ABSTRACT

This book explores multiple facets of femininity for marriage in India. Using language as an entry point, it looks at how and why media representations of gender identities are constructed the way they are. It works with a unique synthesis of second-wave feminist discourse and empirical linguistic research to look at how the social institution of marriage becomes the site of interaction between language, ideology, psyche and culture. This volume also brings together the personal histories and views of women who discuss how media, modernity and social norms shape their ideas about marriage and selfhood.

Deconstructing perceptions of femininity in contemporary India, the book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of sociology, gender studies, linguistics, media and cultural studies and psychoanalysis.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|31 pages

Gender, feminism and femininity

chapter 2|33 pages

Critical discourse studies

Concepts and tools

chapter 3|13 pages

Consuming brides

Discursive construction in matrimonial advertisements

chapter 4|36 pages

The discourses of bridal care

chapter 5|16 pages

Media, discourse and gender

chapter 6|54 pages

Ideology, femininity and performativity

Bridal psyche and responses

chapter |8 pages

Conclusion