PERFORMING GENDER, NEGOTIATING HEALTH THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIALIZATION, REPRODUCTIVE AWARENESS, AND COMMUNITY THEATRE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v2.i2.2021.6142Keywords:
Community Theatre, Gender Norms, Gender Performativity, Social Learning, Participatory CommunicationAbstract [English]
This paper examines how community theatre serves as a powerful space for negotiating gender norms and enhancing reproductive health awareness. Drawing on theories of gender performativity, social learning, and participatory communication, it explores the way lived experiences are translated into performances that challenge stereotypes, promote dialogue, and build collective agency. Using case studies from global South contexts, particularly India, the discussion highlights theatre’s dual role as a mirror reflecting entrenched socialization patterns and a catalyst for community transformation. The paper argues that sustainable change emerges when artistic practice is embedded in community ownership, gender-sensitive pedagogy, and links to broader health systems.
References
Anyanwu, C., Okome, G. I., & Tugbokorowei, M. U. E. (1970). The theatre and sustainable human development: Fumes of fuel and boundless love as paradigms. UJAH: Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities, 18(2), 28–47. https://doi.org/10.4314/ujah.v18i2.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/ujah.v18i2.2
Butler, J. (1988). Performative acts and gender constitution: An essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. Theatre Journal, 40(4), 519–531. https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893
Butler, J. (1999). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity (10th anniversary ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1990)
Butler, J. (2011). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex” (Routledge Classics ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1993) DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203828274
Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203499627
Boal, A. (1985). Theatre of the oppressed. Theatre Communications Group.
Denzin, N. K. (2003). Performance ethnography: Critical pedagogy and the politics of culture. Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412985390
Dandaura, E. (2017). Negotiating identity: Theatre, performance and criticism in Africa. Nigerian Theatre Journal, 17(2), 211–225.
Ehury, R. K., & Samal, J. (2016). Maternal health situation in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh: A comparative analysis of state fact sheets of National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 and 4. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 10(9), IE01–IE04. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/19079.8404 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/19079.8404
Kina, V. J., & Fernandes, K. C. (2017). Augusto Boal’s theatre of the oppressed: Democratising art for social transformation. Critical and Radical Social Work, 5(2), 241–252. https://doi.org/10.1332/204986017X14951776937239 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/204986017X14951776937239
Kershaw, B. (1994). The politics of performance: Radical theatre as cultural intervention. Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Dolly, Bithika Das, Sadaf Iqbal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
