I examine literary, theatrical, documentary, and political representations of such naked protests in India, tracing how they draw from and reconstitute a wider cultural repertoire around women’s nakedness that shapes their meaning and impact as critiques of patriarchal violence. This article examines the feminist potential and political risks of a theatrical mode of protest staged by women in India, namely, the deliberate and public exposure of naked female bodies as a gesture of defiance against the violence of the Indian state. The modern prostitute may have been forced into selling her body due to poverty or due to being tricked or lured into by crook, but Indian cultural history presents contrasting facts and opinions about the women who were then famous and even respected for their skills in this profession. Moreover, a superficial view of the history of this trade might not reveal the numerous layers of its constitution. It is only since the establishment of the marital traditions that prostitution has come out in its essence and grew into the multi-faceted trade that it is today, along with all the socio-cultural and economic implications. But one cannot deny that the demand for beauty and pleasure has existed since time immemorial.
In the present context of continually increasing number of voices being raised for equality and respect for women, an analysis of the practices of prostitution of yore seem like the source of all the rampant sexism and discrimination against women. The institution of prostitution is the underhanded culmination of patriarchy.
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