Love and Sexuality in a Gujarati Village: Men and pre-­‐marital relationships

Tolley, Graeme (2015) Love and Sexuality in a Gujarati Village: Men and pre-­‐marital relationships. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Studies
of
marriage
and
sexuality
in
India
have
generally
focused
on
girls
or
women
and
although
men
are
central
to
these
relationships,
they
are
often
ignored.
This
thesis
concentrates
on
this
gap
in
the
literature
and
focuses
on
how
masculinities
are
shaped
by
the
negotiation
of
love
and
sexuality,
particularly
in
pre-­‐marital
relationships.
The
few
studies
of
masculinity
that
do
exist
have
typically
focused
on
urban
men,
whereas
the
focus
of
this
thesis
is
on
marginalised
men
in
rural
central
Gujarat.
For
men,
life
stages
and
rites
of
passage
are
a
significant
feature
governing
their
lives
and
aspirations,
and
so
how
these
are
negotiated
within
the
secrecy
of
pre-­‐
marital
relationships
in
contrast,
and
conflict,
with
a
public
normative
discourse
of
marriage
is
a
defining
feature
of
this
thesis.
This
research
contributes
to
a
better
understanding
of
the
different
discourse
and
practice
that
men
utilise
in
their
approach
to
pre-­‐marital
relationships
and
how
this
reflects
divergent
attitudes
towards
women
and
notions
of
love
and
sexuality.
The
thesis
is
based
on
ten
months
of
ethnographic
fieldwork
alongside
the
conducting
of
38
interviews
with
men
from
the
Muslim,
Christian
and
Tadpada
communities.
The
analysis
highlights
the
significance
of
male
peer
solidarity
that
exists
during
a
liminal
period
of
relative
freedom
for
young
men
during
the
transition
between
adolescence
and
the
responsibilities
of
marriage
and
manhood.
Pre-­‐marital
relationships
are
framed
as
transgressive
within
a
public
normative
discourse;
in
actuality
multiple
performances
of
sexuality
are
presented
by
young
men
dependent
on
context
and
audience.
The
consequences
of
discovery
for
transgressive
relationships
are
typically
discussed
in
terms
of
their
effects
on
female
transgressors,
yet
this
research
aims
to
explore
the
consequences
that
such
a
discovery
has
upon
young
men,
particularly
in
relation
to
the
distinctive,
yet
inter-­‐related,
notions
of
credit
and
honour.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User:	Users 7376 not found.
Date Deposited:	29 Jan 2016 14:13
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2016 14:13
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/56903
DOI:

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