{"id":2194,"date":"2020-06-19T12:04:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T12:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/?p=2194"},"modified":"2020-06-19T18:46:15","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T18:46:15","slug":"unveiling-the-veiled-desires-of-sexuality-and-eroticism-through-rajasthani-folklore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/2020\/06\/19\/unveiling-the-veiled-desires-of-sexuality-and-eroticism-through-rajasthani-folklore\/","title":{"rendered":"Unveiling the veiled desires of sexuality and eroticism through Rajasthani folklore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Aastha Tiwari<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Who is a woman? What traits should she wear as her jewellery? What does a woman want? Is\nshe free to desire, to crave intimacy, to wear her sexuality, to be bold, to openly talk about her\nwants, let alone be pursuing it? Whenever my mind is inundated with these questions, my heart\ntravels through an arduous journey to seek an answer. The answer is indeed simple \u2013 NO!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women are equal human beings except for the fact that their equality is esoterically the\ninequality, taught, perpetuated and normalized by society. The society that is almost equal\nquantitatively but highly unequal and unjust qualitatively decides what a woman should desire,\nwhat a woman should wear as her trait, what a woman should do\/not do. There is a never-ending\ndo\/don’t list that is handed to a girl on the day she first opens her eyes. Boundaries are drawn,\nrestrictions are imposed. Morality and honour are baggage that only a woman has to carry on her\nshoulders. Alas! Even though she is the honor of the family, yet she is the least respected. An\nirony, indeed! The cultural image is closely associated with women especially in South Asian\nsociety. This image is ambivalently construed and inherently torn and split. This lays down the\nhypocrisy embedded in the cultures of the Indian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The split image is a creation of the patriarchal nature of the society where men take the\nresponsibility to define the boundaries for women, regulate their sexuality, and forbid their\ndesires as immoral and indecent. The perpetuations of these notions are eased primarily because\nof the assumption that women are passive, docile and will submit to others definitions. South\nAsian women are idealized for wearing graceful pantomimes of submission and debasement. The\nhypocrisy emanating from this split theory is, a woman’s primary role is procreation, thus she\nshould be fertile and sexually active; simultaneously she should be absolutely chaste in terms of\nmarital fidelity and sexual reticence. A woman who uses her sexual desires only for procreation\nis fertile\/pure\/Devi and sexually auspicious while those who crave sexual intimacy beyond the\ndrawn boundaries are an erotic whore and thus, dangerous. A woman is not allowed to embrace\nsexuality as men do, and if she does, she is demeaned as a lust-maddened demoness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Everything has exceptions. This popular image is challenged in a small village, Ghatiyali in\nRajasthan by women\u2019s folklore. In this Rajasthani folk culture, women explicitly sing songs\nexpressing their sexual intimacy and desires. Women here take pleasure in their bodies; celebrate\ntheir beauty both for erotic imagination and procreation. The split image is rather seen as a\nunified image of a woman who can be sexy and motherly, erotic and fertile. This shatters and\ncrushes the popular conception of an Indian Hindu woman who is supposed to be an idol of\nmodesty, chastity, shame and obedience. Pleasure is a forbidden arena that a woman can’t\nsurpass or step in. She is supposed to not even think about it, let alone be demanding or seeking\nit. In such a crude world, women in this small village not only openly talk and embrace the idea\nof sexuality and eroticism but also demand and seek it on their own. They defy norms and\nuntangle the tangled boundaries that imprison them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The astonishing fact about these folklores is they are embedded in situations and are thus,\ncontextual. These songs are perceived as situationally appropriate \u2013 applicable during specific\nseasons like Phagun, Holi; rituals like baby shower, marriage; or in the presence of certain\nrelations. These songs do resonate with the temperament and predicament of the women, but\nsuch identifications are purely incidental and not integral to the performance. This is not to\nconnote that those are unreal feelings or utopian rather it\u2019s a replication of the imagination of a\nworld that caters to a woman\u2019s need. The stereotypes thrown at a woman are not only questioned\nbut shed off, given the auspiciousness of the events during which these songs are sung in chorus.\n\nThis also hints at the acceptance of a woman\u2019s desire as she is openly expressing her innermost\ndesires in a crowd of patriarchs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very nature of the songs is revolutionary and versatile. These songs are an abode of sexual\ndesires, cravings, intimacy, expectations and eroticism- all forbidden arenas for a woman. Songs\nare often addressed to a specified listener who can be an illicit lover, relative, husband or mere\nverbal interactions among people. These songs epitomize dalliance, enticements, wild erotic\nimaginations and they speak of infidelity and promiscuity. Both metaphorically and literally,\nthey largely talk about sexual engagements between spouses or lovers. These songs are\nconcurrently explicit and implicit. In one of the songs, a woman talks about a skirt and a wrap\ngifted by her illicit lover, which reveals her body. The song is adorned with a tincture of aroused\nsexual desires as the woman goes on to talk about erotic bites. Likewise, some songs explicitly\ntalk about sexual fantasies in different places like a hilltop, closed rooms, etc. These bawdy\nsongs can mainly be categorized into \u2013 GALI & KESYA. Gali means \u2018insults\u2019 and it refers to\nverbal abuses and curses that are humorous and are always sexually