"This volume looks at the emerging forms of intimacies in contemporary India. Drawing on rigorous academic research and pop culture phenomenon, the volume: - Brings together themes of nationhood, motherhood, disability, masculinity, ethnicity, kinship and sexuality and attempts to understand them within a more complex web of issues related to space, social justice, marginality and communication - Focuses on the struggles for intimacy by the disabled, queer, dalit, and other subalterns, as well as people with non-human intimacies to propose an alternative theory of the politics of belonging - Explores the role of social and new media in understanding and negotiating intimacies and anxieties Comprehensive and thought provoking, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of political studies, sociology, sexuality and gender studies, women studies, cultural studies, and minority studies"--
Gender in the contemporary everyday life of the Darjeeling men is a ritual of reiterating the colonial hypermasculinity that ultimately reinforces the stereotyped notion that the Gorkha men are muscular men whose hegemonic masculinity makes them merely worthy of wars. This toxic masculinity is the major object of criticism by the ecofeminists who have shown how detrimental this hypermasculinity is for both women and ecology. This article, by revisiting the alternative textuality of everydayness as manifested in the select Lepcha folktales of the Hills, aims at uncovering an endogenous eco (alternative)masculinity that may act as a genderqueer model based on which the Gorkha men may learn to replace their colonial internalized 'ethic of daring' with the 'ethic of caring' in their everyday future. As an interpretation of the folktales by a 'non-indigenous ally,' a hybrid methodology has been used by combining various perspectives from the theories related to gender and sexuality, ethno-poetics, folkloristics, etc. The article begins by arguing that the scope of studying everyday life has to be expanded from merely focusing on the micro and the oblivious towards accommodating the hidden 'non-everyday' inclusive alternatives that are embedded in the everyday textuality of the folktales. Thereafter, it tries to assert how the politicization of the possible everyday based on an understanding of the history of mentality as revealed through the folktales, can initially, allow the Darjeeling men to recall 'the not yet-real,' but plausible, genderqueer male identities of yore. This might eventuallyencourage them to turn the everyday,contemporary space of a martial, Gorkha-hypermasculinity into a multivocal everydayness of alternatives in the near future,with the 'gentlemen warrior' evolving into eco-men who, along with aposthuman intimacy, arecompetent in nurturing the feminine and the ecology.
Background: Studies have shown that functional somatic symptoms are common in patients of depression. However, very few studies have assessed the socio-demographic, psychological and clinical correlates of functional somatic complaints in depression. Method: Fifty (50) patients of first-episode unipolar depression (except for severe depression with psychotic symptoms), aged 18 to 50 years, with duration of depression of more than one month, with no comorbid psychiatric disorders and comorbid medical illnesses, and with at least one symptom on Bradford Somatic Inventory were assessed on the Beck's Depression Inventory, the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale – Anxiety Index, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Hindi version), the Somato-sensory Amplification Scale and the Whiteley Index. Results: The most commonly reported functional somatic complaints were a lack of energy much of the time (98%) and feeling tired when not working (82%). A significant positive correlation (Pearson's product moment value = 0.362, p < 0.01) was found between severity of depression and number of functional somatic complaints. Significant negative Spearman's rank correlation (−0.346, p < 0.05) was found between Bradford Somatic Inventory total score and Toronto Alexithymia Scale severity grade. A significant positive correlation between Bradford Somatic Inventory total score and somato-sensory amplification emerged only when common items were taken care of. No correlation was found between Bradford Somatic Inventory total score and any of the socio-demographic variables, age at onset of illness, total duration of illness, melancholic symptoms, suicidality, level of anxiety and hypochondriacal worry. Beck's Depression Inventory total score alone accounted for 11.3% of the variance in the Bradford Somatic Inventory total score. Conclusion: Functional somatic complaints are more prevalent in patients with higher severity of depression, high somato-sensory amplification and less alexithymia. There is no correlation of functional somatic complaints with level of anxiety and hypochondriacal worry.
Aim: To assess the phenomenology and associated beliefs in patients with Dhat syndrome. Methods: A total of 780 male patients aged more than 16 years were recruited from 15 centers spread across the country and were assessed on Dhat Syndrome Questionnaire. Results: The most commonly reported reasons for passage of Dhat were excessive masturbation (55.1%), sexual dreams (47.3%), excessive sexual desire (42.8%) and consumption of high energy foods (36.7%). The most common situation in which participants experienced passage of Dhat were as 'night falls' (60.1%) and 'while passing stools' (59.5%). The most common consequence due to passage of Dhat was weakness in sexual ability (75.6%). In terms of psychological and somatic symptoms, the common symptoms included bodily weakness (78.2%); feeling tired or having low energy (75.9%); feeling down, depressed, or hopeless (67.9%); and little interest or pleasure in doing things (63.7%). In terms of treatment expectations, about half of the patients (49.1%) expected that energizing medications like vitamins/tonics/tablets were required and more than one-third (38.2%) expected that there was a need for taking energizing injections. Conclusion: Present study shows that Dhat syndrome is a distinct clinical entity seen all over India, with its characteristic features.
