The Dress Dilemma of Bengali Middle Class Women: A Song of Ice (Violence) and Fire (Resistance)

• In Event: 30214 - Regular Session on Gender: Gendered Inequalities

Abstract

This thesis examines how the bodies of urban middle-class Bangladeshi women serve as sites of agency and resistance in the face of pervasive patriarchal controls and violence. Anchored in McKinzie and Richards’ (2021) theoretical framework on social constraints on agency, the study interrogates how historical and contemporary clothing practices among brown Muslim women have been instrumental in constructing and reconstructing the post-colonial national identity of Bangladesh. The research foregrounds the intersection of gender, class, religious, and cultural identities, with a specific focus on the norms of purdah and the culture of respectability, which simultaneously constrain and catalyze resistance. Through a historical trajectory that traces the evolution of women's attire—from traditional, Islamic, to Western styles—the thesis contextualizes the enduring influences of religious, cultural, and colonial legacies on clothing choices. Utilizing qualitative methods and in-depth interviews with 25 urban middle-class women across diverse ideological spectra (Islamists, Moderate Muslims, and Secular/Liberals), the study explores the multifaceted constraints—ideological, interactional, institutional, internalized, and geographical—that shape bodily autonomy. It further reveals that, despite these limitations, women navigate and contest these constraints by exercising their agency through strategies such as direct resistance, strategic balancing, avoidance, and conformity. Additionally, the thesis probes the burning question of whether modest clothing, aligned with religious and cultural norms, offers protection to women against various forms of harassment in public spaces. The findings suggest that, irrespective of ideological leanings, modest attire plays a role in mitigating sexual harassment, thereby adding another layer to the discourse on women's agency and resistance. This thesis contributes to a complex understanding of the dynamic interplay between societal structures and individual agency in Bangladesh, illuminating how urban middle-class Muslim women actively negotiate their identities and assert their rights in a rapidly changing post-colonial context.

Author

• Saifa Tazrin, University of Georgia