Abstract

Be it language or literature, politics or police, film or fine arts, the hegemonic masculinity is visible in all walks of women’s life. Men left no space for any identity dialogues even in traditional art forms such as Mohiniyattom. Men named it ‘dance of the enchantress’ and went on historicizing that Devadasis danced Mohiniyattom at temples. The dancers were called ‘Attakkaris’ and further endorsed with ‘loose character’ and lineage of heroines of Manipravala and Chambu literature! What not, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal wrote over 65 Sringara padams which supplied a strong literature base for the dance form. The renaissance of Mohiniyattom started at Kerala Kalamandalam in 1930s; however, the stories were more or less same there as well. The ‘enchantresses’ were made to dance to male tunes quenching the lust of male eyes. And even after 70 years post-independence, the practice of sexual objectification femininity in the classical dance form of Mohiniyattom continues on and off the stage.