Browsing by Author "Rai, Sunaina"

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    Body Image and Presentation of Self among the Women University Students in Sikkim
    (University of North Bengal, 2022-03) Rai, Sunaina
    The spread modern technology and global flow of ideas and practices expedited by globalization, transnational capitalism and social media platforms have generated new discourses on human body. Under the spell of new body discourses modern men and women look for new identities and new ways of presentation of self in their everyday life. This paper reflects on how the university going women students of Sikkim perceive and negotiate with diverse body images in their everyday life. The first section of paper identifies the agents that influence construction of ideas on body and beauty. It also attempts to trace how far the socio-economic background of the students determines their perceptions of body and beauty. The second section attempts to unravel the various determining factors relating to the body discourse. It also traces the revolutionized social and cultural construction of body discourse based on the lived experiences and close observations within the family. The final section of this paper situates the empirical findings in the light of theoretical arguments and present the body discourse from a sociological standpoint.
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    Introspecting the Gendered Body through Women’s Everyday Experiences
    (University of North Bengal, 2025) Rai, Sunaina
    In the modern somatic upsurge, women’s bodies remain trapped in the idealised body images and beauty standards endorsed by the dominant media, beauty industries and fitness centres. Arguably, the process of curating the body ideal, as well as the awareness and practice of the perfect among the women, styles the body as highly gendered. The body manipulation related to the need to fit into the dominant body ideal makes physical control over the body central in determining the body image and self-identity. Mannerism, disciplining, and monitoring the woman’s body remain a prominent practice in almost all societies. The feminisation of the fashion, beauty and fitness industries/gym culture enables women to bargain in innumerable ways with their bodies. Against this backdrop, the paper reflects on the interactions made with women from various groups in Sikkim, including those based on age, ethnic community, level of education, and economic background. It explores how individuals subjectively experience their bodies in everyday life. The paper also highlights how women are negotiating the experiences of the body and beauty ideals, employing their agency to create a fit between the unvarnished body and the dominant body image.