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“The forest is my wife”: The Ethno-political and Gendered Relationship of Land and the Indigene

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Karyir Riba
Department of English, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India. ORCID: 0000-0001-8408-4464. Email: karyir.riba.ap@gmail.com

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.ne18

First published: June 24, 2022 | Area: Northeast India | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Themed Issue on Literature of Northeast India)
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Abstract

The imperative presence of land as a personified being in Indigenous Literatures asserts the crucial connection between land and the native ‘self’ in defining ‘indigeneity’. While this ‘self’ is often reclaimed in a wrestle against the geo-political confines of the nation-state; an indigenous woman, however, navigates ‘self’ in ways non-identical. Women’s connection to land, as opposed to indigenous men, shapes ethno-political struggle of proprietorship and rather builds upon shared feminine traits of fertility, nurture, and service. Focusing on the integration of gender and ecology as an important aspect of ecological critique on power and progress, this paper attempts to delineate the gendered relationship between the indigene and land. It delves into two important areas of study: firstly, probing the distinct ways the indigene ‘self’ unifies itself with the land, and secondly, critiquing the gendered dynamics involved in this merger. The study focuses on the emancipatory impediments of indigenous women by analysing select works of Easterine Kire and Mamang Dai, also, tangentially referring to a few other indigenous women’s writings from North East India.

Keywords: Land, Gender, Ethno-politics, Ecocriticism

When god-like Odysseus returned from the wars in Troy, he hanged all on one rope a dozen slave-girls…The girls were property, the disposal of property was then, as now, a matter of expediency, not of right and wrong… The ethical structure of that day covered wives, but had not yet been extended to human chattels. During the three thousand years which have since elapsed, ethical criteria have been extended to many fields of conduct, with corresponding shrinkages in those judged by expediency only. (Leopold, 1949, p. 201)

One may look at Aldo Leopold’s reference to Homer’s Odyssey in The Land Ethics (1949), and immediately recognize how Leopold set in motion reflective criticism of the position of ‘Man’ by critiquing Homer’s “god-like Odysseus” (p. 201), and attempted to redefine ‘community’ by problematizing the narrative of man as “conqueror of the land community” to “member and citizen of it”. Leopold stressed the necessity to see land and everything on it (both human and non-human) as a unified community, urging that “when we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect” (p. 204).  This renewed meaning of community, in his words, could aid nurture an “ethic of care” (p. 204) that is organically fostered through ‘experience’ and ‘connection’ with the land. However, this inspiration of the “ethic of care” becomes the very site of inquiry and debate in this paper, in order to realize the gendered relationship of land and Indigene. In the discourse of ecofeminism, the vocabulary of care has been aggressively scrutinized upon the currency of care, for care is inspired chiefly by connected ‘experience’ of nature, “that reflect” as argued by Roger. J. H. King (1991), only and “typically male set of experiences of the world” and “aspects of Patriarchal thinking” (p. 76).

While land ethic of care has been a defining code of indigenous ontology, even before its academic acknowledgment through Leopold, this paper reflects on the limitations of the vocabulary of ‘care’ in insufficiently delineating heterogeneity of gendered experiences. Also, by occasionally subscribing to ecofeminist ideology that seeks resonance between women and land, the study focuses on the emancipation of Indigenous women whose identity is often caught or neglected in the hierarchy of larger structures of violence. As pointed out by Dai in her introductory note to the edited anthology, The Inheritance of Words, Writings from Arunachal Pradesh (2021) that “while the joys of motherhood, love of land and questions of the self are evoked…poignant with the anguish of love, they are also fierce with resistance against what it means to be a woman in a traditional society where inherent customary laws dictate how women live their lives, something that often results in untold suffering” (p. 3).

With special reference to Kire and Dai, and few references to other indigenous women writers from North East India, the paper wields on an interdisciplinary approach to explore natural and socio-cultural histories that have been governing and continues to govern the gendered heterogeneous experiences of native subjects – men and women. Pertinent to indigenous women’s writings that idiomatically juggle between feministic discourse and the issues of nation-state, tribal nationalism and nativity, the paper proposes that literary scholarship concerning native cultures requires a striding movement from post-colonial criticism to ‘native’ feminism. Kate Shanley, argues, in the context of Native Indian experience, that “the word ‘feminism’ has special meanings to Indian women, including the idea of promoting the continuity of tradition, and consequently, pursuing the recognition of tribal sovereignty” (1984, p. 215). In the impetus of decolonization and revival of roots movement, the recent decades in indigenous studies have seen a shift from mere political and spatial recognition of the otherwise historically contingent idea of indigeneity to acknowledging the intricacies of indigenous cultural histories from the native perspective. This according to Fabricant and Poestero (2018) is “perhaps the most provocative turn in indigenous studies” (p.137) which has been mobilizing scholars to exfoliate indigenous ontologies that had gone almost extinct in the hegemony of the western knowledge system. This turn in indigenous studies aims to shake intellectual terrains that have been building on the inherited binaries of European philosophy, by focusing on Indigenous knowledge and practices as “new modes of thought” (Cameron, 2014, p.19). Based on various indigenous practices, it lays careful attention to ontological pluralism (worldviews) and stresses reconsideration of epistemology by challenging euro-centric approach to meaning, knowledge, and power. However, in lieu of this development, arbitrating the intersection of gender and nativity continues to remain complex, as more than often feminist discourse is seen as antithetical or foreign to the codes of native epistemology. Arguing upon native women’s question of belonging, Ramirez argues that “too often the assumption in Native communities is that we as indigenous women should defend a tribal nationalism that ignores sexism as part of our very survival as women as well as our liberation from colonization” (2007, p. 22). This perplexity is pronounced in the select texts, for instance, the very usage of the word Adi word ‘Pensam’ (implying in-between, middle, belonging to both) in Dai’s (2006) The Legends of Pensam may be seen as an attempt to emphasize on the spatial complexity of contemporary native identity – an attempt to locate the appropriate bargain between the past and the future, and an attempt to gain agency over what needs to be continued or repudiated in the tide of change.

Hence, to recognize the intersection of gender and nativity in the context of Indigenous communities from North East India, ‘native-feminism/s’ that is ideologically quintessential to native experience is essentially requisite. The idiosyncratic illustration of native women’s renditions, for instance, reveals in depiction of Kirhupfumia in Kire’s When the River Sleeps (2014), with “vast store of knowledge” to answer “questions about spirit encounters” or to instruct if “what was to be done if a relative had touched stones that were taboo to touch” or to be consulted “on cures for fevers contracted in the forest… to disclose names of herbs in special areas, and how to use these to cure the fevers” (p, 146). It explains an indigenous woman’s rendition, not only as an active storyteller but also as a custodian of knowledge connected to nature, as the feminine resonance of women and non-human, that extends from the physical to the spiritual realm (feminine guardian spirits of rivers and forests). Or even the silent appraisals in indigenous women’s writings from Arunachal Pradesh, critiquing among others, the practice of polygamy sanctioned by customary norms – to be “traded for few mithuns to my father” (Reena, 2021, p. 44) and “when the children are grown, he decides to take another wife” (Dai, 2006, p. 77), highlighting the instrumental equivalency of women to the natural world coded in customary sanctions. Consequently, experiences of an indigenous woman traverse along multiple dimensions and the ‘self’ melds dual structures of enunciation – ‘indigeneity’ and ‘womanhood’. This then creates a spatial agency that is a combination of multifaceted voices. On the one hand, there are the concerns for representation – importance of native ontology in reasserting the connection of land and indigene, geo-political histories, tribal nationalism, etc. – and on the other, the emancipation of the feminine ‘self’. What makes this emancipation even more difficult is the calculated negotiation of self in the hierarchy of tribal nationalism, ecology, and gender.

With natives’ proximity to land, one of the first underlining issues, voiced in Indigenous women’s writings, is concerned with the various parameters of indigeneity and land-related ethnopolitics that differ for women and men. The heterogeneity of gendered participation, especially in land-related policies, materializes in matters of protection, ownership, and custody, which range from concerns of proprietorship to ethno-political concerns of instrumental subjugation of land. Whence, indigenous women are placed oust the value hierarchy of decision making. It is pertinent, however, to realize that penetration of the colonial idea of ‘ownership’ in native ethno-politics today, stands in contrast to a native ontology that revered safekeeping of the land. Dai (2006) calls it “tribal modified” (p. 175), indicating metamorphosis into modernity that prioritizes economic health over eco-centric indigenous practices. Dai’s The Legends of Pensam (2006) serves as a silent satire on this ironic shift in the meaning of indigeneity and its connection to the land. The recurrent presence of land as a personified being, in most of her works, distances land from being a mere geo-political entity, often nurturing the very consciousness and memory of its people. It taps on reviving the indigenous philosophy of ‘community’ that one shares with others, which is found in interdependency. (Kwaymullina, 2005, p. 2) As Ambelin Kwaymullina (2005) explains:

For Aboriginal peoples, country is much more than a place. Rock, tree, river, hill, animal, human – all were formed of the same substance by the Ancestors who continue to live in land, water, sky. Country is filled with relations speaking language and following Law, no matter whether the shape of that relation is human, rock, crow, wattle. Country is loved, needed, and cared for, and country loves, needs, and cares for her peoples in turn. Country is family, culture, identity. Country is self. (para. 2)

Dai draws on the Adi ontological credence of the interdependency of nature and man, both defending each other, by crafting the narrative of her historical fiction around the personified depiction of nature – river, forest, mountains, etc.  River and Mountains hold deep agency in Adi Abangs (oral histories/folk songs), serving as a crucial blueprint in trailing migratory routes and oral histories of the first Adi settlements. The river as a guiding agent in The Black Hill (2017) to direct Gimur’s destiny and the eminence of high mountain ranges standing as a barricade against the British invasion symbolizes the interdependent relationship of guidance and protection. Dai taps on the Adi folk philosophy of the river being alive, possessing a soul, a path through which the spirits of the ancestors travel. Contamination of the river is thus reflective of the end of cultural memory– “Our river must not be interrupted” (Dai, 2009, p. 45).  This philosophy of ‘personification of nature’ and interdependency of land and human, charges most of her works. It finds relevance in the deepening awareness of the fragility of the earth’s ecology and its grave implications for human survival.

Korff Jens (2021) stresses specifically the importance of studying the aboriginal perspective/worldview relating to Land. In his article “Meaning of land to Aboriginal people”, he argues that the key difference in the relationships people share with the land is rooted in the treatment of land as a ‘source’, which according to him is found in the dependency of a non-indigenous to ‘live off’ the land (land as capital) and the interdependency of the aboriginals to ‘live with’ the land (land as being).

“The latter has a spiritual, physical, social and cultural connection… and a profound spiritual connection to land. Aboriginal law and spirituality are intertwined with the land, the people and creation, and this forms their culture and sovereignty” (para. 1,5).

