Index

Ableism, 13, 133

Ableist, 14, 126, 130, 138–143

Acid attack, 240

Advertisements, 9–11, 15, 82, 104, 120, 154, 183, 192, 194, 202, 210, 234–235, 241

Aesthetic capital, 2, 9, 17, 150

Aesthetic continuum, 10

Affective, 28, 37, 97, 130, 234

Agential, 142, 222

Aging, 4–5, 9, 49, 67, 158, 241; aging body, 8, 69, 75

Airbrushed, 9

Androcentric bias, 29. See also Patriarchy

Anorexia nervosa, 4

Apne Rang Hazaar, 153

Appearance, 1–4, 6, 8, 10, 17, 18, 233, 240; bias, 236; bodily, 228, 233; discrimination, 238; heteronormative, 239; ideal, 57

Appearance-conscious society, 217

Arranged marriage, 185, 192, 193. See also Matrimonial advertisement

Aryan, 32

Aspirational category (tomboyism), 218, 219

Aunty, 50

Autoethnography, 31, 33, 217

Babyji, 12, 44, 50, 57

Bala, 9, 14, 150, 154–158

Balan, Vidya, 165

Bama, 27, 30–40

Bandyopadhyay, Manobi, 45, 54–55

Barr, Marleen, 110

Bartky, Sara Lee, 18n5, 45, 48, 86–87

Basu, Bipasha, 157

Beautification, 5, 7, 205

Beauty, of standards, 13, 16, 18n6, 32, 45, 63–64, 98, 107, 115, 117, 190, 240

Beauty imperative, 3–4, 6, 15, 63, 233

Beauty labor, 3, 18n14, 141–142, 236

The Beauty Myth (Naomi Wolf), 3, 13, 49, 67, 72, 75, 102, 132

Beauty pageants, 7, 151, 235

Beauty queens, 6, 7, 235

bell hooks, 121, 127

Bettcher, Talia, 55

Bhabha, Homi, 38

Bharatiya Nari, 73, 201

Bhatt, Alia, 152, 187

Bhojpuri cinema, 14, 162–165, 171–174. See also individual films

Bihari, 152–153

Biopolitics, 132

Blackface, 152–153, 156–157

Blood, Sylvia K., 98

Blume, Judy, 120

Blyton, Enid, 220, 229

Bodily autonomy, 99; autonomy in body image, 49; sexual autonomy, 81

Body aesthetics, 65, 131–132, 141, 143

Body anxieties, 5, 16, 56–57

Body autonomy, 133, 141

Body image dissatisfaction, 34–35, 63–64

Body choices, 212

Body deformity, 124, 143

Body dissatisfaction, 28, 35, 64, 72, 117, 183–184

Body dysmorphia, 97, 134, 138, 141–143, 206, 238

Body dysphoria, 54

Body flaws, 132

Body ideal, 4, 7, 14, 54, 92, 125, 139, 241; dominant body ideal, the, 163; dominant notion of body ideal, 236; female body ideal, 54, 120; fetishization of impossible body ideal, 61, 132; hegemonic body ideal, 143; normative body ideal, 87; punishing body ideal, 164; slim-body ideal, 81; Western body ideal, 151

Body image scholarship, 1, 13, 14, 17, 63–64, 98

Body inclusivity, 16–17, 238. See also Body positivity

Body ontology, 143

Body policing, 34, 11. See also Body surveillance

Body politics, 103, 125, 163

Body positivity, 6, 8–9, 10, 12, 14, 17, 87, 133, 135, 142, 187, 237–238, 241

Body surveillance, 5, 34

Bollywood, 7, 10, 14, 16, 133, 135, 150, 152, 156, 163, 165, 172, 188, 200, 208–209, 236, 238, 241. See also Hindi films; individual films

Bordo, Susan, 3, 86–87, 132

Bose, Rupleena, 241

Bourdieu, Pierre, 4

Bourgeois feminine subjectivity, 65–66; bourgeois feminism, 73, 75; bourgeois subjectivity, 75

Brahmachari, 153

Brahminical aesthetics, 31; Brahmin body image, 32; Brahmin notions of beauty, 30

Brahmins, 32; Brahmin women, 32

Broome, Leela Gour, 116, 121–124

Brownmiller, Susan, 55–56

Bulimia, 4

Butch, 46, 50, 52–53, 221–222, 230

Butler, Judith, 46, 47, 54, 97

Cable television, 164, 235

Can’t Die for Size Zero, 8

Capitalist appropriation of discourses, 189; capitalist consumer culture, 196; capitalist exploitation of colorism, 188; capitalist market, 208; capitalist market regimes, 208; capitalist media, 138, 208; capitalist modernity, 2; capitalist societies, 285

