The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy and Gender: (Bloomsbury Research Handbooks in Asian Philosophy)

'How do gender constructions transform religious experiences?' 'What is the role of bodily materiality in ethics and epistemology?' 'How does rethinking gender and sexuality force us to reconceptualise settled ontological frameworks?' This collection provides the first research resource to Indian philosophical gender issues, exploring a variety of texts and traditions from Indian philosophy where the treatment of gender is dynamic and diverse. Organised around three central themes - the gender dynamics of enlightenment in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions; the simple binary opposition of genders in Indian traditions; the ways in which symbolic representations of gender differ from social realities in Hindu and Buddhist practice – a team of respected scholars discuss feminist readings, examinations of femininity and masculinity, as well as queer and trans identities, representations, and theories. Beginning with the Vedic tradition and ending with sections on Sri Ramakrishna and Gandhi, this wide-ranging handbook encourages fresh inquiry into classic philosophical questions. Offering critical analyses relevant to literary, cultural and religious studies, The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy and Gender opens up new ways of understanding gender and South Asian philosophy.

Table of Contents:
Notes on Contributors Editor's Note 1. Introduction: Gender Conceptions in Indian Thought: Identity, Hybridity, Fluidity, Androgyny, and Transcendence, Veena R. Howard Part I. Gender Essentialism 2. The Unbearability of the Male Gaze: A Phenomenological Exposition of Sa?khyan Philosophy of the Body Through Feminine Eyes, Ana Laura Funes Maderey 3. Women's Liberation in Jainism: Understanding Philosophical Debates and Cultural Dialectics, Veena R. Howard 4. Woman as Maya: Gendered Narrative in the Bhagavata Purana, Gopal K. Gupta Part II. Gender Negotiation 5. The Gendering of Voice in Medieval Hindu Literature, Nancy M. Martin 6. Given, Taken, Performed: Gender in Tamil Theopoetics, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad 7. Gender in the Tradition of Shri Ramakrishna, Jeffrey D. Long Part III. Androgyny, Gender Hybridity, and Fluidity 8. Divine Androgyny and the Play of Self-Recognition: Revisiting Some Issues in Gender Theory through an Un-Orthodox Interpretation of Ardhanarisvara, Geoff Ashton 9. Gender in Pali Buddhist Traditions, Carol S. Anderson 10. Narrative of Amba in the Mahabharata: Female Body, Gender, and the Namesake of the Divine Feminine, Veena R. Howard Part IV. Gender and the Feminine Divine 11. God the Mother and Her Sacred Text: A Hindu Vision of Divine Immanence, Rita D. Sherma 12. The Story of Sa?jña, Mother of Manu: Shadow and Light in the Markandeya Purana, Raj Balkaran Part V. Gender Transcendence 13. Male-Female Dialogues on Gender, Sexuality, and Dharma in the Hindu Epics, Ruth Vanita 14. The Vision of the Transcendent One: Feminist Hermeneutics and Feminine Symbolism in the Sikh Scripture, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh Index

About the Author :
Veena R. Howard is Professor of Asian Religious Traditions in the Department of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno, USA. She holds the Endowed Chair in Jain and Hindu Dharma, and currently serves as the Director of M. K. Gandhi Center: Inner Peace and Sarvodaya.

Review :
This important collection provides a guide to how gender and sexuality appear sometimes as mere binaries, other times as fluid mysteries and rich multiplicities, in Indian thought. Drawing on a wide range of ancient and modern texts, the essays offer an exciting lens for exploring the classic questions of how to live, what is the self, and where transcendence might be found.