Volume II,Issue IV, March 2026
Volume-II, Issue-IV, March, 2026 |
Received: 15.03.2026 | Accepted: 17.03.2026 | ||
Published Online: 31.03.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.issue.04W. | |||
যৌনতা, নারীদেহ, ‘স্ল্যাং': লিঙ্গ হিংসা ও ক্ষমতার রাজনীতি সাবনূর সনম কামিনী, গবেষক, রাষ্ট্রবিজ্ঞান বিভাগ, ডায়মন্ড হারবার মহিলা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
Sexuality, the Female Body, ‘Slang’: Gender Violence and the Politics of Power Sabnur Sanam Kamini, Research Scholar, Department of Political Science, Diamond Harbour Women’s University, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
Patriarchal
authority has long been embedded within language, functioning as a subtle yet
powerful mechanism for the subordination of women. One of the most pervasive
forms of linguistic violence is the use of derogatory slang terms directed at
women, such as witch, prostitute, immoral woman, adulteress, and similar
expressions. Sexuality and slang are deeply interconnected, as a large
proportion of slang terms carry sexual connotations and are socially
categorized as “taboo” or “obscene,” often falling under various forms of
social censorship.Despite this, the use of such expressions is widespread in
everyday social interactions—across spaces such as offices, streets, schools,
colleges, trains, and buses—where slang is employed in anger, humor, ridicule, or
verbal aggression. In the Bengali linguistic context, many commonly used slang
expressions revolve around the female body, women’s sexuality, psychological
attributes, competence, and social status. Consequently, these linguistic
practices contribute to the normalization of sexual violence and the
objectification of women within society, reducing women to mere bodies or
sexual objects rather than recognizing them as full human subjects.
This
paper seeks to examine how slang operates as a cultural and linguistic
instrument that sustains patriarchal power structures. It further investigates
how sexually charged, body-referencing expressions embedded within patriarchal
discourse generate and reinforce gender-based violence, thereby functioning as
subtle mechanisms of power and social control.The study adopts an empirical
research methodology. Primary data were collected through informal interviews
with individuals from diverse occupational backgrounds, including students,
farmers, laborers, rickshaw-van pullers, housewives, and domestic workers. A
total of 45 participants (25 men and 20 women) from Basirhat Block II of North
24 Parganas district, West Bengal, aged between 18 and 65 years, were
interviewed between January and June 2025. The participants represented varied
educational and socio-economic backgrounds. Secondary data were gathered from
books, journals, newspapers, magazines, and relevant online sources. | ||
Keyword:
|