Same-sex love in Muslim cultures through the lens of Hindustani Cinema

Authors

  • Ayesha Arfeen Jawaharlal Nehru University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2017.147

Keywords:

Same-sex love, Amradparashti, Dedh Ishqiya, Laundabaazi, Muslim lesbians, Sexual Frustration, Female Sexuality

Abstract

This paper tries to explore same-sex love in Muslim cultures in India as represented in Hindustani cinema. My focus will be on Muslim female same-sex love which is generally not touched upon. Female same-sex love and male same-sex love is widely discussed and debated upon. The recent film Dedh Ishqiya (Bhardwaj, 2014) is taken as a case study to examine female same-sex love in a Muslim context. Other films will be dealt in periphery. The influence of language, place and peer group is to be checked. Amradparashti or male same-sex love is discussed in comparison to female same-sex love for which no particular term in North India is used that frequently.

 

Author Biography

Ayesha Arfeen, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Doctoral Researcher, CSSS/SSS, JNU, New Delhi.

References

Ali, M. H. (1917) Observations on the Mussalmauns of India: Descriptive of their manners, Customs, Habits and their Religious Opinions made During a Twelve Years Residence in their Immediate Society, London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press.

Beauvoir, S. (1997) The Second Sex, London: Vintage Books.

Bismillah, A. (2013) Shaadi ka Joker, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan.

Chughtai, I. (2011) The Quilt, translated by M. Asaduddin. New Delhi: Penguin Books India.

Friday, N. (1991) Women on Top, New York: Simon & Schuster.

Henry A., Michèle Aina Barale, David M. Halperin (eds.). (1993) The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, New York and London: Routledge.

Jain, J. and Sudha Rai ed. (2009) Films and Feminism: Essays in Indian Cinema, New Delhi: Rawat Publications.

Najmabadi and Babayan (eds.) (2008) Islamicate Sexualities: Translations across Temporal geographies of Desire, London: Harvard University Press Cambridge.

Singh, M. (2011) Lucknow: A City Between Cultures, New Delhi: Academic Foundation.

Vanita, R. (2012) Gender, Sex and the City, New Delhi: Orient Black Swan.

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Published

2017-09-14

How to Cite

Arfeen, A. (2017). Same-sex love in Muslim cultures through the lens of Hindustani Cinema. CINEJ Cinema Journal, 6(1), 51–70. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2017.147

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2017): Spring 2017

Section

Articles

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