The rise of the Jayalalitha phenomenon: Myth, gender, race and caste discourses in Tamil films and politics

Abstract

This dissertation attempts to unravel the mediation of gender, race and caste components by a charismatic actress turned political phenomenon of Tamilnadu (southern part of India), Jayalalitha Jayaram. The study will be on how Jayalalithaa??s gender politics, intertwined with race and caste compositions peculiar to Tamilnadu, created a powerful symbolic identity for her and allowed her to gain access to political power. To begin with, the focus will be on Jayalalithaa??s penetration of popular images of femininity, constructed and controlled through patriarchy: glamour, domestication, mother and goddess. In a traditional patriarchal society such as that of India, symbolic feminine images have been championed at one time or the other. For instance, in the caste society created by the Aryan settlers in India, ideal womanhood is constantly translated in terms of glamour and domestication. In contrast, in the society created by the indigenous Dravidians, ideal womanhood is often translated in terms of mothers and goddesses. Even though all these symbolic feminine images nurtured by different racial societies have been championed by her predecessors and her peers at different points of time, still it could be said that Jayalalithaa??s effective mediation of all these forms of women images to attain political power is a trendsetter in Tamilnadu. On the basis of these observations, this study will argue that these patriarchal factors adopted and championed by racially different societies constructed a powerful political image in Jayalalitha.