Obstinately, the two opposing ideas of ‘interdependency’ vs ‘ownership’ have assimilated to form a crude territorial ethno-politics that serve as power politics over eco-centric indigeneity. The gradually shifting matrix of native ‘land ethics’ from eco-centric ontology to a neo-colonial capitalist niche for control and possession are of the few concerns that Dai portrays in her works, in a wrestle to strike a balance between Land as community vs Land as capital. “Tribal modified” (p.175) as expressed in Dai’s Legends of Pensam, points at the change in social order and practices that differ from traditional forms, especially one that relates to concerns of land-human interaction. Referring to the pan-Maori ethnification in Newzealand, Elizabeth Rata (1999), in “Theory of Neotribal Captalism”, points at the various ways in which Maori natives attained legal ownership of land but consequently succumbed to its susceptible capitalization and commodification in strategic ways. Though different in terms of geo-political history, this susceptibility can be understood in the context of the indigenous lands in the Northeast India as well, particularly in the ongoing capitalization and commodification of tribal lands for resource extraction. The seemingly sustainable eco-political modules that aims to hybridize different land ontologies by merging indigenous land-based practices to settler based legal institutions – a situation argued by Burow (2018) as “conceiving of and relating to land, through their own practices and those created by settlers and settler-state institutions” (p.57) – is only begetting a new set of class structure within the indigenous populace. The gradual development of neo-tribal capitalism, that benefits a select few, may be seen as the most violent shift in tribal land ethics. In the wake of the neo-capitalist propagations, as revealed by Binita Kakati (2021), there have been constant alterations to the landscape in the aftermath of the so-called developments:

the valley rang with the sound of explosions – to make new roads into the valley. As we sat listening to birdsong and people’s stories, the deafening explosion felt even louder in the knowledge that nature seems to exist only to be taken. (Kakat, 2021, para 13)

Critiquing the connection between domination of nature and domination of women, Roger King argues that “the failures of moral perception and thought that can be found in the human relation to nature are symptomatic of similar failures to be found in the relations between women and men” (King, 1991, p. 75). While Dai’s The Legends of Pensam traverses towards the agency of ‘change’, Kire actively engages in critiquing the liminalities in this transition. Often invoking gendered codes hidden within the narratives of tribal culture, especially those that deal with the integration of women and nature, tied to their “umbilical chords” (p. 88). Women’s body and the physical manifestation of nature continue to be a recurrent site of resistance to essentialized feminine biologism. This integration is manifested under the traits of procreation and nurture as feminine strength versus feminine ‘essentialism’. In When the River Sleeps (2014) Ville lingers in the comfort of Earth as “mother” (p. 102), “the forest” his “wife” while at the same time the Kirhupfumia stands as antithetical to the conventional notion of motherhood, destined to “never have children” (p. 147) and the “widow-women” (p. 101) guards the river “shouting curses on the two men” (p. 104) for violating the sleeping river. Kire, thus, challenges the notions of feminine essentialism and attempts to break down the essentialized connection of women and nature, affixed in feminine biologism of reproduction and nurture, de-aligning biology as the overseer of women’s lives but social relations (Beauvoir, 2011). Indigenous women’s writings, as also in the works of Dai, tussle against biologic instrumentality of women “like a fermented bean/ left to procreate” (Reena, 2021, p. 45) and the replicating capitalized treatment of nature as an instrumental resource than an inherent being. This idiomatic interconnection of women’s experience to nature and species has been infamously criticized as anti-feminist by feminist scholars, for further grounding the assumed subsidiary position of women and nature to men.

Questioning the pan-cultural tendencies of women’s association to nature, in her article “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture”, Sherry B. Ortner (1974) highlights three ideological categories/tendencies that strengthen the supposed connection of nature and women: 1. Woman’s physiology, seen as closer to nature, 2. Woman’s social role, seen as closer to nature, 3. Woman’s psyche, seen as closer to nature (p. 74-81). Ortner critiques this logic of culture” (p.76) that places women as subordinate to men due to their assumed closeness to nature. However, in the context of Native women’s experience, the association between nature and humans cannot be negated. Nativity is innately linked to land, and indigenous ontologies are derived from and for it. This focus is crucial to dissect as well as identify normative regulations governing indigenous experiences that need to be reevaluated, not with the seee purpose of drawing a relationship between the two but to critique and understand its socio-cultural implications. In her photo-essay-poetry, “No Questions, No Comparisons”, Padu (2021) engages in this dialogue of dissimilarity in women’s experience through her inability to “compare myself with the women who have fought for equal rights and equal wages around the world” (p. 112), explaining women’s emancipatory hurdles arising in different cultural expressions – “I am weighed in numbers of cattle rather than gold” (p. 114). This difference in cultural expression may or may not be a dividing factor in universal concerns about womanhood, but acknowledging indigenous women’s experience is essential to their liberation.

Indigenous Women’s writings echo the ethnopolitical and ecological questions that oust women’s participation in decision making. Karry Padu’s (2021) “I am Property, A Photo essay”, published in Dai’s edited anthology The Inheritance of Words raises questions relevant to Galo women’s political and domestic experience. As it is scarce for women to participate in the public sphere of decision-making, it questions women’s involvement in their “rights under the guidance of a man” (p. 108). Padu confesses her existential ethos on being a “tribal woman” that binds her to “customs and tales of the ancestors” and her expected demeanor as a Galo woman, a “daughter” that “belongs to this land… (who is) its property!” (p.109). This question of ‘belonging to the land as a property’ may take us back to the initial reference made to Leopold’s (1949) criticism of Odysseus who “hanged all on one rope a dozen slave-girls…The girls were property, the disposal of property was then, as now, a matter of expediency, not of right and wrong” (p. 201). The locus of Leopold’s argument is in understanding the expediency of human ethics that he argues should begin to extend its ethical periphery to nature. The viability of this reference strikes the most important question, particularly, in the wake of hybridized tribal nationalism, as to how far has women’s identification with land been altered, both in terms of subjectivity and instrumentality. It taps on the inflexibility of tribal hybridized movement, that seems to be melding the best of both worlds – sustainability of indigenous episteme to the progressiveness of transnationalism yet fails to recognize how indigenous women’s emancipatory issues have been placed at the bottom of the various political expediencies of power and policies of land ownership.

One cannot trace to segregate how social narratives of gendered socio-political dynamics came to existence in indigenous communities. Whether colonial capitalism continues to penetrate tribal ethno-politics or has cultural narratives inherently sanctioned men to be leaders and women, like nature, compliant followers. Both Dai and Kire unceasingly borrow from folk narratives and customs to critique these gender relations, synthesizing cultural histories to critique “The laws of birth, life and death …fixed and unchangeable” (Dai, 2006, p. 77). Traditional narratives navigating women’s rendition are thus embedded in archetypal evidence (universal symbols) as a means of identity construction and are redefined for a rational identification with the modern world.

In Gender and Folk Narratives: Theory and Practice (2013), Neelakshi Goswami talks about three areas of concern in the folkloristic literature; firstly, how women have been portrayed, the second one relates to the questions of women’s aesthetics and the third involves how women have been recognized as artists. Folk narratives connected to the heroic tales of clan-heads revolve around legends of warriors who sacrificed their lives for the protection of their clan. These heroes were projected as symbols of protection, bravery, and authority. The feminine traits, however, projected in the tales of goddesses and fairies as deities of harvest, are symbolic of fertility and prosperity. On cultural identity, philosopher William James argues that identity comprises two modes of thoughts—the ‘paradigmatic mode’ (present) and the ‘narrative mode’. And narratives as ‘modes’ constructing identities “provides models of the world” (qted.in Burner, 1986, p. 25).

Archetypal male figures have often been projected as protectors with the burden of social relations and welfare. In Dai’s The Black Hill (2017) this accounts for the public and political participation of Kajinsha and the male heads of other tribes in their fight against the British to protect their land, while Gimur is found to have been actively involved in settling the trajectories of her private life, as her quest being more domestic than political. Kajinsha becomes a martyr of the clan and Gimur’s misery is manifested through the loss of a child and spouse. The matter of concern here is to understand the public-private dichotomy and the traits of bravery and fertility attached to the concerned ‘subjects’. Evidently, the narratives surrounding gender can control resultant ‘gender performativity’, but more importantly, what remains implicit is the interplay of absent narratives in shaping the symbol of the ‘female subject’. Commenting on the importance of “the public/private debate” as an important trajectory of feminist folklore, Margaret Mill argues that “Women genres can be less public and dramatic and hence less visible compared to male genres…especially personal experiences narratives, tend to flourish in the private domain” (qtd. in Goswami, 2013, p. 7).  The lack of ethnographic narratives that would articulate the possibility of juxtaposing traits of bravery, protection, or public participation to ‘female subject’, makes it nearly impossible for Gimur to be projected as equal to Kajinsha in the public arrangement. What governs Gimur’s character is not evident in what was present in an ancestral past but in the absences and lapses in feminine representation that continue to control and govern the ‘feminine subject’. The “subject” of gender as sites of inquiry ignites numerous questions pertaining to identifying what the subjects signify. “The idea of ‘process’ or ‘becoming’” (Salih, 2007, p. 3) is significantly crucial in understanding subject formation which situates key importance on history to recognize the synthesizers that regulate it (Butler, 2006). Dai’s writings investigate how elements of culture operate and regulate the functioning of the social structure.

The significance of narratives in identity formation as asserted by Burner, is in understanding how “human being achieves (or realizes) the ability not only to mark what is culturally canonical but to account for deviations that can be incorporated in narratives” (Burner, 1987, p. 68). This deviation, found in the critique of fixed cultural edifices, forms an important agency in Indigenous Women’s Writings. The emancipation of ‘self’ combines elements of cultural memory, and socio-political resistance while attempting to identify the codified cultural fetters. This posits, as mentioned earlier, the urgency to theorize a native-feminist discourse that acknowledges ‘experiences’ shaped in lieu of traditional ontologies. Indigenous women’s emancipation can only be achieved by rethinking ‘community’. To rethink the gendered connection to the land and the indigene towards formulating a tribal nationalism, can effectively mark the possibility of distancing from the western notion of tribal sovereignty. This would require building on the “native philosophical concept” of interdependency, as argued by Ramirez, “rather than creating a hierarchy between the group and individual rights, that a respectful interchange between the two can be established” (2007, p. 31).

Declaration of Conflicts of Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest.

Funding

No funding has been received for the publication of this article. It is published free of any charge.

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Karyir Riba is a Research Scholar in the Department of English at the North-eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya. She specialises in interdisciplinary and comparative literary studies. Her area of research and interest include Folk Literature, Indigenous Women’s Writings, and contemporary discourses on Indigenous Studies.

Image of Woman in Indonesian Folktales: Selected Stories from the Eastern Indonesian Region 

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Sugiarti1, Eggy Fajar Andalas2 & Aditya Dwi Putra Bhakti3

1Department of Indonesian Language Education, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia, sugiarti@umm.ac.id

2Department of Indonesian Language Education, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia, eggy@umm.ac.id

3Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Politic Science, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia, aditya@umm.ac.id

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages  https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.12

First published: June 19, 2022 | Area: Gender Studies | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Volume 14, Number2, 2022)
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Abstract  

In Indonesia, a folk tale is used as a medium of entertainment as well as a teaching tool for children. Parents read folktales to their children at night. Folktales are used in the text of Indonesian lessons at the elementary education level. However, Indonesian folktale is suspected of being gender-biased. Although there is research on this subject, there is still little research on Indonesian folktales originating from Eastern Indonesia. Previous research conducted is still focused on the western region of Indonesia, for example, Java and Sumatra Island. This study aims to understand how women are depicted in Eastern Indonesian folktales, especially to understand the objectification of female characters. Based on the results of our research, we argue that many female characters in Eastern Indonesian folktales are subject to objectification. The objectification of female figures is carried out in the form of women as objects of sexuality, women as a medium of exchange of power, and women being passive and working in the domestic sphere. This finding shows that the folktale of Eastern Indonesia cannot be separated from patriarchal ideology. These stories show that women in the imagination of the Indonesian people still occupy an inferior position compared to men. Furthermore, the female characters also experience objectification and inequality as in folktales from Western Indonesia. The patriarchal point of view in folktales has deep roots and spreads in Indonesia. Research proves that the ideology of folktale is not always in harmony with the ideal values ??that exist in society. It takes a critical attitude towards the selection of stories that will be conveyed to children

Keywords: Image of Woman, Objectification, Indonesian Folktales, Eastern Indonesian Region

Introduction

According to the Central Statistics Agency of Indonesia (2015), 1331 ethnic groups inhabit the territory of Indonesia, an archipelagic country consisting of various cultures. The cultural heritage of Indonesia is enriched with artifacts produced by these diverse ethnic groups as hinted by the presence of 366 documented folktales in the nation. (Baihaqi et al., 2015) But, in comparison with a large number of ethnic groups, the number of documented folktales is very little. The existence of folktale in a community occupies an important position. A folktale is an ethnographic description of the community that owns the story (Dundes, 1969) because it contains its values and worldview (Andalas, 2018; Aristama et al., 2020; Sulistyorini & Andalas, 2017). For generations, the folktales have been passed down as “cultural treasures” that contain the cultural essence or cultural DNA (Bar Zaken, 2020) of a particular community. In other words, understanding the folktale of a community will gain knowledge and views of the community’s life (Andalas, 2015; Dundes, 1969). These various cultural treasures are passed down between generations and perceived as shared cultural truths.

