ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the construction of the lustful woman based exclusively upon women's songs produced collectively by women and sung by women for an audience consisting purely of women. It seeks to understand how and why this image, common to both men and women's songs, has different connotations and messages. The chapter seeks to understand how far the subversiveness of these songs finds its echo in the actual transgressive behaviour of women in caste/class and gender relationships, and with what effect. It highlights the construction of masculinity, pleasure and deprivation, which cuts across several societal hierarchies. The chapter explores the 'lustful woman image' in rural north India, with special insights drawn from the Haryana region. It seeks to ascertain whether this image is consistent with women's self-understanding and self-evaluation, desires and fantasies, and correlate it with their life experiences.
