by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

Anyone who has ever sat through the frequent and painstakingly choreographed musical numbers in a Bollywood film can tell you that dance is an integral part of Indian culture. From Bhangra in the Punjab province to Kathakali in Kerala, each part of the country has its own distinctive combination of body movement, facial expressions, and hand positions which form the regional style. But nowadays in urban India, dance is not simply used as a form of cultural expression. Women of means are being seduced by a type of dance that is a little more, shall we say, exotic.

by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

Known for its bawdy sexual humor, over-the-top characters, and underlying social criticism, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales set the stage for the satirical theatrics which came to be known as burlesque. During its 700-year metamorphosis, burlesque has utilized various styles of music and performance to poke fun at issues spanning social and political themes, particularly conventional gender roles and sexual scripts. Combining the fundamentals of classical burlesque—parody, double entendre, and risqué sexuality—with elements derived from their own ethnic traditions, New York City’s Brown Girls Burlesque (BGB) is a 21st century incarnation of Chaucer’s magnum opus. Founded two years ago by AuroraBoobRealis, BGB is drawing a new audience to this old art form by blending women of color’s experience and artistic aesthetic with this historically Caucasian craft.

by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

Unlike the abundance of exploration into the many dilemmas of motherhood by feminists in the West, in India the subject is so under-examined that it might as well not even exist. In fact, the magnitude of the topic is so daunting that my initial approach to Veena Poonancha, the Director of the Research Centre for Women's Studies at Mumbai's SNDT Women’s University and a contributor to the newly published Motherhood in India: Glorification without Empowerment?, yielded much apprehension. Veena was worried our interview wouldn’t be sufficient to do justice to the surplus of issues needing to be addressed—and honestly, she was right.

by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

Taking the lives of 75,000 women each year, cervical cancer is the leading cause of death for women in India. This number accounts for a third of all cancers that affect women in India and a fifth of the total cervical cancer related deaths worldwide. With 132,000 new reported cases in India annually, this disease is having catastrophic effects on the developing world.

by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

What do former U.S. Senator Larry Craig, women in Victorian England, and transgender activists have in common?

Toilets!

by Mandy Van Deven
- India -

Couched in a story from Indian mythology, Deepa Mehta’s newest feature film, Heaven on Earth, blurs the line between reality and fantasy to provide a nuanced and authentic look at the struggles of a young Punjabi woman who has immigrated to Canada from her homeland for what turns out to be an abusive marriage. Never one to shy away from heavy and complex issues, Mehta’s film addresses arranged marriage, Indian family dynamics and expectations, domestic violence, and love.