In Indonesia, a folktale is used as a medium of entertainment as well as a material for teaching to children. Parents’ reading folktales to their children at night and their usage in the text of Indonesian lessons at the elementary education level shows the importance of folktales to the people of Indonesia. However, in reality, various folktales, that are constantly reproduced and consumed in reading books or learning materials in schools, are suspected of being gender biased (Eliyanah & Zahro, 2021). Andalas & Qur’ani (2019) argue that Indonesian folktales have an imbalance in the proportion of characters and a particular stigma is attached to the male or female gender.

Various folktales found throughout the world also contain gender bias as exemplified in Persian folktales where male and female characters are depicted as different-sex objects while men are portrayed as independent, rational, strong, and accomplished characters and women as the opposite (Hosseinpour & Afghari, 2016); the folktales of Sri Lanka which reflect male dominance in the stories (Medawattegedera, 2015). However, there are also examples of exceptional  folktales where the women are not subordinated or subjugated rather heightened as the African folktales which reject or subvert women’s patriarchal control, manipulation, exclusion, and oppression (Florence, 2016; Sheik, 2018); or folktales found in Saudi Arabia present brave and intelligent women (Al-Khalaf, 2019).

The outcomes of previous research intensify the belief that folktale as a form of cultural heritage must be assessed concerning its topic, form, and content as it is related to the children’s acquisition of knowledge. Understanding these parts of folktales is crucial as the pragmatic development at the level of early childhood is not adequate to comprehend the problem of gender bias that is socially and culturally imposed on them.

Studies on gender issues in folktales found in several regions of Indonesia, as in Java (Ariani, 2016; Hapsarani, 2017; Iswara, 2019; Juansah et al., 2021; Rochman, 2015; Sari, 2015; Setiawan et al., 2016; Wulansari, 2020), folktales from Sunda (Fauzar, 2019), folktales from North Sumatra (Baiduri, 2015; Paramita, 2020; Syahrul, 2020), and folktales from Southeast Sulawesi (Putra, 2018) among others, have been carried out. Instead of the research works of a large quantity done on the folktales originating in the Western parts of Indonesia like Java and Sumatra Island, the folktales of Eastern Indonesia have not been observed from scholarly perspectives. So, it has an utmost necessary to do research works on those unsung tales. So, this study aims to throw light on the folktales originating in Eastern Indonesia. This research aims to understand how women are depicted and also objectified in Eastern Indonesian folktales. It is expected that the results of this study can complement the results of previous studies. Understanding this issue will help us reassess the story based on the topic, form, and content because it is related to the acquisition of knowledge that children will receive. This is also important because perceptions at the early stage of children’s growth and development are not suitable for understanding the problems of socially and culturally imposed gender ideology.

Gender Representation in Folktale

Representation is the practice of constructing meaning through signs and language (du Gay et al., 1999; Hall, 2003). From this perspective, language is not understood as a stable thing and will always be tied to the context in which it attends. In everyday life, human beings use language to translate and construct various meanings about various things around them. Various objects that exist around human life are understood as neutral things. However, through human beings’ marking, the meaning of an object is attached by constructing several representations. The meaning attached to an object is not standard but fluid, and can always change according to the context of human development in interpreting things.

Hall (2003) views language as a representational system because, through language, human beings can maintain the dialogue that occurs and allow them to build a culture of shared understanding and interpret the world around them in the same way. Language is a medium that can represent thoughts, ideas, and feelings in a culture. Therefore, representation through language is essential for creating meaning because culture is a battleground for meaning. Through culture, various meanings about things are created and legitimized as a common truth.

As the author’s ideological space, folktale provides dozens of spaces for interpretation and hypnotizes his readers to unconsciously participate in the ideological flow contained in literary works (Sugiarti & Andalas, 2018). This is because the process of reproducing literary works is not isolated from the cultural, political, and social context of a society and, in turn, will shape the worldview of writers, readers, and the audience (Arimbi, 2009). In the context of this research, a folktale becomes a space for the representation of gender construction from the perspective of Indonesian society. The various divisions of roles inherent in each character, regarding how to be a man and a woman, are a form of representation of the ideology of gender in Indonesian society. These various ideologies are embodied in literary fiction spaces that the readers will receive.

Through the representational system built-in folktale, the identity to be a woman or a man is built. Identity, in the study of feminism, is not understood as a singular thing. Identity is the result of the construction of individuals or groups in the self-labeling process. Gender, from the point of view of feminism, is seen as the result of socio-cultural construction prevailing in a society. Therefore, the gender identity attached to the roles that men and women must carry out in human life is the result of human construction and is not innate. Therefore, gender identity is a political matter. The identity construction process does not occur in a single or causal process at the subject’s will but is a temporal process that operates through the repetition of norms (Butler, 1993).

In this identity politics, feminism is positioned to attack the traditional identities attached to women based on traditional norms built from the point of view of men’s minds. Women are invited to build awareness of their identity by understanding it as a flexible thing (plural) and not like what men have attached to it (Lara, 1998).

Apart from this, space and time also significantly influence the process of identity formation. Different moments will create different identity narratives, and different environments build different historical perspectives (Arimbi, 2009). In this context, it is crucial to understand the form of gender identity built in the narrative of Indonesian folktales.

Female Objectification

The existence of folktale as a cultural product of society cannot be perceived as a value-free cultural product. Folktale as a cultural product is ideological. A folktale is constructed based on a particular point of view. Within this framework of thought, feminist criticism aims to weaken oppression against women from economic, political, social, and psychological perspectives.

The perpetuation of operations against women on cultural products, such as folktales, is carried out by using the male point of view in seeing the reality of life. This point of view then seems to be seen as neutral and inclusive even though it is not neutral and inclusive because it tends to objectify women (Hapsarani, 2017).

Objectification theory argues that women experience sexual objectification when they are treated as body parts or a collection of body parts judged on their benefit to others  (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Sexual objectification is a form of dehumanization because women are seen as objects or commodities (Nussbaum, 1995). Women are treated as objects which do not have complete power over their destiny and can be bought or sold without considering their experiences and feelings. This shows that sexuality and sexual relations are born by asymmetric power structures.

Seven conditions indicate the occurrence of objectification in a person: 1) if someone is treated as a tool to fulfill goals, 2) if someone is treated as a person who cannot determine his wishes, 3) if someone is treated as a person who has no agency, 4) if someone is treated as if they could be exchanged with other objects, 5) if someone is treated as an object that can be hurt, 6) if someone is treated as something that can be owned, and 7) if a person’s feelings and experiences are considered unimportant (Nussbaum, 1995). These indicate the occurrence of objectification in building subject-object relationships.

Based on the opinion above, it appears that the various descriptions in Indonesian folktales need to be evaluated in the framework of gender studies. Various representations of the objectification of women in stories are indeed very dangerous, especially when children consume folktales. Sexual objectification is the beginning of the emergence of sexual violence, which has significant consequences on one’s understanding and perspective on sexual violence (Loughnan et al., 2013). When a person sexually objectifies another person, he will perceive that that party is lower than himself. The perception of women as objects of men, especially in terms of sexuality, is very dangerous for children’s understanding of gender. Women are only seen as objects or commodities.

Impact of Gender Biased Reading Materials on Children

In contrast to sex, gender is a trait that is attached to human beings based on their socio-cultural roles in society. Throughout the history of the development of human life, there have been situations of injustice in the position and roles of women in various spheres of human life. Women tend to be positioned as inferiors who must submit to the superiority of men who dominate human life (Bourdieu, 2001).

As a fundamental dimension in understanding social life individually, gender becomes a tool for self-awareness in responding to and understanding various phenomena around them. In addition, gender awareness also influences how human interactions may be held as a worldview from birth to death (Taylor, 2003). Therefore, a person is never born with a particular gender but with the freedom to determine the roles and positions they want in their lives.

Childhood is a crucial period that will affect the way of life until adulthood. This stage is the initial stage for children to learn to understand various realities and respond to them. Through reading materials or fairy tales that they consume every day, children will get information on attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors that they will emulate and apply in their lives. In this position, it is crucial to be aware of the stereotypes that are widely practiced by patriarchal cultures regarding how men and women should play their roles in life. If children are presented with gender-biased stories from an early age, this will affect how children perceive various things in their future lives.

Various forms of ideology and teachings, both explicit and implicit, exist in literary works created from a patriarchal point of view and continue to be studied and shared in each generation. As a result of this kind of consumption, children will perceive various things in the story as a truth stored in their subconscious, and unconsciously will become their guide in interacting and behaving with their environment in the future. If this continues, children from an early age will begin to perceive biased gender roles in memory even though they cannot discriminate between men and women sexually (Bussey & Banddura, 1992). This is despite the view that, in reality, children feel that they have to identify themselves sexually, as male or female. If this is allowed to continue, there will be efforts to perpetuate patriarchal culture to limit the various roles of women from an early age and limit children’s social processes in the later years of development (McDonald, 2010).

Method

This study uses a qualitative method and the feminist literary criticism approach. Sources of research data are Indonesian folktales originating from Eastern Indonesia, namely 1) “The Legend of Ile Mauraja from East Nusa Tenggara”, 2) “The Origin of Lake Limboto from Gorontalo”, 3) “The Origin of Botu Liodu Lei Lahilote from Gorontalo”, 4) “La Upe from South Sulawesi”, 5) “Sawerigading from South Sulawesi”, 6) “La Onto-Ontolu from Southeast Sulawesi”, 7) “Indara Pitaraa and Siraapare from Southeast Sulawesi”, 8) “The Legend of the Horn of Nature from Central Sulawesi”, 9) “Napombalu from North Sulawesi”, 10) “Alamona n ‘Tautama n’Taloda (First Man in the Talaud Islands) from North Sulawesi”, and 11) “Four Sultans in North Maluku from Maluku”. The eleven stories have been accessed from the documentation done by www.ceritarakyatnusantara.com. This website is one of the complete databases for the preservation of folktales. The stories on the website are managed by the Center for the Study and Development of Malay Culture, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The selected eleven stories fulfill the following criteria:  1) The stories come from the eastern part of Indonesia; 2) there are female characters in the story; 3) there is a depiction of the role of female characters in it. The eleven stories are analyzed using content analysis techniques with a feminist perspective to criticize how women are depicted in folktales in Eastern Indonesia.

