Gender Inequality, Popular Culture and Resistance in Bankura District

This book examines the connections and interrelationships at play between gender inequality, popular culture and resistance on the basis of case studies conducted in the district of Bankura, an area well known for its tradition and variety of popular culture. In contemporary India, gender-based prejudice is perhaps the most pervasive form of inequality, arguably more so in the rural society of Bengal where the deep rooted and complex forms of gender inequality are largely reproduced and legitimized in popular culture. Gender Inequality, Popular Culture and Resistance in Bankura District argues that if the exercise of power inherently involves resistance, then gender power is countered by some aspects of popular culture in favour of a more equitable relationship between men and women. The text also examines resistance to the ideological forms of gender bias and inequality depicted in popular culture such as folk songs, riddles, rhymes and proverbs operative in the rural society of Bankura and explores the intimate connection between popular culture and the everyday life of the general population.