Mural of Public Debate
Manjima Bhattacharjya
GENDER AND CENSORSHIP by Brinda Bose Women Unlimited (an associate of Kali for Women), 2007, 332 pp., 495
October 2007, volume 31, No 10

This is the fourth in the series by Women Unlimited on ‘Issues in Contemporary Indian Feminism’. Each volume so far, other than providing a range of excellent writing on key issues, has tried to explode the myth of a singular feminist position on an issue by bringing out the nuances of divergent positions within the women’s movement. In this comprehensive hold-all, Brinda Bose (whose last edited volume Translating Desire was a beautifully produced set of essays on the representation of female desire in popular culture) collects censorship-related memorabilia primarily from the 1980s and 90s and packages it chronologically to present us with a remarkable compendium. It is an exhaustive haul; from the odd thought-piece to legal reviews to statements by NGO-combines to theory to government policy papers, Bose just about covers everything.

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