Introspecting the Gendered Body through Women’s Everyday Experiences

Abstract

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.