakriti and purusha on the one hand and
organisation. This has remained a dominant form for women and men on the other. The domain of prakriti is the
centuries, with some exceptions in the Northeast and South world, while that of a physical woman is home and its
India. But often, these exceptions offer us the voice of the immediate surroundings. The sphere of operation for purusha
Courtesy: M. Krishnan’s “Dancers and musicians at Belur”, Sangeet Natak, 1992, No.105-106, p.34.
created by prakriti, and the other the epitomises the masculine ideal of the
space away from the web created by Sanskritic tradition (based on the
prakriti, the renunciate’s trajectory into Samkhyan model of first enjoying and
the wilderness. This is transposed onto then renouncing the female at his own
the activity of the biological male. Men convenience and will), Alli, the
are granted two spaces, one within the indomitable empress of the Tamil folk
house, where they cohabit with wives, tradition, uses her martial prowess,
have control and domination over intellect and the strength of her female
sexuality, derive sexual pleasures and associates to systematically fracture the
have as many male children as possible. masculinity of her power-ful and
This is only a temporary or even a privileged male opponents,
fictional field of operation. For whenever Neenmukan, Arjuna, Bhima and
interaction within the home proves to Krishna. Thus in Alliyarasanimalai, the
be binding and restrictive, men have the motifs from the well-known classical
privilege of detaching themselves from epic/myth Mahabharata have been put
it and practising ascetic spiritual into local Tamil narrative contexts,
disciplines, far away from domestic introducing many drastic changes.
pressures, as well as familial and conjugal The ballad of Alli exemplifies A.K.
responsibilities. Ramanujan’s theory about the folk
Masculinity, according to Samkhya tradition. “Folklore offers another
and elsewhere in Indian philosophy, is alternative, bounces off the so-called
to ultimately give up all desires and retire high culture in systematic ways,”5 he
to the wilderness to practise said. Ramanujan, the renowned
discrimination between the self and folklorist and linguist, has identified
prakriti/matter/sexual temptation. three kinds of folklore: man-centred,
Masculinity consists in using the woman-centred and animal-centred.
intellectual faculty to understand one’s Each has a different set of symbols,
essential nature as consciousness, which values and priorities, offering different
is in essence detached from matter. roles and modalities to its members. For
Disentangling from prakriti is our present purpose, Ramanujan’s Natyamohini
symbolically represented as description of woman-centred tales is
disentangling from woman and home. crucial. He notes, “...by women’s tales of Pennarachiyar8 depict extraordinary
Woman here represents bondage, I mean two things: tales told by women, women who live with other women,
emotions, desires, lack of intellectual and tales that are centred on women.”6 establish an all-woman fortress, never
ability, anarchy and seduction. Hence Ramanujan explores another significant indulge in heterosexual marriage, but
woman prakriti must be scrupulously and useful genre of clas-sification. give birth only to female children by
avoided if liberation is to be sought. If Legends told by women are located in allowing the erotic, feminine breeze
masculinity is freedom from home and and around the home and describe from the south to touch their bodies
household chores, femininity is generalised human and familial and impregnate them. When attacked
confinement to the walls of the house, relationships. They have a particular by curious neighbouring kings, they
the cowsheds, marriage, male progeny, style and mode of communication. He fight valorously. In the face of defeat,
and service to the husband and his calls them the domestic or interior (akam) pregnant women prefer to kill
relatives. Femininity is the ability to be genre. This may be contrasted with the themselves in the battlefield by slashing
fecund, to nurture and be sexually exterior or public (puram) genre. “This their bellies with swords and exposing
available to the husband at all times. If is performed in public by men and the foetuses, rather than allowing the
masculinity stands for intellectual contains personal names, historical, male raiders to take them captive.
pursuits, femininity represents mythological, communal events, Temples are dedicated to such warrior
subservience to the male in all respects. especially battles.”7 For a long time, in women and queens, who have been
However, in the following section we the history of village public later deified, and annual festivals
shall see a radical and liberating performances, all roles (male and commemorate their valour. That these
construction of femininity in the Tamil female) were enacted by men. Some legends might have had some historicity
folk ballad Alliyarasanimalai. tales centring on women may have cannot be denied. Alliyarasanimalai
Alliyarasanimalai is radical in many been created by men. Quite often, the belongs to the genre of Madar manjari
respects, two of which can be stated at ethical values of classical literature are or collection of woman-centred ballads
the outset: (a) it overthrows almost all reversed. Ramanujan’s study of the folk portraying women who resist prevailing
the orthodox conceptions of female legends also reveals that the norms and heterosexist norms.
sexuality and body; (b) it is a woman- values — of marriage, chastity, fidelity, The expression Allirajyam, derived
centred ballad with an emphasis on etc. — stipulated for women by from the legendary hero-ine’s name Alli,
female desire, in its description of a patriarchal systems are overtly literally means the kingdom of Alli. The
powerful all-female kingdom where dismissed in women’s tales, and female Tamil word Allirajyam communicates the
men are rarely active agents and are members of the audience appreciate the idea of the Sanskrit strirajyam, or the
presented more as intruders. conspiracy of women in sabotaging male “land of women” — a kingdom where
The Tamil folk ballad subverts values. men are redundant. Women do not
classical norms by ingeniously The folk legend Alliyarasanimalai is require men even for sexual pleasure
reworking them to liberate women one such performative ballad, which is or progeny. Female characters in the
from the prevailing constrictive models quite popular in rural Tamil Nadu even Pennarachiyar Katai and Alliyarasanimalai
of family units. It not only provides an today. It must be pointed out that this have created a space for women where
option to the exploitative heterosexual legend is not a rare exception. In the men are literally banned. In a paper
familial archetype, but creates an districts of Madurai and Kanyakumari, entitled “Strirajya: Indian Accounts of
alternative by placing women in an powerful women-centred legends have Kingdoms of Women,”9 W.L. Smith
autonomous, efficient and self-validating emerged, some performed as bow delineates the accounts of Strirajya or
homo-social/erotic unit. If Arjuna, the songs. Some folk legends like the story “land of women” or societies ruled by
tremendous silence about erotic bonding female army to battle Arjuna, who
between women. Alliyarasanimalai deviously married her. Similarly, Arjuna
replicates this homosocial space for does manage to access the inner space
women. Though the ballad is silent of both fort and queen, but only
about the erotic bonding between through trickery, intrigue and
women, the reader is sensitised to the supernatural assistance.