oriented. Essentially, they\nare sung when a group of kin women encounters men in a semi formal situation, who stand in the\nrelation of being bride-givers or bride-takers and on occasions of marriage. The insult songs and\nabuses are largely hurled at men. The genre of the song called KESYA is sung during annual\nfestivals like Phagun or Holi by women belonging to all the caste groups and celebrate bawdy\nsexuality that is evidently promiscuous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The very nature of the songs is revolutionary and versatile. These songs are an abode of sexual\ndesires, cravings, intimacy, expectations and eroticism- all forbidden arenas for a woman. Songs\nare often addressed to a specified listener who can be an illicit lover, relative, husband or mere\nverbal interactions among people. These songs epitomize dalliance, enticements, wild erotic\nimaginations and they speak of infidelity and promiscuity. Both metaphorically and literally,\nthey largely talk about sexual engagements between spouses or lovers. These songs are\nconcurrently explicit and implicit. In one of the songs, a woman talks about a skirt and a wrap\ngifted by her illicit lover, which reveals her body. The song is adorned with a tincture of aroused\nsexual desires as the woman goes on to talk about erotic bites. Likewise, some songs explicitly\ntalk about sexual fantasies in different places like a hilltop, closed rooms, etc. These bawdy\nsongs can mainly be categorized into \u2013 GALI & KESYA. Gali means \u2018insults\u2019 and it refers to\nverbal abuses and curses that are humorous and are always sexually oriented. Essentially, they\nare sung when a group of kin women encounters men in a semi formal situation, who stand in the\nrelation of being bride-givers or bride-takers and on occasions of marriage. The insult songs and\nabuses are largely hurled at men. The genre of the song called KESYA is sung during annual\nfestivals like Phagun or Holi by women belonging to all the caste groups and celebrate bawdy\nsexuality that is evidently promiscuous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, there are songs related to birth and procreation like the \u201cSong for New Mother Queen\u201d\n(jachcha rani ke git<\/em>). These songs evoke mysteries, pain and delight related to conception and\nbirth. However, some songs beautifully portray the mingling of erotic attraction and birth. It is\nbest exemplified in the pun intended reference of craving for certain food items like sweets.\nThere are obvious sexual innuendos like mocking the husband’s penis size, talking about the\nsexual desire of a newly married bride or sexual union. Certain songs are also aimed at liberation\nfrom societal constraints on who can have sexual desires. It is often assumed that after a\nparticular age, a woman stops desiring for sex; for example a woman whose son is married won’t\ncrave sexual intimacy. Women sing insult songs that mock at such ideas and affirm that age and\nsexual desires are unrelated. Any woman can have cravings for sexual desire or erotic\nimagination. Such breakthrough and progressive ideas are reflected in Gali and Kesya songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These revolutionary folklores that echo in the chorused voices of women definitely embody\ndeep, hidden sexual allusions. However, the essence and the importance of these songs are\noccultly embedded in the reality of the society that was designed authoritatively by men. These\nsongs are the verbal and melodic expression of the restraint, stress, workload a woman faces; the\nsilent treatment she is showered with, her conflicting status, taunts her ears are exposed to, etc.\nThese songs are an outlet where grievances are expressed, dominance defied, love declared, and\npatriarchy smashed. The world is unfair and unjust for a woman. It is through these folklores that\nwomen replicate their imagined world where they are free, unlike the real world which chokes a\nwoman. It is through the maze of these songs that women escape their ordeals and resist the\npatriarchal authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This incredible village acknowledges a woman’s right to sexuality, to have untrammelled erotic\nimagination. The idea of equality is embraced. The fact that women have the liberty to desire, to\nfantasise is an embodiment of equality. It shows that the right to desire is not an exclusive\ndomain of men rather is equally available to both the sexes. This doesn’t create a split image of a\nwoman or place these women against the idealized feminine version. Instead, it is a beautiful\nthread that is grounded in positive attitudes towards pleasure. They threaten the popular\nperception and perceive sexuality as generative and desirable rather than destructive. It offers a\n\nnew paradigm that shows a unified image of a woman who possesses both sexual desires and\nmaternal instinct, rather than a split image that tears a woman into categories of fertile\/whores.\nThe patriarchal society echoes with the chorused voices of women embracing their bodies and\nsexuality and unveiling their veiled desires. This emerging woman’s beauty and vital sexual\nengagement bring delight, pleasure and new life to the society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where most mainstream Bollywood songs and even lullabies comprise lyrics that more or less sexualise and objectify women\u2019s bodies, these songs in this Rajasthani folklore are celebratory of a woman\u2019s desires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1482,1481,1483,1479,1487,1485,1484,1035,259,1486,965,1478,1476,71,1488,1477,1480],"class_list":["post-2194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-folk-songs","tag-gali-and-kesya","tag-gender-roles-gender-discrimination","tag-ghatiyali-village-rajasthan","tag-ghoongat","tag-goddess-worshipping-india","tag-good-woman-and-bad-woman","tag-honour","tag-morality","tag-paloo","tag-patriarchy","tag-rajasthani-culture","tag-rajasthani-folklore","tag-sexuality","tag-veil-wearing-women","tag-womans-sexuality","tag-womens-songs","post_format-post-format-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2194"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194\/revisions\/2217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}