The Influence of Beauty Standards on Women’s Lives: An Exploration of The Bald Wife, a Folk Story from West Bengal, through a Feminist Lens

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-212-5_21How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Folk tale; Feminist analysis; Beauty standards

Abstract

From ancient times to the present day, the initial judgments we make about girls and women have heavily relied on their physical appearance and their adherence to society’s traditional beauty standards. Literary works from different time periods have delved into the notion of beauty. Folktales, passed down through generations in specific regions, reflect the cultural beliefs and traditions of those places. These tales often depict the prevailing beauty standards, particularly for women, perpetuating these ideals across generations. Female characters in these folktales are typically portrayed in alignment with these established beauty norms. One such illustration can be found in The Bald Wife, a captivating story from Folktales of Bengal, a compilation of Bengali folk tales authored by Lal Behari Dey. Employing close textual analysis and feminist theory, this research investigates how female characters are represented in relation to society’s constructed beauty ideals. Additionally, it explores the negative repercussions of these ideals on women who do not conform, as well as the reinforcement of gender inequalities and harmful stereotypes. By interrogating these traditional beauty norms, this analysis contributes to ongoing feminist conversations, advocating for a more inclusive society that embraces diverse notions of beauty.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jhilik Chakraborty
AU  - Arpita Goswami
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/02/12
TI  - The Influence of Beauty Standards on Women’s Lives: An Exploration of The Bald Wife, a Folk Story from West Bengal, through a Feminist Lens
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Cultural Studies (ICCUS 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 217
EP  - 227
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-212-5_21
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-212-5_21
ID  - Chakraborty2024
ER  -