Men and Masculinities in South India

Men and Masculinities in South India

By Caroline Osella & Filippo Osella

Anthem South Asian Studies

An anthropological examination of masculinity within South Asian societies.

Hardback, 288 Pages

ISBN:9781843312321

September 2006

£70.00, $115.00

  • About This Book
  • Reviews
  • Author Information
  • Series
  • Table of Contents
  • Links
  • Podcasts

About This Book

'Men and Masculinities in South India' aims to increase understanding of gender within South Asia and especially South Asian masculinities, a topic whose analysis and ethnographising in the region has had a very sketchy beginning and is ripe for more thorough examination. This is, in short, an almost empty field dominated so far by short articles and collections and the time is right for the first full-length ethnographic study of masculinities. This ground-breaking monograph covers a range of areas including work, cross-sex relationships, sexuality, men's friendships, religious practices and leisure. This book is especially concerned with issues arising from debates which broadly argue over the differences and merits of approaches to gender and identity - rooted in essentialism versus performativity. Questions about the tensions between essentialist and performative theories of self and gender are therefore highlighted throughout the book and explored in relation to various bodies of theory and to South Asian understandings of personhood.

Reviews

'This book forcefully and engagingly demonstrates why we should not take for granted how boys become men.' —Patricia Jeffery, Professor of Social and Political Studies, University of Edinburgh

'A terrific book which uses local ethnography by two consummate anthropologists... a splendid addition not only to South Asian Studies but to studies of gender issues everywhere.' —Maila Stivens, Director of Gender Studies, University of Melbourne

Author Information

Caroline Osella lectures in Medical Anthropology at SOAS. Her research interests include Asian migrants in the Persian Gulf, sexuality, consumption and the fashion, clothing and food of South Asia.

Filippo Osella is a senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sussex. His doctoral research was conducted in rural Kerala, South India, and examined issues of stratification, identity and social mobility among an ex-'untouchable' community.

Series

Anthem South Asian Studies

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknoledgements; 1. Introduction: Masculinites in South Asia; 2. How to Make a Man?; 3. Working Men's Lives; 4. Men of Substance: Earning and Spending; 5. Producing Heterosexuality: Flirting and Romancing; 6. Negotiating Heterosexuality: Pornography, Masturbation and 'Secret Love'; 7. Homosocial Spaces: The Sabarimala Pilgrimage; 8. Masculine Styles: Young Men and Movie Heroes; 9. Conclusions; Glossary; Bibliography;  Index

Links

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