Feminine Fables Imaging the Indian Woman in Painting, Photography and Cinema

A new iconography of the Indian woman seems to be emerging which challenges the traditional "images" and roles of women. Dramatic changes in projecting the woman reflect changes in societal norms and taboos -- in a country which has both defiled woman and idolized her. These roles for the modern woman are subversive, mapping out bold new frontiers for her to explore.Set against the feminist discourse, these images raise different questions about "seeing" the Indian woman. Traced over the century, they suggest an extraordinary transformation in imaging the Indian woman as manifested in painting, photography, popular posters and classical cinema and as examined here in works by both men and women.In five seminal essays this book examines central issues regarding the woman, whether she is viewed as a woman or a goddess; whether her body is treated as an object or subject of pleasure; if she has the freedom to move from the home to the world outside; if she is expected to play multiple roles oris perceived in her integral self; and if she has learned now how to re-assert her own power.Sen, Geeti is the author of 'Feminine Fables Imaging the Indian Woman in Painting, Photography and Cinema' with ISBN 9781890206314 and ISBN 1890206318.