Cash, Thomas, and Linda Smolak, 2, 28

Caste, 17, 27–28, 30, 32–34, 36–37, 40, 73, 103, 153, 194

Caste system, 32, 104

Caucasian bodies, 236. See also Eurocentric bodies

Celebrity mothers, 5, 205, 206

Cerebral palsy, 14, 131, 139, 143

Chadha, Simran, 73

Chakraborty, Anwesha, 237

Channel [V], 135

Chatterjee, Rani, 173

Chaudhuri, Maitreyi, 73–74

Chennai Express, 154

Childbirth, 7, 34, 49, 70, 202; fat maternal body, 206; pregnant beauty, 204, 205, 208

Children’s literature, 116, 120, 126, 220

Chillar, Manushi, 7

Christianity, 33, 37; Christian, 30

Cinematic representations, 150, 156, 221

Clone, 97

Colonialism, 32, 194; colonization, 81, 104

Colorism, 104, 106; color bias, 103; colorist biases, 6, 195; colorist hierarchy, 103. See also Fairness

Coming-of-age ceremony, 36

Comix Sense, 240

Compliance, 47, 53, 54, 118, 201, 203–204, 206, 229

Compliant forms of femininity, 228, 229

Conrad, Peter, 54

Consumer culture, 2, 3, 7, 10, 184, 196, 234

Cooper, Charlotte, 87

Cosmetic surgery, 53, 208

Cosmopolitan, 9

Counterdiscourse, 14, 187

Crowder, Diane, 57

Cute and chubby, 173, 174

Dalit, 40n1; Dalit body image, 28–29, 30, 37, 40; Dalit feminist, 27, 29; Dalit narratives, 28, 29; Dalit womanhood, 30; Dalit women, 27, 30; Dalit women’s body in public spaces, 34; Dalit women’s memories, 33; Tamil Dalit community, 27, 30, 31. See also Paraiyas

Dark is Beautiful, 82, 158, 187

Dark skin, 8, 14, 104, 150–154, 158, 186, 240

Das, Mallika, 190

Das, Nandita, 158, 187

Dawesar, Abha, 44, 50–53. See also Babyji

Deformity, 13, 124, 143

Dehejia, Harsha, 31–32

Desexed bodies, 123–124

Deshpande, Shashi, 64–75

Deviance, 47, 63, 132, 139, 203, 204, 217

Diet, 80, 82–92, 173, 202, 204, 210; diet culture, 98; dieting, 85, 88–89, 91

Differently abled, 8, 10, 13, 117–125, 131, 133, 194

Disability, 14, 124, 133, 137, 140–143, 195, 234; disability activism, 116; disability studies, 13, 17, 117, 134; girls with disabilities, 115, 119, 121; intersectional disability studies, 138; physical disability, 118; reader with a disability, 121; women with disability, 118, 139

Divergent body, 99

Doosri Sita, 153

Draupadi, 70

Dravidians, 32

dressing (clothing), 50–51

Dubey, Amrapali, 164

Dum Laga Ke Haisha, 9

Durga, Real Indian Mother, 173

Dystopia, 13, 99, 107, 110, 111, 111n3

Emancipatory, 195–196

Empirical research, 4

Encounters of a Fat Bride, 8

Erotic capital, 17; erotic beauty, 72; erotica, 72; erotics, 171

Essential attributes, 85

Eurocentric beauty ideals, 236

Eurocentric bodies, 29; Eurocentric body ideal, 236; Eurocentric dictates of an ideal body, 102; Eurocentric ideal, 2; Eurocentric ideals of female body, 2; Eurocentric ideas of female beauty, 98; Eurocentric norms, 7

Eurocentric culture, 63

Fair & Lovely, 104, 156, 185, 187–188, 235, 239–240

Fairness, 82, 104; fair-complexioned, 151, 157, 174; fair skin, 81; fair skin preference, 81

Fairness cream, 155, 185

Famous Five, 220–221, 229. See also Blyton, Enid

Fashion beauty complex, 63

Fashion industry, 66

Fat: fatness, 162, 164–165, 167, 169, 173; fat stigmatizing, 87; female body, 14, 84–85, 87, 163–164, 166, 168, 170

