Actually, Koibrush, that question should have been "what do you think this brand of feminism means for INDIAN women" since that is what this article is about, and the responses should pertain to the particular subject matter at hand.

What do you mean by "empowering" exactly? Empowering to whom? And in what way? And for how long? And who gets to decide what is and isn't empowering? And if you decide that erotic dance isn't empowering and another woman believes it is, are you not denying her agency and ability to speak her own truth? Feminists use this term "empowering" a lot without actually specifying what they mean by it.

Also, what do you mean by "traditional"? It's important to remember that India is not the United States. Which is to say that India doesn't have the same social and historical context as the US, and therefore, actions that appear to people from the US (or the West more generally) to be an adoption of "western post feminist amalgamation of hetero-norms about sexuality, femininity and consumption" may not actually be this way when viewed through India's, not America's, lens. Viewing it as a Western co-optation denies that there may be something uniquely Indian about the actions and experience, and if one takes that perspective, then you can also argue that adopting feminism and freedom that resembles the West is eroding "true" Indian culture. (This is what is being argued here by Hindutva groups and Indian feminists are struggling against this ideological framing.)

That being said, many feminists in America disagree with your assertion that erotic dance is anti-feminist or replicating sexist norms. There is wide variation in the experiences of men and women who participate in the sex industry. An alternative to the standard dichotomy of end sex work vs. have exploitative sex work is to reform sex work, which many feminists are doing (see: Audacia Ray, Courtney Trouble, Feminist Porn Awards, etc.)

Furthermore, taking a class in erotic dance does not make a woman a sex worker (though this is just the accusation--overt sexuality = whore--that would no doubt be lobbed at them from the conservative family/friends from whom Indian women hide the real nature of their fitness activity), and none of the women in this article are sex workers either. So you're mixing a few of your points together in ways that need to be more clearly delineated.

Thanks Parwati. I think the systematic oppression of Indian women is truth. But I also know my experience with India is severely limited in that I have only lived in Kolkata. The contributors to this book, such as Veena Poonancha, are much more qualified to address that issue than I am.

I wonder if it is actually that Westernization and Western culture is being adopted or if it's being co-opted. More and more I think it's the latter because it's not a wholesale import by any means. I also wonder if the changing economic makeup of India as a whole (i.e., a growing middle class) isn't a primary cause of the advancement of women's rights. But I'm also basing that on a Western model, as feminism in the US grew as middle class women entered the workplace in larger numbers. This is all simply my own speculation, of course.

Thank you for your lovely comment! What I meant to say is that Deepa's films in general, not just the Elements Trilogy, focus on Indian women's experiences in the diaspora. Have you read Behind Closed Doors: Domestic Violence in India?