Make Me a Man! Masculinity, Hinduism, and Nationalism in India (cid:2) S I K ATA B A N E R J E E Make Me a Man! SUNY SERIES IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES Harold Coward, editor M A K E M E A M A N ! Masculinity, Hinduism, and Nationalism in India SIKATA BANERJEE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS Published by STATEUNIVERSITYOFNEWYORKPRESS ALBANY © 2005 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2365 Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Banerjee, Sikata. Make me a man! :masculinity, Hinduism, and nationalism in India / Sikata Banerjee. p. cm. — (SUNY series in religious studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6367-2 (hardcover) — ISBN 0-7914-6368-0 (pbk.) 1. Nationalism—Religious aspects—Hinduism. 2. Masculinity—Religious aspects— Hinduism. 3. Hinduism and state—India. 4. Nationalism and feminism—India—Religious aspects. I. Title. II. Series. BL1215.S83B36 2005 155.3'32'0954—dc22 2004006922 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 O Thou, Mother of the Universe, vouchsafe manliness unto me! O Thou, Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, Take away my unmanliness and make me a Man! —Swami Vivekananda, Nineteenth-Century Indian Nationalist Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix ONE Introduction: Constructs of Nation and Gender 1 TWO Empire: Christian Manliness and the British Gaze 21 THREE Nationalism: Masculine Hinduism and Resisting the British Gaze 43 FOUR Cultural Nationalism, Masculine Hinduism, and Contemporary Hindutva 75 FIVE In the Crucible of Hindutva:Women and Masculine Hinduism 111 SIX Heroic Mothers, Chaste Wives, and Celibate Warriors: Feminist or Feminine Nationalism in India? 139 SEVEN Summary 153 NOTES 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY 163 INDEX 175 Acknowledgments A grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada made research for this book possible. I am also grateful to all the womenandmeninIndiawhowereincrediblyhospitableandtookthetime to answer my endless questions. The Rockefeller Foundation enabled me to spendamonthasaresidentscholarattheVillaSerbelloniinBellagio,Italy, where I finished up this manuscript among luxurious surroundings. Conver- sations with my fellow residents clarified my thoughts and stimulated my writing. Thank you, February Group! Thanks are also due to Christine St. Peter, Annalee Lepp, and Helen Rezanowich, my colleagues at the Univer- sity of Victoria, who made the Bellagio trip possible by cheerfully covering myresponsibilitiesasChair.IwouldalsoliketothankHaroldCowardforhis encouragement and support. Finally, this project could not have been com- pletedwithoutmyhusband,Dan,wholistened,edited,providedsupportdur- ingperiodsofdoubt,andpatientlyputupwiththechaosofanongoingbook project.Thankyou. ix