Female consumer, 185, 186

Female gaze, 50–51, 52, 74; in lesbian desire, 49

Female masculinity, 47, 217

Femina, 118

Feminine women, 57; femininity in a masculine body, 44

Femininity, 45–47, 55–56; femininity as artifice, 47; feminine identity, 87; feminine significations, 55; femininity negation, 120; hegemonic femininity, 47, 48–49

Femininity, ideals of, 9, 45, 127

Feminist activism, 183, 184, 189, 192, 196

Feminist mothering, 212

Feminist science fiction, 99

Femme, 46, 50, 52–53

Fetish, 166, 235, 239; fetishism, 162, 166, 174; fetishized, 167, 171; fetishization, 54, 132, 167, 188

Film actresses, 7, 164, 165

Filmindia, 184

Fitness magazines, 9

Fitting in, 5, 13, 115, 117

Flat-Track Bullies, 121

Flute in the Forest, 116

Foucault, 48, 86

Frank, Arthur, 56

Freudian, 131

Friend zoned, 227–228

Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo, 163

Gautam, Yami, 156

Gender identities, 9, 47, 81, 220

Gender norms, 47, 121, 127, 216

Gender transformation, 53

Gender transition, 47, 54

Genetic makeup, 7

Getting There, 12, 13, 80, 82–83, 91–93

Ghai, Anita, 117, 127

Ghosh, Nandini, 118, 119

Global beauty boom, 116

Globalization, 81

Global standards, 118, 236

Glow & Lovely, 156, 188, 235

Good mother, 201, 202, 203; maternal shaming, 204; nonconforming maternal bodies, 207

Gopalakrishnan, Kaveri, 240

The Great Indian Diet, 210

Grooming, 35, 36, 67

Gross, Elizabeth, 50, 51

Hair, 35–36; body hair, 240; hairless body imperative, 240

Halberstam, Judith, 46, 217, 228

Hamaar Sansaar, 163

Handicapism, 117

Harvest, 97, 99, 102–106

Health Care, 9

Hegemony: gender hegemony, 46; hegemonic heteronormative female body image, 44, 47; hegemony of body image ideal, 139; hegemony of colorism, 193; hegemony of ideal body image, 3, 7, 15, 116; hegemony of the/a perfect body, 12, 17; heterosexual hegemony, 48

Heteronormatively attractive, 218

heteronormativity: bodies, 48; heteronormative female body image, 44; heteronormative hetero-patriarchal, 47, 52, 99, 142, 143, 194, 226; hetero-patriarchally sanctioned, 143

Heterosexual: desirability, 229; imperative, 43, 45, 51; romantic desire, 229; tomboys, 16, 217, 226

HiBlitz, 205

Hijras, 53, 54

Hindi films, 9, 14, 130, 149, 151, 162, 164–165, 186–187, 202, 210. See also Bollywood; individual films

Hindu, 29, 31–33, 86, 150, 175, 191, 195, 202, 203

Hindu goddesses, 31, 96, 203

Hindu religious tradition, 86

Hyperconsumerist, 132

I Am Big. So What!?, 8

I Am Vidhya (Living Smile Vidhya), 44–45

Ideal body image, 6, 10, 13, 15, 32, 49, 102, 117, 133, 138, 141, 233–235

Ideal feminine, 86, 120; codes of femininity, 48, 219; ideal, 43; ideal femininity, 217; imperatives between trans and lesbian couples, 52

Ideological apparatuses, 132; ideological, 40, 67, 72, 192

Impaired bodies, 13, 18, 116, 119

Inclusivity, 10, 16, 17, 82, 133, 192, 238, 241

Indian chick lit novels, 8, 11–12. See also individual titles

Indian diaspora in the United States, 82

Indian graphic narratives, 234

Indian science fiction (SF), 98

India’s Got Color, 187

India Shining, 150–152

Inner beauty, 103, 137–139

Instagram, 107, 155, 237–238, 241

Internalization of hegemonic heterosexuality, 44

Internet revolution, 2, 81; internet, 2, 7, 9–10, 64, 81, 98, 107, 149, 164, 194, 236, 241; web, 236