Results and Discussion

This study aims to describe the representation of female characters in Eastern Indonesian folktales, especially the objectification of female characters. The data shows three forms of the objectification of female figures: women as objects of male sexuality, women as a medium of exchange of power, and women who are passive and work in the domestic area.

Women as Objects of Male Sexuality

Objectification theory argues that women experience sexual objectification when they are treated as body parts or a collection of body parts judged on their benefit to others (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Sexual objectification is a form of dehumanization because women are seen as objects, or commodities (Nussbaum, 1995). Women are treated as objects which do not have complete power over their destiny and that can be bought or sold without considering their experiences and feelings. This shows that sexuality and sexual relations are born by asymmetric power structures.

In Eastern Indonesian folktale, it is found that the story is not neutral, and it tends to be inclusive because the depiction in the story tends to objectify women. In the eleven stories analyzed, this depiction was found in eight stories, namely “The Legend of Ile Mauraja from East Nusa Tenggara”, “The Origin of Lake Limboto from Gorontalo”, “The Origin of Botu Liodu Lei Lahilote from Gorontalo”, “La Upe from South Sulawesi”, “Sawerigading from South Sulawesi”, “Napombalu from North Sulawesi”, “Alamona n’Tautama n’Taloda (First Man in the Talaud Islands) from North Sulawesi”, and “The Four Sultans in North Maluku from Maluku”.

The representation of women as objects of sexuality in the stories like “The Legend of Ile Mauraja”, “The Origin of Botu Liodu Lei Lahilote”, “The Origin of Limboto Lake”, “Alamona n’Tautama n’Taloda” (First Man in the Talaud Islands), and “The Four Sultans in North Maluku” show similar motifs. These five stories have the same motive; they begin with a male character who accidentally sees seven beautiful women taking a bath. Girls are depicted as half-human beings, such as angels or other creatures. The male character then peeks at seven girls who are bathing and decides to steal a wing or other object that causes one of the youngest nymphs not to return to heaven. The girl is then married to a male character to have a child. However, the ending is not happy because someone will always separate them; whether they die or one of the characters (female) finds the object or wing and leaves the man. At the end of the story, a different motif is found in the Origin of Lake Limboto because women defeat male characters with their supernatural powers.

In “The Legend of Ile Mauraja” from East Nusa Tenggara, for example, it is told that one day a king who was looking for a goat got lost and entered a cave. However, he accidentally saw seven girls bathing in a river from the cave. He was fascinated and wanted to marry one of them. He took one of the garments and hid it in a tree hole. The clothes belonged to the youngest. They got married, but fateful fate made them burn to death (Samsuni, 2011c). The original story of Botu Liodu Lei Lahilote from Gorontalo also tells the same thing. However, in this story, the main character is a young man named Lahilote. One day Lahilote accidentally peeked and was fascinated by seven nymphs who were bathing in the lake. Lahilote then took one of the wings of the seven nymphs and hid it in the house. It made her unable to return to heaven. Lahilote comes back and pretends to help him. Long story short, Lahilote married the youngest angel and lived in harmony until finally the youngest angel who had been tricked found her wings hidden by Lahilote and returned to heaven (Samsuni, 2009a). The same story of the Origin of Botu Liodu Lei Lahilote is also found in the story of Alamona n’Tautama n’Taloda (The First Man in the Talaud Islands) (Samsuni, 2010a), dan and the Four Sultans in North (Samsuni, 2010b). The thing that distinguishes the story of the Four Sultans in North Maluku is that the object stolen by the male character is a shawl.

The above four stories refer to the same scene, namely the desire of men to have women in the wrong way. They want to have women based on their physical image, which is beautiful. The objectification of the women in the story is practiced as women are treated as body parts or bodies that are only judged based on their utility. In the story, the description of the objectification of the female body is illustrated through the narrative and dialogue as found in the following Legend of Ile Mauraja:

How surprised he was when he saw seven beautiful girls bathing in the river in the cave.

“Oh… how beautiful those girls are!” murmured the King’s with admiration.

Seeing the beauty of the girls came his intention to marry one of them. So, he secretly took one of the clothes from the girl that was placed on the river bank. Then he hid the clothes in a tree hole. (Samsuni, 2011c).

In the data above, women are objectified for their physical beauty. Similar representations are also found in other stories. In the original story of Botu Liodu, Lei Lahilote is described as “He then hid behind a big tree, then peeked out to check on the situation…He watched their every move without blinking an inch. The handsome young man was fascinated by the beauty of the girls.” (Samsuni, 2009a) likewise in the stories of Alamona n’Tautama n’Taloda (The First Man in the Talaud Islands) and the Four Sultans in North Maluku. The woman in the story lives in a culture that places her body to be looked at, judged, and objectified (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). In fact, in the stories, “Alamona n’Tautama n’Taloda” (First Man in the Talaud Islands) and “The Origin of Lake Limboto”, expressions of exploitation of the female body are described in a more vulgar way. In the story, “Alamona n’Tautama n’Taloda” (First Man in the Talaud Islands), verbal expression is expressed by “from behind the phone, he then observes the movements of the angels who are taking a bath. Wow, this is a really amazing sight. How beautiful those women are,” murmured the Crab Man in admiration.” (Samsuni, 2010a). Likewise in “The Origin of Lake Limboto”, which is “from behind the tree, he watched the seven nymphs bathing until their eyes did not blink a bit.” (Samsuni, 2009b).

In La Upe, Sawerigading, and Napombalu stories, female characters are visually exploited by male characters through their physical beauty (Samsuni, 2009c, 2009e, 2009d). Unlike the four stories above, in these three stories, the exploitation of women’s bodies is expressed in the admiration of the female characters’ physical appearance by the male characters. Through the description of physical beauty, the male’s sexual desire is displayed. This picture needs to be taken seriously because the representation of women’s bodies and the desire for male domination over women’s bodies need to be viewed as social practices (Goffman, 1971) and systems of power (Laqueur, 1990). This picture, at the same time, confirms the dominance of men over women (Bourdieu, 2001). Women become weak figures who are displayed more with just their physical aspect. The depiction of female intellectuals as human figures is not found in the story. Various descriptions found regarding the objectification of women in Eastern Indonesian folktales are in line with research findings on Western Indonesian folktales (Baiduri, 2015; Fauzar, 2019; Hapsarani, 2017; Iswara, 2019; Juansah et al., 2021). Women in folktales in the region also experience sexual discrimination in the form of objectification. The female characters in folktales tend to be passive, and the beauty aspect is the main attraction for male characters to get female characters. In addition, women become objects, especially of the sexuality of male characters.

Various representations of the objectification of women in stories are indeed very dangerous, especially when children consume folktales. Sexual objectification is the beginning of the emergence of sexual violence and it has significant consequences on one’s understanding and perspective on sexual violence  (Loughnan et al., 2013). When a person sexually objectifies another person, he will perceive that that party is lower than himself. The perception of women as objects of men, especially in terms of sexuality, is very dangerous for children’s understanding of gender. Women are only seen as objects or commodities.

Women as an Exchange of Power

Women are objectified when they are seen or treated by others as objects(Nussbaum, 1995). Objectification works through the experience of treating a body that is judged in terms of its usefulness for (or consumption by) others (Hapsarani, 2017). In the folktales of Eastern Indonesia, two stories describe female characters as a medium of exchange of power. The two stories are “Sawerigading” from South Sulawesi and “Indara Pitaraa and Siraapare” from Southeast Sulawesi. This depiction cannot be separated from the use of the background of events during the royal period. In the story of “Sawerigading”, the princess of the Chinese kingdom was used by her father to strengthen the ties of brotherhood with the kingdom of South Sulawesi. Putri does not have a role in participating in making choices in her life for the power of male characters (Samsuni, 2009e). Likewise, in the story of “Indara Pitaraa and Siraapare”, the king’s daughter became a gift for Indara Pitaara for helping to kill a giant snake. Putri has no power over her destiny and choices for the sake of perpetuating the king’s power in this region (Samsuni, 2011a).

The objectification of women as a medium of exchange of power in both of the stories occurs because women do not have the power to make decisions. In both the stories as well as in almost many folktales from Indonesia, women are depicted as passive beings who do not have the power to have opinions or make decisions (Toha-Sarumpaet, 2010). The depiction in folktale almost entirely depicts decisions made by men. This condition has implications for the emergence of constructions regarding the nature that a woman must possess. A good woman is a woman who obeys the decisions of men. However, in the folktale above, the passivity of women causes them to become objects for the medium of exchange of power. Women become commodities for men’s interests in perpetuating their power.

Women are Passive and Work in Domestic Areas

One of the methods of objectification of women is identifying a person based on his body or body parts (Langton, 2009). In Eastern Indonesian folktales, some depictions limit women’s space based on identifying their physical condition. The female characters in the story are described as having only access to the domestic area. Women occupy a passive role and obey the male characters. This is because women are depicted as physically weak characters and need men as their protectors.

In most of the stories, female characters are only described as having access to the domestic sphere. The female characters are tasked with taking care of household needs. In the story of La Onto-Ontolu, by the female character, Grandma, everything that deals with the kitchen area is done (Samsuni, 2011b). The grandmother figure is a representation of the depiction of the role of women in this region. Likewise, in the story of Indara Pitaraa and Siraapare, the mother character is depicted as the person who is responsible for the kitchen to meet the food needs of her children. Unlike the female characters, the male characters have access to get out of the domestic area. They have to work outside and even have access to leave the village to earn a living (Samsuni, 2011a).

The data shows that in the folktale of Eastern Indonesia, women are also described as being more dominant in the domestic sector. This picture is in line with the research findings conducted by  Zahro et al., (2020), which state that in Indonesian folktales, female characters tend to maximize their potential in the domestic sector and ignore broader competencies. Moon & Nesi (2020), in their research on fairy tales from East Nusa Tenggara, also found that women have more roles in the domestic area. Women rarely appear in public. This means that the images of women in folktales, both in the Western and Eastern regions of Indonesia, tend to represent women’s roles in the domestic sphere.

The placement of women’s positions only in the domestic area is closely related to how men perceive women’s physical strength. Many female characters in Eastern Indonesian folktales depict women as passive beings who have no will. Characters are treated as individuals who do not have the autonomy or ability to determine their desires (Nussbaum, 1995). For example, in the story of La Onto-Ontolu, the character Putri Bungsu must obey her husband’s invitation to leave her family at the palace (Samsuni, 2011b). The female character is described as a good figure if she follows her husband’s decision.

This picture shows the position of women in the family. A man is the head of the family as well as the protector of his wife and children. This construction influences how men view women’s position as weak creatures who only need to work at home and wait for the results of men’s hard work.

Women’s domestic roles and passivity are in contrast with the more dominant characteristics of men. Men have a much stronger physical body and can protect women. This depiction is emphasized in the Legend of the Horn of Alam story as a male character who comes to save a female character from being kidnapped (Samsuni, 2019). Similar stories are also found in several other stories. In this construction, men become patrons for women who nurture and protect.

