Reinterpreting the Play: Women’s Cultural Performance as a Subversive Site

Abstract

This study investigates women’s performances, such as Khela-Tamasha (play-act), Nakkal (enactment/imitation), and Kajari folksongs, as potent tools for questioning the gender stereotypes and hegemonic gender ideals which subordinate women. To achieve the objectives of this study, ethnographic data were collected in 2022–2023 across Mirzapur, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Drawing on Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory and Antonio Gramsci’s theory of counter-hegemony, this study argues that rural women’s traditional play-acts and enactments, characterised by cross-dressing, theatricality, and bold speech, challenge their oppression. Through their performative expressions, these women harness the power of cross-dressing, challenge traditional masculine roles, and display their erotic desires. Further, by embracing non-conforming gender roles and expressing their desires during performance, women’s traditional performative acts display the transformative power of folk traditions in challenging dominant societal structures. © 2025 Chauhan. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.