Interpellative practices, 38

Intersectionality: of gender, class and caste, 33, 37

Invisibility, 137, 150; invisibilizing, 126, 209

Jablonski, Nina, 184

Jewelry ads, 183, 189, 190

Jonas, Priyanka Chopra, 149

Kaif, Katrina, 150, 165

Kannan, Harini, 239

Kapadia, Manisha Kalidas, 6

Kapoor, Kareena, 150, 165, 205

Kapoor, Karisma, 200, 205, 208, 209, 211. See also My Yummy Mummy Guide

Kapur, Manju, 44, 48–49. See also A Married Woman

Kaur, Harnam, 238

Khan, Salman, 172

Kuch Bheege Alfaaz, 14, 130–131, 134–139, 143, 144

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, 216

Kullrich, Nina, 3, 6, 81

Kumari, Meena, 164

Kuriyan, Priya, 239

Labor of beauty, 108; beauty labor, 3, 142, 236

Lacanian, 131, 141

Lesbian bodies, 43–44, 57

The Lesson, 97

LGBTQ, 57

Liberalization, 81; in India, 7, 14; of India, 234–235

Magazines, 9, 10, 79, 86, 210, 234. See also individual titles

Main Hoon Na, 216

Male gaze, 14, 49, 51, 57, 118, 137, 141, 165, 167, 170–171, 209, 239

Malini, Hema, 164

Margarita with a Straw, 14, 130–131, 139–144

Marital rape, 71–72, 75

Marriage market, 10, 193

A Married Woman, 12, 44, 48–49, 57

Masculinity, 44, 46–48, 74, 164, 166, 172, 217–229, 241

Maternal: bodies, 16, 204, 207–208, 212; body image, 202; images, 201

Maternal identity, 201; maternal Indian mother, 202, 203, 210, 211

Maternal roles, 202; Nargis in Mother India, 202; Nirupa Roy in Deewar and Amar Akbar Anthony, 202; Rakhee in Ram Lakhan, 202

Matrimonial: advertisement, 15, 82, 192, 194; sites, 193

Matrimonials columns/advertisements, 82

Medical procedures, 4, 10

Melanin, 185, 239

Menarche, 4, 11, 36

Menon, Sangeetha, 209, 208

Menstruation, 36–37, 55, 70, 86, 93–94, 120, 223

Migrant workers, 151, 163, 166, 167

Misogyny, 111, 163, 168, 235

Mitchell, Catriona, 8

Moral police force, 99, 101

Mother India, 96

Motherland, 122

Moylan, Tom, 109–110

Mulvey, Laura, 52, 170, 233

Murray, Samantha, 87

My Yummy Mummy Guide: From Getting Pregnant to Being a Successful Working Mother and Beyond, 200, 203

Nair, Sridevi, 43, 52

Nargis, 164, 202

Naseeb Apna Apna, 9

Negative body image, 4

Neoliberalism, 17, 65, 73–74, 100, 132, 205, 207–210; neoliberal India, 67; neoliberal Indian, 235; neoliberalist, 73; neoliberalization, 65

New woman, 68

Nirahua, 167, 171, 172

Nirahua Hindustani, 171

Nirahua Rickshawala 2, 171

Nirbhaya, 239, 240, 242

Normative: beauty, 4, 5, 16, 67, 69, 201, 203, 241; body image, 13; femininity, 117, 120 (see also femininity)

Normative Indian female beauty, 11, 13

North India, 162, 163, 172

Obesity, 81–87

Objectification of women’s bodies, 34

Obscenity, 167–169

Oppositional gaze, 116, 121

Overarching gaze, 87

Oza, Rupal, 65, 81

Padmanabhan, Manjula, 12–13, 80–81, 83, 85, 93, 93n2. See also Getting There; Harvest