Conclusion

This study aims to understand how women are depicted in Eastern Indonesian folktales. This understanding is mainly related to the objectification of female figures. Based on the analysis conducted on eleven folktales, it is found that many female characters in Eastern Indonesian folktales are subject to objectification. The objectification of female figures is carried out in the form of women as objects of sexuality, as a medium of exchange of power, and as being passive and working in the domestic sphere. This finding shows that the folktale of Eastern Indonesia cannot be separated from patriarchal ideology. These stories show that women in the imagination of the Indonesian people still occupy an inferior position compared to men. Furthermore, the female characters also experience objectification and inequality as found in the folktales of Western Indonesia. The patriarchal point of view in the folktales has deep roots and spreads in Indonesia. Research proves that the ideology of folktale is not always in harmony with the ideal values ??that exist in society. It takes a critical attitude towards the selection of stories that will be conveyed to children.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest.

Funding
The authors would like to thank the Directorate of Research and Community Service – Directorate General of Research and Development Strengthening – Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia for funding this research.

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LGBT Themes in Children’s Media and Literature: Mirroring the Contemporary Culture and Society

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Komal Yadav1 & Dr. Nipun Kalia
Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab. ORCID: 0000-0002-9712-8670
1Corresponding author: Email: komal.surender@gmail.com

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages  https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.08

First published: June 19, 2022 | Area: Gender Studies | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Volume 14, Number2, 2022)
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LGBT Themes in Children’s Media and Literature: Mirroring the Contemporary Culture and Society

Abstract

Queer theory in the context of cultural studies looks at a variety of cultural structures of the gay or lesbian as divergent, and prompts us to question the traditions in which an entire variety of sexuality has been omitted by the ‘politics of identity’, a politics that informs and polices popular cultural representations of the Queer. Moreover, it focuses on the limiting nature of identity and has primarily functioned as denaturalizing discourses. Culture is related to questions of collective social connotations, i.e., the many ways we make meaning of the ways of the world. However, meanings are not merely floating, rather they are produced. While watching cartoons might seem an innocent pastime, it has a lot more to do with the child’s psychology. Compared with other genres, cartoons can potentially trivialize and bring humor to adult themes and contribute to an atmosphere in which children view these depictions as normative and acceptable. Television shows, books, and movies with sexually-confusing messages introduce children to falsehoods and immorality and create insecurity among them. A general belief exists in the conventional heterosexual society that children are not equipped to handle these adult themes. The present paper tries to unfold the LGBT representation in children’s media, its impact on the child’s psychology and how it mirrors the contemporary culture & society.  This study will also investigate the need and appropriateness of the LGBT themes in children’s media along with their role in depicting the culture and society. The texts and media under study in the paper are Steven Universe, Danger & Eggs, Incredibles 2, The Legend of Korra and In A Heartbeat, Heather Has Two Mommies, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, Mommy, Mama, and Me, and Daddy, Papa, and Me, King & King and Daddy’s Roommate.

Keywords: LGBT, queer, culture, society, cartoons, anime, children’s literature, transnormativity, homosexual, bisexuality, heterosexual, dequeer, heteronormative discourse

Queer theory is largely concerned with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons and societal concerns derived from LGBT and Feminist perspectives. However, it is a slippery slope since the inclusion of all identities that conflict with normative constructs is advocated. Classifying everything as Queer certainly fails to create meaningful understandings of individuals who, in their daily lives, are prejudiced against assuming positions of authority. Traditionally, in the heterosexual society, the existence of a kid who is openly LGBTQ is denied. It has been a long tradition in the study of children’s literature to examine the relationship between the real child reader and the imagined or inferred child reader, and adults present from the text’s invention through its reception. Just because we mirror and absorb our surroundings, external influences may have an impact on our personalities (Gecas and Schwalbe, 1983). This applies to children as well as adults. Symbolic representations and characters in children’s books serve as points of identification and sources of motivation for good deeds (Tetenbaum and Pearson, 1989). Children’s books provide a window into the cultural norms via the words and imagery they use (Fox, 1993). It’s crucial to know what messages and pictures children’s books with ‘gay’ or ‘same-sex’ oriented characters convey since they reveal an early understanding of their sexual orientation. Children’s literature is an important part of socialization. The children’s literature market is now flourishing (Brugeilles et al., 2002). When it comes to a child’s psychology, viewing cartoons may appear like an innocent pleasure. Children’s cartoons can trivialize and bring comedy to adult subjects, creating an environment where these representations are seen as normal and appropriate.

In recent times, young-adult works have endeavoured to fiercely handle subjects that bother youngsters. Consequently, the necessity to keep queer characters behind the curtains hidden from the interfering gazes of adults has dissipated to some extent.  Media role models supposedly affect personality traits as well as the values of an individual by the way of identification. There are two kinds of identification. Similarity identification is defined as finding similarities with or idealizing a media figure and living vicariously through his or her activities. Wishful identification, on the other hand, occurs when an individual desires to resemble a media figure due to the media figure’s appealing qualities (Matthews, 2018).

Television and books communicate and mirror culture in a variety of ways. The imageries of childhood T.V. programs persist within children as dominant parts of their memories (Anderson et al., 2001). In this manner, T.V. outlines generational subcategories in the culture. The characters and the way they are portrayed in picture books or other children’s books have an everlasting impact on children’s psychology. Whether considering animated series or animated films, the more the young ones are exposed to a mediated message, the more they are expected to observe that message as reflecting reality.

“Childhood has been recognized as a crucial emblematic function in neoliberal sexual politics, and it has been duly regularized as a central queer concern: an arguable crucible or ground zero of all sexual politics. This especially pertains to the child’s implication in regimes of categorization that are to govern complex coordinations of subjectivity across class, race, gender, maturational, and sexual fault lines (coordinations often related to what anthropologists used to call the incest taboo). At the same time, the child may be considered to harbour potential for resilience in the face of these overarching forms of containment.” (Janssen, 2020)

Impressions of media models made on child audiences affect their beliefs of the culture. Cartoons are more expected to sustain cultural norms despite challenging them. The same can be analysed in cartoons like Steven Universe, Danger and Eggs, Incredibles 2, and The Legend of Korra.

Steven Universe is one of the progressive shows which displays a range of diverse gender creative and queer characters. The series destabilizes gender by deconstructing the pre-established binaries. Love is handled inclusively, and is not restricted to romances which are heterosexual.

“The show is radically revolutionizing trans representation in media by being willing to give voice to less often represented gender identities. It provides us with a framework with which to investigate how agender and genderqueer identities and experiences can not only function but thrive within the genre boundaries of the fantasy cartoon. This genre, and here Steven Universe serves as an exemplar, tends to embrace a particular reliance on “magic” to define its set of narrative rules, images, and possibilities.” (Dunn, 2016)

Steven Universe, although not flawless, is an agreeable illustration of how cartoons can teach future generations what it is to go ahead of labels and defy expectations. One way in which Steven Universe depicts LGBT relations is by “fusion,” i.e. when two “gems” fall in love with each other and merge into one. For example, in the episode named: “Alone Together,” we see Steven and Connie “fuse” into Stevonnie who is a non-binary character and employs gender-neutral pronouns: they/them. In the episode: “Jail Break,” we discovered that Garnet, who is Steven’s guardian, is the creation formed out of a fusion between Ruby and Sapphire. Garnet is the living embodiment of a normalized lesbian romance, as her song goes, “I’m made of love.”

The idea of a chosen family is introduced in the show. For example:  “Connie Maheswaran is not related biologically to anyone in the rest of the family, and lives with her own (biological, nuclear) family, but has been accepted by the Gems, Greg, and Steven into their extended, chosen family unit, and has been taught aspects of Gem ways.” (Ondricka, 2017)

A chosen family is a set of people who intentionally ‘choose’ each other to assume important roles. One description of ‘chosen family’ is a set of people with whom you are not biologically connected yet emotionally attached and account for as ‘family’. There are several explanations why such a concept holds significance in various queer communities. Many queers simply fail to secure a way into the traditional ways of family building. Chosen families also frequently come into existence due to need. Several queer people do not depend upon their biologically determined families just like other (so-called normal) persons would probably be able to. In this cartoon, the concept of ‘chosen family’, ‘lesbianism’ and ‘gender-neutral pronouns’ are introduced. It communicates to the young viewers the ever-prevalent concept of the social institution called family along with introducing new dimensions to the same conventional concept. This new aspect is functioning to teach the children about the viability of less imagined/ never thought of options. The prevalent cultural norms are not hindered, but new possibilities are introduced.

Danger and Eggs, aired on Amazon Prime, has won Daytime Emmy Award, with its intriguing, colourful, unusual style of animation and assemblage of appealingly unconventional characters fits into the similar sort of “alternate universe” as related animated series Steven Universe and Adventure Time. Moreover, it is filled with queer and trans characters, whose voices are given by queer and trans actors. Its episodes contain central leitmotifs such as Pride celebrations and chosen families. Moreover, because it is a series having young children as its target audience, all themes are tackled in a pleasingly entertaining and unobjectionable manner. Danger & Eggs is a pleasant dive into LGBT family entertainment. There are also a lot of inordinate themes and messages that are significant for all children, those who belong to LGBT families and even those who don’t. But may have a distinct connotation for queer children, like discovering their identity, interrogating rulebooks and being keen to change their minds. In one of the episodes, two characters Phillip and DD Danger form a band along with a child called Milo who makes use of they/them pronouns. Rest of the characters on no occasion question that, there is no awkward discussion elucidating non-binary pronouns, rather all simply call them either by using “they” or “them” pronouns or by their name. This highlights transnormativity in children’s media. (transnormativity is the normalizing of transgender people’s existence and their experiences.)

Its first season clocks in at a respectable 13 half-hour episodes mostly comprised of two stories each. It’s a joy to watch, but the real power and importance of this show are hidden behind the laughs. The sunny side-up brilliance of Danger and Eggs can be highlighted through its theme song which goes like this: “It’s about a kid, an egg, a park, they do stuff. There’s more to it than that. It’s kind of hard to explain.” Danger and Eggs stars DD Danger and Phillip. DD Danger is the turquoise-haired girl who is the last in the line of the Daring Dangers – a family of stunt performers. Given her family history, she too dedicates her life to sweet stunts and dangerous action. Her best friend Phillip, an anthropomorphic egg, still lives inside his mother – a giant chicken that has taken roost in the centre of the aptly named Chickenpaw Park. In the show, neither of the main characters discredits the other, which promotes the culture of acceptance and assimilation. Both the characters are open to change, they seek to be the best they can be as they grow along the way. They face their fears, adapt to change, find forgiveness, fight injustice, and question rules, all while having fun and being genuinely happy. Danger and Eggs deftly dances between the perilous path of teaching complex morals and lessons without coming across as preachy, cloying, or pandering. There are many progressive ideas that the show advocates, as in the episode named Pennies, they explain the complicated concept of ‘confirmation bias’. Confirmation bias is the propensity to understand new evidence as validation of one’s prevailing biases, opinions or concepts. When Phillip donates the pennies from the wishing fountain to buy cat wheelchairs, the locals freak out fearing their wishes have been stolen and undone. This forces Phillip and DD to explain why that’s wrong as they face mob persecution. This is pretty heavy stuff for a children’s show. The show also tackles lessons like the importance of breaking traditions that make anyone unhappy, learning not to discredit people based on their appearance, the importance of political activism in the face of apathy, and the knowledge that family doesn’t begin and end with those you are directly related to. The show proudly and confidently pushes a message of progressive LGBTQ inclusiveness in every episode. And that comes from the DNA of the creative team heading the project.

