Nari Shakti and the Nation

Abstract

Especially the physically trained bodies of young women are imagined and visually represented as enabling them to ‘defend’ themselves - but also the ‘body’ of the national territory - against the violent attacks of an imagined Other, within as well as outside India. It is particularly striking that the ‘new daughters of the nation’ seem to be paradigmatically embodied and visually mediated through emerging symbolic figures such as the female athlete, police officer or Indian Air Force pilot. These visual mediations of India’s ‘empowered daughters’ are increasingly circulated across different media platforms and networks, ranging from global streaming services, such as Netflix or the Hindi film industry, to local print and online media. While some viewers may immediately associate these visualizations with a variety of globally circulating images of female air force pilots, others may also be reminded of earlier iconic examples of ‘women in command’ in South and Southeast Asia.