Gender Performativity in Mahasweta Devi’s “Draupadi” and “Standayini”

Bodies carry out specific gender roles and imposed meanings to construct gender identity. Dopdi from Mahasweta Devi's "Draupadi" is a victim of this enforcement. Though she eventually steps out of socially constructed gender roles, Jashoda from Devi's "Standayini" remains devoted to conforming to the age-old convention. Materialistic exploitation of Jashoda’s reproductive body and violence over Dopdi’s body are the results of the perpetual politicization of the female body. I wish to explore the significations imposed on the female body and how these two female characters are victimized due to the performative aspect of gender. The research objective of Sumon Mojumder, in this project, was to analyze how reiterated acts of performance stabilize gender and to investigate how Dopdi and Jashoda, with performative attributes of gender, position themselves in confronting the meanings imposed on their bodies

• Supervision