While mainstream shows like Steven Universe, Loud House, and Star vs The Forces of Evil have dipped their toes into exploring queer subtext, Danger and Eggs simply makes it text and does so in a way that makes it look effortless. The show does not stereotype the LGBTQ community. It never takes the time to hold the audience by the hand or create othering qualifiers that allow its LGBTQ characters to be pushed into subtext. It never calls attention to any of its inclusive elements. It simply shows these things as normal. And that’s really the greatest lesson Danger and Eggs subversively teaches its young audience that this is normal, that there’s nothing strange or awkward or wrong about using they/ them pronouns, or having two fathers, or celebrating pride day, or cheering on a young trans girl who recently transitioned. By presenting these elements as normal, it eliminates the shame and stigma LGBTQ people face.

Other such cartoons like Bugs Bunny and The Simpsons also have trans and homosexual characters that just like the formerly discussed series make children aware of the LGBT culture that runs parallel to the mainstream culture. Consequently, the children are able to identify, accept and assimilate LGBTQ individuals and their culture from beginning, which prevents them from facing a cultural shock later in life.  “…the scenes of trickstering in Rabbit Fire require that Bugs Bunny’s agency be located somewhere outside conventional economies of desire: indeed, his persistent ability to queer the pitch of signification suggests that the rabbit is always already queer.” (Savoy, 1995)

In Incredibles 2, the characters Elastigirl and Evelyn though did not explicitly unveil their sexuality but are interpreted as queer by the audience. It makes a subversive social commentary and allegory. The new character Voyd, a queer stan, acts as ‘lesbian metaphor’. She worships Elastigirl for smoothening the road for other females as she makes women more visible by being the example of a successful breadwinner of the family. Voyd mentions that she is “out and proud” of herself despite the preconceptions of society. These subtle clues hint at the probability of Voyd being a homosexual.

The concluding section in the final episode of The Legend of Korra aired on Nickelodeon explored the likelihood of a romantic relationship between two female characters, Korra and Asami. The two eventually choose to go on a private vacation together and enter a new magical realm, with fingers interlocked and beholding lovingly into each other’s eyes. The scene is a ‘sequence of actions’ that ‘change the perceptions of its viewers. This is a rhetorical scene and is eventually up to the viewers to infer signs such as holding hands as indicating romantic tension between both the women.

“When it came to the final scenes of the episode in which Korra and Asami’s relationship moves from platonic to romantic, creator Bryan Konietzko asked himself, ‘How do I know we can’t openly depict that?’” (Banks, 2021)

Though inclusivity of the LGBTQ people is occasional but upgraded in media now, visibility of bisexuality precisely is very low. Shows like The Legend of Korra could serve as an encouraging depiction of bisexuality as it is effortlessly incorporated instead of using it as a device or joke in the plot. The graphic novel series creatively demonstrated the friendship evolved into a relationship between the two female lead characters. Initially, the readers showed surprise at the shift in the love interests but the overall response was positive and enthusiastic implying a certain degree of acceptance of the concept of bisexuality. The intention that the author tried to portray through the series included smoothening the ride of the LGBTQ in their constant battle with the world. The duo went through challenges, a love triangle but found romance in the most unexcepted of places. The series ended with the two protagonists intimately holding each other while fading away into the beautiful sunset. The diverse approach towards representing the queers through the undeniable power of media has had a great impact on our culture as the viewers were emotionally forced to lay down their traditional views and sympathize with the repressed community and their struggles. A similar message is conveyed through the short anime-based film created by students- In A Heartbeat (2017), which showcased a love story of two boys. This stands uniquely as a queer representation of sharing something rare and genuine is not often seen. The creators of this short four-minute six-second film, shed light on the fact that the aim of the film is to decrease the confusion amongst kids as they grow up.

Heather Has Two Mommies, written by Leslea Newman helps in making children more culturally competent. It is an iconic children’s picture book that tells a tale of a little girl who happens to be a child of a lesbian couple, Mama Kate, a doctor, and Mama Jane, a carpenter. Life was normal until the first day of school when she comes face to face with the reality that she doesn’t have a daddy. A classmate of hers, David, enquires about the occupation of her daddy, a question that leaves her in confusion and she wonders if she is the only one who doesn’t have a daddy. It was her teacher who helped everyone understand and accept that each family is unique and special in their own way:

“It doesn’t matter how many mommies or how many daddies your family has. It doesn’t matter if your family has sisters or brothers or cousins or grandmas or grandpas or uncles or aunts. Each family is special. The most important thing about a family is that all the people in love each other.” (Newman, 2009, p. 14-15)

The piece of literature faced a lot of criticism, and judgements and was put under the ban. As long as the literature is portrayed accurately and appropriately, it has all rights to be published and placed in libraries. Heather has two mommies ‘dequeers’ lesbian families by holding them equivalent to heterosexual or so-called normal families. The book takes a step ahead in an endeavour to inform the people that LGBT households are just like other or normal households while at the same time handling the unique problems they encounter. Concludingly, we can say that Leslea Newman’s book didn’t contain any superficial romance and the story presented life as it truly is- plain and simple. On similar grounds, Leslea Newman has penned the books Mommy, Mama and Me and Daddy, Papa and Me. These rhythmic illustrations/books similarly reinforce the notion of a happy and normal family of a homosexual couple. The couple in Mommy, Mama and Me tucks the kid in bed and kisses the child goodnight in a way a heterosexual couple would do: “Now I am tucked in nice and tight. Mommy and Mama kiss me goodnight.”  The child in Daddy, Papa and Me kisses his father goodnight: “Now Daddy and Papa are tucked in tight. I kiss them both and say night-night!”. There are believable families in both the books, with nothing extravagant or abnormal.  These brightly illustrated books introduce the concept of LGBT culture in a light-hearted and lyrical manner. It shows that it shouldn’t matter if the families are straight or not, what truly matters is the love they share.

In the book written by Sarah S. Brannen named Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, an anthropomorphic young guinea pig Chloe is bothered by the idea of her uncle’s marriage to his boyfriend Jamie, as she thinks he will not have fun with her anymore. Chloe can be seen as the personification of the conventional society that we have been living in and an embodiment of the apprehensions that the traditional society and culture hold for the idea of homosexual marriages. Just as Chloe is afraid of family relations and change, the society is also a way unaccepting of changes and alterations in the prevailing cultures. Unlike the other LGBT-themed children’s books, this book doesn’t depict a child’s struggle against the negative views, it suggests that same-sex relationships can normally exist and there is not any need to defend them. The final scene features Bobby and Jamie with Chloe between them and the light of the full moon shining upon them suggests that even the homosexual couples are complete in themselves and do not need the opposite gender to complete them.

King & King authored by Stern Nijland, presents Bertie, a prince of marriageable age for whom a princess is being searched. The book disrupts the conventional formula of a boy falling in love with a girl. The queen invites princesses from all over the world to meet her son but none could interest the prince. Princess Madeleine accompanied by her brother Prince Lee also visits. Both Bertie and Lee fall in love at first sight and they get married. The entire ceremony concludes smoothly and the kingdom gets another king as the two princes are declared ‘King and King’. The ending scene of the story shows the kings kissing and embracing each other. This story was claimed to be inappropriate by many parents and a lawsuit was filed against it. There exist multiple orientations based on culture, sex and gender all around us. It is unfair to exclude them within the walls of a classroom therefore such books play an important role.

Another incredible example of the contemporary LGBT culture is the book Daddy’s Roommate written by Willhoite, M. (1990) which presents the homosexuality concept to be normal and acceptable. The book is reinforcing the idea of a gay couple being as happy, responsible and functional as a straight couple. Moreover, the book is informative rather than persuasive. The main character is a boy whose parents are divorced so he lives alternatively with both his parents. The boy’s father has a roommate who is his love interest. The boy is taught that “being gay is just another type of love. And love is the best kind of happiness”. The book is one of the first to provide a positive portrayal of the homosexual community and is aimed at amending the discrimination that they face. The book endeavours to present the idea of gender roles and sexuality in a new way.

As highlighted in the books: Heather Has Two Mommies and Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, Mommy, Mama, and me, and Daddy, Papa, and me, King & King and Daddy’s Roommate, in children’s literature, the theme of homonormativity is clearly evident.

“…because this sub-genre of children’s literature is still developing, evidence suggests that there is also a small but important number of contemporary texts that have the potential to expand the ways in which LGBTIQ?+?families are depicted.” (Hedberg, 2020)

Effective social justice movements, including those at the level of children’s literature, address the ways different forms of oppression intersect and affect the experiences of diverse queer identities. Children’s literature can help combat heteronormative discourse by instilling at a young age the inherent value of all people. Inclusive children’s literature can help combat socialized aspects of heteronormativity and other forms of oppression.

Children’s books reinforce heteronormativity through the nearly exclusive celebration of homonormative and nonthreatening LGBT characters. A subgenre of children’s literature is referred to as new queer children’s literature. The authors represent queer youth as they negotiate various social institutions, especially the family and society. It is suggested that an ambivalent reading of these images—one neither committed to anti-normativity nor assimilation—can help us understand the queer present at its most affirmative and, by extension, aid us in beginning to theorize possible queer futures. As stated by Dr. Gayle E. Pitman, a professor of psychology at Sacramento City College in California and author of several LGBT -themed books designed for kids:

“There’s a concept called symbolic annihilation in psychology and sociology, which is the idea that if you don’t see yourself represented or reflected in society or in media (television, movies, books), you essentially don’t exist. That’s why it’s so important to have L.G.B.T. representations in children’s books.” (Pitman, 2018)

Considering the formerly discussed cartoons and books addressing LGBT themes, children’s media/books shouldn’t simply be asexual, just as children aren’t asexual. This points to the fact that gender identity and sexual orientation do not in any way point at children being sexual in the same way as adults but rather signify the perceptibility of such concepts at an early stage of life. This can clearly be seen in a girl child marrying her doll to the prince charming, a little boy racing his car. So, it can be noticed in queer children when they couple their dolls differently or play roles in child games according to where they think they fit perfectly, irrespective of the sex that they were born with.

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Dr. Nipun Kalia is an Associate Professor of English at the University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Chandigarh University, where he teaches Literary Theory and Criticism, Gender Studies, Film Studies/Theory and other courses. He earned a doctorate from the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh where he specialized in investigating the ways in which gender politics and conventional cinematic representations of sexuality are depicted and explored in selected films. He occasionally conducts workshops on Gender Sensitization and Equality.

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Resistance and Ungendering: Poetry of Mona Zote and Monalisa Changkija

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Debajyoti Biswas1 & Pratyusha Pramanik2

1Associate Professor of English; Bodoland University, Kokrajhar, Assam, India. ORCID: 0000-0001-5041-8171. Email: deb61594@gmail.com.

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Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages 1–12. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.ne08

First published: June 09, 2022 | Area: Northeast India | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Themed Issue on Literature of Northeast India)
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Resistance and Ungendering: Poetry of Mona Zote and Monalisa Changkija

Abstract

While the academic world talks of different waves of feminism that have emerged in Europe and the US in the past few centuries, the feminists from the third world countries have reservations on the use of a western framework of feminism in investigating the challenges faced by the women from third world countries.  The structural discrimination that permeates the gender divide in India is so variegated that a homogenous reprisal will be inadequate to understand the problems that persist among several ethnic communities in a postcolonial context. Neither religion nor education could erase the structural discrimination that continues to exist in these ethnic societies because of the persistence of regressive “customary laws” that allow male domination. This essay argues that the emerging feminist voices like Monalisa Chankija and Mona Zote from India’s north-east have used “performativity” as a tool to counter these gendered societies on one hand, and on the other hand it has also un-gendered the “essence” of cultural constructs putting it under suspension. However, the success of this effort seems limited only to the literary world as efforts are still underway to bring substantial changes into the political world.

