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How do women of traditional societies make sense of self, by performing
religious rituals? Do these rituals in some way constrict women's agency
or provide space for 'bargaining' in a patriarchal setting? These are
some central questions which Beatrix Hauser seeks to answer in her book Promising Rituals: Gender and Performativity in Eastern India
(2012). In this book, Hauser is more interested in exploring women's
perception of power and human agency and self images. She analyses how
regular participation in rituals construct or reconstruct women's
understanding of self (a gendered self). One of the main arguments
conveyed in the book is that performance in religious rituals (a
cultural site in the case here) produce 'encouraging notions of
femininity,' which help women in verifying their self-understanding as
gendered beings. The book is based on an ethnographic study in the city
of Behrampur and its rural surroundings of Southern Orrisa, a state
located on the eastern coastline of the Indian sub-continent.
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Hauser has produced a solid theoretical base for the book and taken a
'subaltern' path in analysing many theoretical discourses. For example,
she does not imply a 'western' notion of power that is 'domination' but
analyses 'discursive power' and focuses on women's views on power. She
stresses that traditional Indian society, especially in the regions
where worshipping goddesses are common, women draw a sense of self
esteem through various religious rituals. Therefore, in this context the
notion of 's(h)akti' is more relevant, which does not mean subjugation
or domination but also denotes 'potentialities' and 'tolerance.' She
draws her concepts on gender from Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman. In
that sense gender becomes a social construct and not a 'passive being.'
The process of gendering, then, does not only mean everyday actions in
which actors may or may not get involved cognitively but also 'framed
events' such as rituals, processions and festivals. The book has a major
focuses on 'performances' of religious and other rituals.
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The book contains eight chapters and each chapter discuss different
aspects of ritualistic performances relating to 'doing gender.' While
analysing each religious, semi religious events and performances of the
actors in the events, Hauser, tries to make sense of how the somatic and
emotional experiences during the events stays with the actors even
after their completion. For example, in the first chapter, she conducts
an analysis into a religious event called 'Jahni Osa': a day-long fast
which adolescent girls keep in the hope of getting a good husband when
they get married. But Hauser goes into deeper analysis of the religious
event and completely negates the 'hegemonic' perspective of female
passivity on such practices. She claims that adolescent girls in
Southern districts of Orissa negotiate their social space by performing
this votive rite. These girls get the first taste of 'gender specific
ritual agency' after performing the fast.
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The second chapter deals with a seemingly new religious event which does not have the backing of religious texts and scriptures—Nisa Mangalabara Osa—
conducted for the well-being of husband and family. The chapter, thus,
brings forth women's religious agency in a more direct way as it allows
women autonomy to 'design the worship.' Hauser has conceptualised this
process as 'personalisation of worship,' which, according to her does
not denote authorship or individualisation of religious events, but it
authenticates rituals for the participants by personifying various
emotions and tensions.
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The third chapter of the book focuses on the everyday performativity of
women and how their everyday practices shape/reshape their self
understanding. Here, Hauser draws her attention to a non-religious
practice, menstruation and analyses how social and cultural meanings
attached to this bodily function, which is considered to be an 'impure'
period in women's lives, help in gendering the everyday life practices
of Hindu women. She bases her analysis within the discourse of the
'performative category' and explains that the everyday self-presentation
of women, which is permanently defined with some variations, produces
the notion of 'purity' or 'impurity' in their social and religious
lives.
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This is not to undermine women's agency in displaying new ways of
conveying ritualistic restrictions or coping with somatic experiences of
menstruation, but in this case, women cannot be regarded as an
'autonomous author' of this process, Hauser concludes.
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The next two chapters (4 and 5) are devoted to socio-religious practices
of 'divine possession.' By examining the process and
socio-psychological dimensions of the 'possessions,' Hauser dismisses
the existing academic discourse on divine possessions in South Asia,
which regard women as 'passive victims' of these religious practices.
She states that though the enactment of 'possession' is physically
tiring, it raises the 'reputation of women' in their surroundings and is
rationalised as 'divine agency.' According to Hauser, these 'bodily
experiences' are culturally constructed and evoke 'real experiences' as
women afterward identify and acknowledge the 'deity presence' in their
body.
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The last three chapters document and analyse religious fervour around Burhi Thakurani Yatra.
Chapter six focuses on the prominent role of women in the festival. It
also explores how women, who are otherwise absent from public spaces in
the night, appropriate these spaces in the night when they conduct
nocturnal yatra or processions. Also, this public event is in
contrast with private ritual practices conducted by women in the private
spheres of the home. Chapter seven of the book, for the first time,
brings forth men's involvement in religious events when Hauser discusses
masquerading performances by men to please the Thakurani goddess. She
explains how, like women's processions at night, masquerading is a
transcendental experience for men where they are believed to be
completely immersed in their different roles to attain a devotional
high. Chapter eight still remains with Burhi Tahkurani Yatra, but focuses more on communal politics around the yatra and how women, once again, either get involved in communal politics or become subjects of such politics.
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Hauser presents a rich ethnography in the book and provides a 'thick
description' of the religious and ritualistic lives of women of Southern
Orissa. However, such rich ethnography calls for a much deeper analysis
into various aspects which influence 'doing gender.' For example Hauser
made a fleeting statement in chapter four about the class-specific
practices of divine possessions; otherwise, she has considered 'women of
southern Orissa' as a single category in her analysis—a deeper analysis
of middle-class women of Southern Orissa would have made the book even
more intriguing. Further, Hauser has given sufficient attention to
women's agency (ritual agency, divine agency), however, she does not
explain in great detail how that agency is being reshaped in the
changing politico/economic space created by globalisation and
liberalisation. A detailed analysis of the influence of media on women's
religiousity would have enhanced Hauser's analysis. Further, in her
ethnography, she has stressed that religious performances in Southern
Orissa are a source of self esteem and confidence for women, who do not
get any external reinforcements (such as paid employment). However, with
such rich data one would expect a little more on the ways that women
bargain their space by 'being religious and pious.'
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The book is a good resource for social scientists, particularly
sociologists and anthropologists, in general and feminists and gender
researchers in particular. This is also a good read for students willing
to take up ethnographic research.
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