'The Lustful Tale of Femme Fatale in Cultural India'
Author: Urja Upadhyaya | 2019 | Scholarly Research Paper
The objectification of female sexuality is projected through the lens of Bollywood’s male gaze in the 2018 Indian movie Lust Stories, produced by Ronnie Screwvala which consists of four short film segments displaying the sexual exploration, vulnerability, empowerment and debasement of the 21st-century Indian woman. Lust Stories questions the sexual and cultural norms of the conventional Indian community. The Lustful Tale of Femme Fatale in Cultural India analyzes the sexual fronts of Lust Stories by applying media theories such as the male gaze and feminist film theory from Laura Mulvey, Michael Foucault and Sigmund Freud. By utilizing Freud, Foucault and Mulvey’s ideologies, The Lustful Tale of Femme Fatale in Cultural India deconstructs particular scenes from each of the four segments which project the rigidness of Indian gender codes and the sensitivity surrounding the word sex.
'Women, Gender & Sexuality'
Author: Urja Upadhyaya | 2018 | Scholarly Research Paper
This study of sexuality and its relationship to the intellectual history of South Asia talks about how the intellectual royal male crowd of India chose to indulge in male gaze through the culture of courtesans and women in general. The paper examines colonialism throughout the 20th century and the socio-sexual lives of women in that era as portrayed in Bollywood cinema. It examines female sexuality through the lens of emerging social sciences in India and transversely the colonial world. The media objects included in this research represent the archetype of the Indian woman, which are women who are suppressed under the umbrella of patriarchy.
Social Conventions & Standards of Beauty in
‘The Bluest Eye’ by Toni Morrison
Author: Urja Upadhyaya | 2016 | Scholarly Research Paper
The novel encapsulates an ugly little girl asking for beauty with all her innocence. But in the society, there is no place for innocence. Beauty is everything to the society including blacks and whites. Here some questions arise, ‘How Pecola deals with the society and their conventions?’, ‘How she deals with her own perceptions?’, ‘Is being a freak is better than what she actually was?’. The social rejection makes her collapsed with inner hatred towards her own self. It is eventually the death of her self-esteem. All the characters of the novel deals differently with their low self-esteem which also affects the people related to them which leads to suffering for all.
Adult-Child Relationship and Family Values in
'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl
Author: Urja Upadhyaya | 2015 | Scholarly Research Paper
This research deals with how the family functions and how this functioning affects the development of child in various forms. It shows the sensibility through a nine year old child who gradually becomes mature and understanding due to the situation of his family and it becomes example for many. Research shows that how important part the family is. Every child is a product of the family principles and values and it can be seen from the child behaviour. The novel greatly deals with the child psychology in relation with the adults especially the parents. The novel puts emphasis on the various issues through which the poor family passes. Dahl has portrayed many themes of family life and child behaviours in this novel which made me work on this research on the above given topic.