Keywords: Monalisa Changkija, Mona Zote, North East India, Performativity, Third-world Feminism.  

Introduction: Feminist voices from Northeast

For a very long time, the literary and intellectual world has been dominated by male authority. This is why the corpus of knowledge relating to philosophy, history, theology, literature, and even science was not only androcentric but was also misogynistic in its tone and language. Meeta Deka (2013) points out, “Historiography, in general, suffers from an amnesia in respect to several categories that include women, peasants, workers and other marginalized voices […] This Historical amnesia was diagnosed by the growth of feminism and feminist movements since the 1960s” (p. xvii). Texts related to women or about women were also produced mostly by men and the female experiences were hardly recorded and they tended to exist in the periphery or the footnotes (Ray, 2001, p. 1; Eagleton, 2007, p. 106). Consequently, women read about themselves through the perception of men, and later on, when they wrote about themselves, they conformed to the plastic image of women created by men. Mary Eagleton writes that “these feminists are as guilty as the most misogynistic men of marginalizing women and not representing them at all” (p. 105).

This image of women as conceived of by the creative and sexual imaginary of men produced a model which was to be appropriated and internalized by women. The “second wave” of feminism found the male linguistic artifice suffocating their feminine voices. This is because the phallocentric matrix of vocabulary and subsequent cultural production were devoid of lexicon that could accommodate feminine expressions (Jones, 1981).  Writing played a pivotal role in the emancipation of women not only from patriarchal domination but also from themselves, which had so long been entrenched into the matrixes of patriarchy. This functions well in educated and elite societies where women’s movements have support from civil society. But this option remains inconsequential in peripheral ethnic societies marred by violence and remoteness. The tribal societies in North East India are a case in hand, which according to Temsula Ao are “still engaged in solitary activity” (2010, p. 171). The two women poets dealt with here come from Naga and Mizo ethnic groups living in India’s North East. While relating to their poetic work, this chapter will contextualize their experiences with the socio-political history of the places from where they write. Drawing on Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s (2011) idea of writing as resistance, this chapter argues that the women poets from North East India use writing not as a tool of self-expression, but also as a “performance” through which they ungender the cultural constructs by putting those under suspension. These cultural artifacts are then stripped of the constructed essence and eventually re-invested with a new essence through their poetic expression.

Double resistance through verse

Mohanty (2011) asserts that “questions of political consciousness and self-identity are a crucial aspect of defining Third World women’s engagement with feminism” (p. 286). The scenario in North East India is different from the rest of India in this matter. North East India is the home to several ethnic communities (Biswas, 2021) and many of these communities have been converted to Christianity after 1826 (Karotempral, 2009). Christianity was seen as a way of liberating these ethnic communities from their “savage” practices by making them “civilized” (Guha, 1996). These civilizing missions not only disrobed the indigenous communities of their tradition, identity, and heritage, they also distanced them from their past, from themselves. Charles Grant argued in favour of proselytizing the various communities in India so that their lives, habits, and customs could be changed and brought to par with western civilization (Ghosh, 2013, p. 14). This vision was finally realized with the coming of Bentinck and T.B. Macaulay who introduced a modern education system built on the western Christian guiding principle (Ghosh, 2013; U. Deka, 1989; Mukherjee, 2000). Whereas this transformation appeared liberating, in reality, it only brought a new kind of colonial domination and subordination. The ethnic social structures and traditional knowledge systems were destroyed by this interference which complicated matters further. On one hand, religion outlined the objectives of the converted communities clubbing them as a separate identity and nation different from pan-Indian identity; on the other hand, the Church became a powerful medium of domination and subjugation as articulated in the poems by Mona Zote and Desmond Kharmawphlang (Kharmawphlang, 2011). Women also became victims of the political turmoil that rocked the North Eastern states since 1947 (Banerjee, 2014). They were caught in the conflict between the state and the militants. These experiences are visible in the poetic works of Mona Zote and Monalisa Changkija. The double resistance that flows from the feminist poets is not only directed against the conflict situation but is also directed against the patriarchal domination.

Most of the tribal communities in North East India follow customary laws which allow them to carry on their ethnic practices with a legal sanction (Buongpui, 2013). Although some of the practices like marriage or divorce laws may be a contravention to the Indian constitution, yet the ethnic space is given a scope to continue with those practices (Borah, 2015). On examining the folk literature of these communities, one may find that these customary practices and the social structure that scaffold these practices are inherently patriarchal. For example, the Mizo story of Pi HmuakiZaitells us about the persecution of a female vocalist because of her extraordinary skills. She was killed and buried along with her gong by the menfolk of her community (Zama, 2011, p. 207). Among the Khasis a sexist proverb is in circulation- “Haba la kynih ka iarkynthei la wai ka pyrthei,” meaning “when the hen crows, it will be the end of the world or world will be in ruin” (Borah, 2015, 45). Among the Manipuri Meiteis, the women were denied the right to property (Basanti 164) because ownership of a property is a marker of social status. Among the Arunachalis too, women live in a marginalized position (Misra, 2011b, 230). The Idu Mishmi has a proverb that tells us of the deep-seated misogynistic practices: “Aru Pe Gu Noyu-Mbo Mi.” This means “women are like anchorless boats which move easily, even with the slightest stir. It is this logic that projects women as unsuitable in positions of power (Aich, 2015).” All these proverbs narrate the subordinate position of women in the tribal societies in North East India. The discourse on women’s empowerment is too good to be true in societies dominated by customary practices. The grand narrative that is created through such mythical discourses or proverbs in the tribal society contributes largely to the subordination of women. Such discourses enter the storytelling and decide the role assigned to women, which is then iterated in all kinds of cultural and political discourses assuming the cloak of truth. Temsula Ao (2006) writing about the plight of women in North East India states that “In actual reality, in this society, women are considered to be of little or no significance in matters relating to the origin, history and civil life of the people. But in fictive reality of these narratives, women have been portrayed as re-appropriating the powers that men actually wield in real life” (pp.23). Therefore, the task of women writers is not only to confront the patriarchal domination but also to portray the struggles through their writings. Talpade Mohanty points out the role of publishing houses and university curriculum in bringing about this revolutionary change in this struggle. The two poets discussed in this chapter illustrate this.

Mona Zote, through her poems, challenges the stereotypes created in society against women. She challenges these cultural stereotypes on one hand and also on the other hand, questions the demonization of women in patriarchal societies. In “The Whores of August”Zotetries to humanize the “fallen women.” She speaks of prostitution in the Mizo society where Christian missionaries are in charge of the law of the land. Not only are sex workers marginalized in these societies they are viewed with contempt. Zote (2003) speaking of these prostitutes notes-

And in the Madonnic embrace find
What no perfect daughters would deny
Sweetness in all their ways ( 201)

By using the imagery of Madonna, Zote offers a critique of the Christian missionaries who have subverted the existence of these women. Thus, they may not have become the “perfect daughter” as the patriarchal society would expect them to, but they manage to retain their individuality. On one hand, she critiques the authoritarian Church for the inhumane treatment it lays down for these sex workers, and on the other hand, she also highlights the subordinate status of the perfect daughters or perfect wives who have bartered their individuality for a rightful place in the society. The sex workers are women who cannot legitimately be mothers or wives. Patriarchy derides and relegates them to subaltern position, and even when visible they are simply confined to defined spaces (Geetha, 2007, p. 6). Patriarchy only sanctions women who could give birth to children and act as active parents bringing them up as future citizens (Geetha, 2007, p. 48). Neither the Church nor the tribal society accepted women who broke these stereotypes. Monalisa Chankija too while writing about sex workers wonders-

If Prostitutes and other
“Morally-loose women”
are social evils,
so are “God-fearing
Chaste women”
who have mothered
wife-battering sons. (Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain 6)

Here, Chankija tries to redefine what the patriarchal agents have culturally constructed as the idea of “Morally-loose women”. In a way she advocates decriminalization of sex work and consider it as being a source of livelihood (Pillai et.al 313-326; Kotiswaran). Much like Nivedita Menon she draws a parallel between marriage and prostitution; while marriage can be “arduous, undignified, and inescapable as sex work…-and unpaid on top of it all! But we try to empower women within marriages not demand the abolition of marriage itself” (184). The poem also notes, how, in patriarchy, women themselves become agents of repressing other women.  By questioning the culturally constructed essence of social roles, Chankija destabilizes the social matrix. Here, the illusion of social identities is being questioned and juxtaposed with each other. The power nexus between married women and “loose women” have been pitted against each other, only to highlight how there is power struggles even among married women. In marriages that are virilocal, that is the wife moving to the husband’s home after the marriage, women “derive their power solely from men” and “they are put into positions that are pitted against one another” (Menon, 2012, p. 44). The poet does not intend to further increase the tension among women, rather she intends to unify women against the patriarchal structures which represses women alike. Such patriarchal structures treat them like “second class citizenry” (Chankija, 1993, Foreword)

In the poems of Monalisa Changkija, we note this to be a recurrent theme- women caught in unequal marriages, sacrificing their dreams, desires, and individuality. Changkija counters the patriarchal norms of the tribal society and questions these unwritten rules set down for women. She writes-

I see it nowhere written
that your unironed shirts
deserve my attention
more than my flying lessons (Chankija, 1993, p.27)

Here, Changkija not only draws our attention towards the gender prescribed roles, but she also subverts them by speaking of a woman’s desire for flying lessons. While flying or driving has been mostly associated with masculinity, the act of flight is also associated with freedom and liberation. So, a woman’s desire to prioritize her flying lessons over domesticity would mean that she is breaking free by ungendering her roles. Butler (1988) observed that-“The authors of gender become entranced by their own fictions whereby the construction compels one’s belief in its necessity and naturalness. The historical possibilities materialized through various corporeal styles are nothing other than those punitively regulated cultural fictions that are alternatively embodied and disguised under duress” (p. 522). Women across cultures have been repressed and culturally constructed for their marginalized existence. This performance of gender is often so inbuilt, that women do not recognize their suppression. They themselves start negotiating a position for themselves, which would be suitable for them after fulfilling their primary responsibility of being the ‘domestic labour’. They start taking up jobs which are tagged as female professions like nursing and teaching, and even when they take up other jobs, they need to limit their ambition at the very onset. Like most of India, even in the North East, this sexual division of labour is so normalized that women do not consider their domestic responsibilities as work. Women’s labor remained invisible until the 1991 Indian census- the state did not recognize such works because they are not performed for any wage. However, in rural areas, the domestic work includes collection of fuel, fodder and water, animal husbandry, livestock maintenance, post-harvest processing and kitchen gardening. These jobs demand considerable physical strength and yet remain unpaid. If women choose not to perform these domestic responsibilities, the men of the house would have to hire someone to perform these jobs and pay them wage, or the goods are to be purchased from the market. (M.K. Raj ,1990, pp. 1-8; M. K. Raj and V. Patel ,1982, pp.16-19). Chankija (1993) writes-

I have discovered……
your life isn’t more precious
your time isn’t more valuable
your profession isn’t more noble
your pay-cheque isn’t heavier
your status isn’t more important
than mine. (p. 21)

With this realization the poet not only breaks out of her gender prescribed role of being the care-giver, she also prioritizes her own profession and her pay-cheque. This is not a personal act of rebellion, as she recognizes her worth as a domestic labour, women start questioning the economy which benefits from this unpaid labour. If the mothers and wives do not perform their assigned gender roles, then either the husband or the state has to pay someone to get this work done (Menon, 2012, p. 15). Women then could become equal contenders in any career of their choice-politics, warfare, sports or any other fields which until now had been dominated by men. They would no longer require to limit their desires.