Padosan, 154

Padukone, Deepika, 186

Pannu, Tapsee, 188

Panopticon, 48

Paraiyas, 27, 30, 32

Parameshwaran, Radhika E., 2, 6, 9, 103, 235

Parched, 150

Pareksh, Asha, 164

Patil, Amruta, 238; Kari, 238–239

Patriarchy, 3, 27, 29, 47, 57, 63–64, 68, 72, 75, 106, 110, 234, 238, 241

Paul, Priyanka, 241

Pednekar, Bhumi, 156–157

Perfect body, 9, 17, 66, 116, 118, 119

Photo modification, 107

Plus size, 237–238

Popular imagination, 10, 37, 151

Postpartum, 204, 206, 237

Power relations, 132, 185, 193

Prasad, Srirupa, 104–105

Pregnancy, 101, 125, 137, 200, 208, 210, 237

Priya’s Shakti, 240

Puberty, 34

Purity, 34, 36, 104

Queen of Ice, 116

Queer, 5, 12, 14, 63, 131, 183, 230

Qureshi, Huma, 165

Racialized, 185–188, 194

Radhakrishnan, Smitha, 100–101

Raghwani, Kajal, 164

Rai, Aishwarya, 205, 206, 211, 236

Rajan, Rajeshwari Sunder, 68

Rajendran, Sowmya, 99–102

Rangachari, Devika, 116, 121, 124–125

Reddy, Sameera, 237

Rehna Hai Teri Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein, 172

Rejection of beauty norm, 70

Respectable femininity, 100

Romantic relationships, 16, 225

Roy, Ahona, 50, 51

Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar, 158, 172

Sabala and Meena Gopal, 96–97

Sahi, Rashmi, 68

Sanday, Peggy Reeves, 27

Sangati, 11, 27–28, 30–40

Sanwariya Mohe Rang De, 173

Sarukkai-Chabria, Priya, Clone, 99, 106–109

Sasura Bada Paisawala, 163

Saudagar, 9

Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Margaret Lock, 46

Schilder, Paul, 1, 97

Schippers, Mimi, 47

Scopophilia, 162, 166, 170, 171, 174

Scopophobia, 130–137, 141, 162, 166, 170–171, 174

Second-wave feminism, 3

Self-care, 186–188, 203, 205, 209, 211

Self-disciplining, 201, 212

Self-empowerment, 186, 188

Self-making, 39

Sen, Sushmita, 7

Seth, Deepani, 239

Sexism, 30, 110–111, 117, 168, 185, 193

Sex reassignment surgery, 223

Sexual commodification, 167, 169

Sexual desirability, 12–14, 28, 72, 116, 135, 143, 217, 226

Sexualized language, 39

Sexual oppression, 37

Sexual violence, 38, 52, 101

Shaandaar, 9

Sharma, Chenana Kuku, 48, 53

Sharma, Konkona Sen, 157

Shetty, Shilpa, 164, 205, 206, 209. See also The Great Indian Diet

Shevde, Natasha, 104

Shinde, Gauri, 191

Shudras, 32

Siddiqui, Nawazuddin, 157

Singh, Akshara, 164

Singh, Bhavana, 239

Singh, Pawan, 165, 174

Singh, Shailendra Kumar, 8

Sinha, Mala, 164

Size zero, 7, 164

Skin-care product, 15, 183, 189

Skin color: bias, 33; and caste, 33. See also Fairness

Skin disorder, 131

Slade, Peter David, 97

Soap operas, 157, 172, 120

Social construction, 38, 98, 201

Social media, 107

Social media influencers, 234, 237

Sound, 184

South Indian, 154, 164

Sridevi, 164

Star & Style, 184

Stigmatized, 7, 13, 139, 158

Sullivan, Nikki, 53

Surveillance, 45; medical, 54

Suvin, Darko: feedback oscillation, 109

Swami, Viren, 122

Symbolic, 4, 47, 131

Tailor & Circus, 241

Tanishq, 191–192

Thapan, Meenakshi, 111

Thinness, 81, 184, 186

Tolentino, Jia; Instagram face, 107

Tomboy experience, 225; tomboys’ body image, 221. See also Famous Five; Kuch Kuch Hota Hai; Main Hoon Na

Trans bodies, 43; body image, 49, 57

Transwomen, 43, 47, 53–57

Transwomen mimicking, 54, 57

The Truth about Me (A. Revathi), 45, 53–57

2 States, 154

Udta Punjab, 14, 150–154, 158

Ugliness; ugly, 115

Ujda Chaman, 9

Unfeminine, 35, 116, 118, 132, 211, 218

Universal beauty norm, 65

Upper caste: aesthetics, 35; bodies, 29; codes, 33; discourses, 30; hegemony, 31; semiotic code, 29; women, 32

Uttar Pradesh, 151, 162, 166, 168, 173

Vaid, Jyotsna, 6, 81–82, 192, 194

Vasavada Falguni, 237

Venkataramanan, Balaji, 121

Vicarious entertainment, 167, 170

Visual media, 14, 15

Vivah, 150

Vogue, 118

Walker, Lisa, 53

Wedding-centered, 190

Weight gain, 157, 173, 174, 206

Weight loss, 8, 88, 209, 210

Weight loss clinic, 88–89

The Weight Loss Club: The Curious Experiments of Nancy Housing Cooperative, 8

Western beauty ideals, 63, 64

Western fan base, 150

Westernized body, 10

Whitaker, Zai, 126

Wolf, Naomi, 49, 72, 102, 108, 110, 132, 208. See also The Beauty Myth

Women’s Era, 9

Women Fitness, 9

Women’s Health, 9

Wrong body, 53

Yadav, Khesari Lal, 168, 169, 172

Young adult fiction, 120; Indian, 120–121

Yummy mummies, 205, 209, 211

Zee TV, 235

Zubeidaa, 200. See also Kapoor, Karisma