Fashioning ‘Body’: Sartorial Reforms and Namboothiri Women
Keywords:
Women, middle-class, patriarchy, dress reforms, antharjana samajamAbstract
Clothing patterns have been a gendered expression of individual’s identity throughout history. Societal concerns always played a major role in the making of sartorial choices. Morality and modesty were integral to clothing culture; when it comes to women, patriarchy was very cautious of the moral underpinnings of dress. Patriarchal notions were explicit in the traditional clothing style of women in every community. However, the ‘middleclass’ conviction was not in favour of continuing the traditional clothing patterns of women and sought to reform the same. The reformism again was in tune with the ‘new patriarchy’ and set out to ‘modernize’ women to cater the needs of new found patriarchy. This paper addresses the sartorial amelioration of Namboothiri women proposed by the male reformers of the community and how they conceived women in new attire.
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