Chankija’s aspiration for the sky intends to break free of gender stereotypes in more ways than one. She wishes to break free of the cultural fiction which limits her individualism, and this breaking free of cultural constructions, also has punitive repercussions. The women, of whom Changkija speaks of, are not only marginalized and denied of their rights and desires; they are also subjected to domestic violence. The men of these societies resort to masculine aggression to keep intact the gender matrix. Women are reduced to their reproductive and caregiving functions as the men batter and bruise them by “raining blows” with their “masculine hands”- the domestic sphere of the Naga women is as conflictual as the social scene. Violence against women has been normalized and is common in most households. Women are caught in relationships where they find neither solace nor security. The institution of marriage is used to deny women their basic rights. Changkija (2014) writes regarding the Naga marriage that it is a “totally unequal one, where the role of the wife is taken for granted as subservient” (p. 77). They are not only dominated in the household sphere but they are also denied the political rights guaranteed to them by the constitution of India. The patriarchally structured civil societies continue opposing the thirty-three percent reservation for women in Urban Local Bodies (ULB) in Nagaland (Saikia, 2017).  Caught in these unequal marriages the women suffer silently, go through miscarriages and other oppressions. They continue being resilient mothers and wives who continue to fulfill their duties as mothers and wives. Chankija (1993) writes-

Violence-induced miscarriages,
black-eyes and bloodied-lips 
blue-bruises and broken ribs
within the sanctity of marriages
and security of homes,
are unrecorded indexes
of man’s “progress and growth”
on this planet’s unwritten
Pages of Pain (p. 7)

The personal over here becomes political (Hanisch, 1970). The experience of a Naga woman remains no longer restricted to the four walls of her household, her marginalization and the systematic process of otherizing and silencing her is being written and recorded by Changkija here. These untitled poems are extracted from an anthology which she has titled Weapon of Words on Pages of Pain. Changkija has been a reporter by profession who understands the power of words and the need to record the narratives of pain to locate them historically, and further read and theorize them. Her poems do not follow the conventional norms of poetry; with rhyme schemes she suspends the rhythm and conventions to question the prevailing socio-cultural norms and roles. Chankija (1993) writes-

When my verses
do not rhyme
nor conform to
traditional norm,
to you, they are
just words,
not poetry. (p.39)

She is well aware that the society may not acknowledge them as verses, but as mere words and phrases, but this too is an attempt to break free of “sedimented expectations of gendered existence” (Butler, 1988, p.524) Thus, she politicizes the personal not only through her words, but also by breaking free of conventional poetic structures. These poets are trying to rewrite the history of the culture by highlighting the marginalized conditions of women.

Ungendering Culture

These poems become tools of resistance when the patriarchal agents of the society continuously try to silence them; these poems also create political consciousness among Naga women with shared experiences. In the introduction to her book on “life stories of Jamaican women,” Honor Ford-Smith (1987) writes: “These tales encode what is overtly threatening to the powerful into covert images of resistance so that they can live on in times when overt struggles are impossible or build courage in moments when it is. To create such tales is a collective process accomplished within a community bound by a historical process…” (pp. 3-4). As the Naga underground army engaged in a battle with the Indian state, the “Naga way of life” had been turned into a battleground where one could hear the blaring machine guns and revolutionary ideals (Misra, 2011a) – this turmoil finds a parallel in the households of these women, which turned into battles and wars neither lost nor won. Being women, they suffered double oppression in the hands of their men as well as the insurgency. For them, an overt struggle is not possible, so these poems act as a means to unify and record their dissent. Changkija (2003) vents her anguish against the use of brute masculine force to silence them-

“Don’t waste your time
Laying out diktats
And guidelines
On how to conduct my life
On matters personal and political” (pp. 200-201)

Both these poets are vocal about the violence and neglect that the people of the North East have suffered over the years- “the cultural genocide, the attempting to erase tribal heritage, the ravages of insurgency, the authoritarian reign of the church, and so forth” (Bordoloi, 2019, p. 95). The women of these regions have used their words to counter the brutality. In Zote’s “What Poetry Means to Ernestina in Peril” (2005)we are taken into the world of a woman living in a male-dominated society. The evening star tells her that “Ignoring the problems will not make it go away,” and the music reminds her of the “dusty slaughter”, “epidermal crunch” and “sudden bullet to the head” (pp. 66-67). Speaking of the insurgency Mona Zote said in an interview- “People simply shut it out, they don’t think of it on an active level yet the trauma filters through in small ways. And while religion supposedly heals or consoles, it can also inflict cultural damage that is difficult to diagnose or even acknowledge” (Tellis, 2011) The world of Zote at once induces discomfort among the audience, the banality and yet the nonchalance with which she speaks of the violence in her world shows that Ernestina is not a demure voiceless woman. The “third eye” is the poetic imagination which the society or the Repressive State Apparatuses (Althusser, 1971) have cut out of her. With the very act of speaking and thinking as a woman, she breaks out of her gender role of being the silenced woman and reclaims her voice in the patriarchal state. She challenges the historical idea of being a woman in peril. She undoes the process of becoming the woman and ungenders herself as she steps into a violent and grotesque world. In her poetic world, we see Zote reverse the historical and cultural construction of becoming the woman (Beauvoir, 1956, p. 273). She unlearns the authoritarian rule of the church, the violence of the insurgency, and the subordination she has faced as a woman growing up in a patriarchal society. She is not the perfect daughter or wife who would shy away from speaking about the foeticide, miscarriages, the illegitimate children born, and the failed marriages; she blames the church and the state for the peril. Butler in Gender Trouble (1999) problematises the “cultural compulsion” to become a woman; however, in the North East we see a compulsion to be a man. The body becomes a passive battle ground where through determinism or free will cultural meanings are inscribed on the body or meanings are interpreted with the body as the means (p. 12). It is fear, insecurity and anger which pushes them out of their conventional roles and makes them thinkers and critics. Zote (2005) writes, Ernestina would smile and say-

I like a land where babies
are ripped out of their graves, where the church
leads to practical results like illegitimate children and bad marriages
quite out of proportion to the current population, and your neighbour
is kidnapped by demons and the young wither without complaint
and pious women know the sexual ecstasy of dance and peace is kept
by short men with a Bible and five big knuckles on their righteous hands.
Religion has made drunks of us all. The old goat bleats.
We are killing ourselves. I like an incestuous land. (p. 67)

Using both the repressive and ideological state apparatuses (Althusser, 1971), the Mizo people have been “bombed silly out of our minds” (ibid). Here, the very act of thinking or speaking is an act of empowerment, especially when it is done by a woman. The bombing is also an allusion to the bombing of Aizwal by Indira Gandhi in March 1966 (Buhril, 2016).  In Changkija’s “Shoot,” (2011a) she writes “Shoot, after all, we are only an inconvenience of a few lakh souls” (p. 90). The poem addresses the threat of genocide; however, she affirms that they will not move from their dream of a unified brotherhood. “One of these Decades” (2011b) is also a poem addressing the socio-political context of the North East (p. 89). Here, she speaks of living a nightmare and the past mistakes of their forefathers. She believes that this time they will not be lured by “riches and glory”, this time they will not be enslaved by the strangers who have wanted to tame them. The poem alludes to the Christian missionaries who have tried to tame the tribal heritage and enslaved them. The “date with destiny” refers to Nehru’s Tryst with Destiny speech (p. 89). Although India achieved independence in 1947 from the British, the North East continues to be caught in a struggle between the insurgent groups, the armed forces, and Christian missionaries. Changkija participates in this collective dream and unified brotherhood, she breaks the society’s gender norms through her social performance of participating in a historical and cultural process, which she is otherwise deprived of, on account of being a woman (Butler, 1988).

The ungendering process of these poets is also performed through the images, myths, and idioms employed in their poetry. Changkija in “Mist over Brahmaputra” (2011c) wishes to be like the Brahma’s son. The name Brahmaputra means Brahma’s sons, the river in the North East is considered a masculine river because of its ferocious currents and it also has a mythical connotation. She wishes to embody the “human inadequacies” and the “spiritual serenity” of the river. The identity of being Brahma’s son lends it shapes, colours, and volume to travel across time and space. She seeks the strength to heal from her “self-destructive tendencies” (pp. 87-88). She suspends the idea of the masculine image of the Brahmaputra as she humanizes it and draws parallels between herself and the river. The Brahmaputra, which is a cultural artefact and has a history of cultural essence associated with it, is being offered a renewed significance. We see a similar instance in Mona Zote’s “Girl, with Black Guitar and Blue Hibiscus” (2005) when she draws a parallel between the subterranean gong and the black guitar in one hand and the computer on the other (pp. 67-68). The subterranean gong alludes to Pi Hmuaki, the vocalist, who was buried alive because of her skills. Hmuaki’s perfection is compared to the flawless computer, which is a machine and has a masculine connotation. The gong after being buried becomes the guitar, which too is considered masculine. For the gong, or Hmuaki to be accepted by her society she needs to ungender herself and becomes a man. These poets write intending to critique the cultural constructs and ungender the prevalent narratives by suspending them. These poems then become the site of performance where the stereotypical essence of cultural artifacts is challenged and redefined by these women. The poems, therefore, no longer remain mere sites of resistance, they become cultural fields, where renewed gender acts are performed “invariably, under constraint, daily and incessantly, with anxiety and pleasure” (Butler, 1988, p. 531).

Conclusion

The journey of the women in social, political, and literary life is fraught with deprivation, suppression, and violence perpetrated by the patriarchal hegemonic structures. Not only constitutional amendments failed to rescue women of this plight, but religious conversion also failed miserably to emancipate women. Rather, religion with its inherent misogynistic scaffolding could not offer the restructuring of the social order for women. A cursory inquest into the life of the North Eastern women will at once reveal the participation of women in the economic and cultural front. Despite their active participation, they are relegated to a secondary subject under the patriarchal gaze. The opposition of civil society in women’s participation in the political sphere hints at the fact that women will not be allowed to make any changes to the social structure politically. Under these circumstances, a critique of such domination and also altering the cultural constructs through literary practices could play a major role. Mona Zote and Monalisa Chenkija, both working women, have not only subverted the hegemonic structures through their writing; they have also ungendered the cultural icons through performance in daily life and re-appropriated those to exemplify the participation of women in every sphere of social life. On one hand, they have exposed the inherent misogynistic social structure in tribal society; on the other hand, they have re-signified the cultural elements by ungendering those. While it has been witnessed that religion has failed to guarantee emancipation for women in the North East tribal society, the panacea lies in political participation and cultural re-signification through writings.

Acknowledgement

Photo by Susan Wilkinson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/acrylic-paint-on-black-background-12203448/

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Debajyoti Biswas is an Associate Professor& Head of English Department at Bodoland University, Kokrajhar. He did his MA at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 2003 and received his PhD from Gauhati University in 2017. He has co-edited two books- Nationalism in India: Texts and Contexts (Routledge 2021) and Global Perspectives on Nationalism: Political and Literary Discourses (Forthcoming from Routledge). He has published his research papers in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, and English: Journal of the English Association; Corvinus Journal of Sociology and Social Policy; RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism & Postcolonial Studies.

Pratyusha Pramanik is currently a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Humanistic Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, India. She did her MA in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University; and her graduation from Bethune College, University of Calcutta. Her works have appeared on various online portals like Feminism in India, Borderless Journal, and Café Dissensus.

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