desire of the heroine Alli to bond only Arjuna, the valiant Pandava prince,
with her female companions. Alli is born unmatched as an archer with his
out of the flesh of the shoulder of victorious Gandiva bow, is a great
Draupadi at swayamvaram
Meenakshi, which the goddess plucks Mahabharata hero, but in the legend of
and casts into the lily pond. The child is Alli he is portrayed as selfish,
joint families,12 which promote strong picked up by the goddess from the lily compulsive and delinquent. He cannot
inter-feminine bonding. Despite rapid flower and handed over to the thousand make a single rational or irrational move
industrialisation and urbanisation, the Pandyan kings who performed intense without the aid and the magic of his
nation continues to segregate cultural, penance for the child. The goddess says: companion Krishna. Despite having
social, religious and familial spaces by “On the lily is a beautiful son, / It is several wives and mistresses, he lusts
sex. While modern nuclear families are both male and female / Carry it.” So after other women. He is not interested
generally organised around heterosexual saying, the goddess vanishes. in male activities such as warfare or
relationships, the traditional joint family Alli, the girl child, is from the hunting, and he loses to Alli in battle.
is conducive to the existence of gender- beginning referred to as both male and He cannot accept his failure to penetrate
coded spaces. female. The goddess does not create her the all-woman fortress and turns into a
Such marking and limiting of space through her will, but from her body. sexual predator when his desire is
can be interpreted either as disem- The child’s gender is throughout blurred thwarted.
powering women by controlling their in the ballad, often quite deliberately. Having seen his eldest brother
movements, or empowering women by She is feminine, beautiful, loves and Yudhishthira and their common wife
creating homosocial, eroticised spaces bonds only with women. Women are Draupadi making love on a saffron bed
wherein women lend and receive her political advisers, women render on the terrace of the palace, Arjuna
mutual support. Both interpretations are personal services to her. She also adores decides to expiate this sin by
historically legitimate. I subscribe to the ferocious snakes who are at her beck undertaking a pilgrimage to all the holy
view that sex segregation allows women and call. According to A.K. Ramanujan places, including Madurai, where Alli
to bond freely with other women. One “...a snake in a male-centred tale is reigns supreme. Yudhishthira and the
feature of spatial sex segregation is the usually something to be killed, a rival Pandava matriarch Kunti summon
construction of gendered worldviews in phallus, if you will. In woman-centred Krishna, the companion and the Lord,
which women and men perceive the tales, i.e., where woman are and beseech him to accompany Arjuna.
world and utilise their spaces differently. protagonists and usually the tellers, The two set out on this long journey
In a recent survey of village clusters snakes are lovers, husbands, uncles, and finally arrive at the outskirts of
outside Bangalore in Karnataka, donors and helpers.” She falls in love Madurai, and hear from a pearl
southern India, Seemanthini Niranjana with the beautiful young wife of an old merchant all about the mighty
discusses the strong spatial narrative of Brahmin and shelters her and her old unmarried queen Alli. Arjuna falls
“olage-horagi” (inside-outside) that govern invalid husband, only to realise later that hopelessly in love and pesters Krishna
people’s lives.13 These spaces are seen they are Krishna and Arjuna, who had for help in forcing Alli into marrying
to be circumscribed by gender. assumed such appearances to gain entry him. The pearl merchant warns Arjuna
Femininity, the female body, morality to her all-female fort. The folk ballad of the consequences of even proposing
and women’s activities are embodied in also characterises Alli as a fierce fighter, marriage to Alli. According to him, Alli
the idiom olage, often depicted as the who rides horses and elephants, goes has declared: “She will flog the groom
household, the centre of women’s lives. on hunting expeditions and kills with the horsewhip,/ The marital kin and
Niranjana’s study can be extended ruthlessly in war. Alli threatens and kith will also be whipped,/ Eyes will be
to the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, challenges all her enemies, including the plucked from sockets if anyone utters
which too makes a strong division trickster Arjuna, who has stealthily tied the word ‘marriage’/ At the palace gates
between the female ull/akam (interior) the wedding string around her neck, she has displayed a severed male head,/
and male veli/puram (exterior). The saying: “I am a fish-hook for your The flying crows dare not lift their
identification of women’s interest with throat, a sharp nail to your navel,/ An heads,/ Not even a whiff of man can
the household has been prevalent axe to your skull, an iron pestle to your enter the palace,/ She mounts a mare
among the upper-class, upper-caste, chest,/ I am a sword under your neck... and not a stallion,/ Her army is made
non-working women who occupy the a serpent by your pillow...” up of female warriors...”
interior space as their legitimate The ballad uses the metaphor of The pearl merchant informs Arjuna
territory. Here, women participate in ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ to demarcate Alli’s that Alli sees marriage as something that
many chores together waking, bathing, kingdom and the male hero Arjuna’s would ruin her power and status. She