ABSTRACT
Ossified image of the women’s market as well as the women’s war is being continuously invoked to exemplify the idea of empowered Meitei women. This article examines the narratives behind such images that occupy an iconic status in women’s movement in India. I propose the idea that Meitei society’s discomfort in dealing with women’s sexuality has pushed for women’s movements and agitation to work within the acceptable de-sexualised frame of motherhood. The emotive vocabulary of motherhood is seen as an effective strategy in conflict-affected society, however it is substantially limiting. The projected image of empowered women seems to be starkly different from the treatment they receive in their own families and communities. I also analyse the preoccupation with the sexuality of Meitei women and critique the idea of motherhood. Is the problematic sexuality of the women then managed albeit ambivalently by putting her in the mould of the archetypal mother? The paper attempts to posit the idea of motherhood separate from the celebratory undertones to imagine an alternative frame of organising and agitation.
