<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Although the issues related to sexuality are of prime importance in the contemporary world, in the Indian society they are closeted and ignored even today. Several social injunctions are conceptualized against men with alternative sexualities. To avoid social stigma, men refrain from coming out of the closet and accepting their natural sexual identity and orientation. However, there are certain playwrights who have addressed this otherwise taboo subject of sexuality on the Indian Stage. Mahesh Dattani is one amongst them. His plays firmly assert that gender and sexuality are concepts that are not confined to one’s biological orientation, but rather go beyond it. They are conditioned by socio-cultural norms and hegemonic practices. He elucidates how the socio-cultural determinants of gender and sexuality contradict one’s own individual instincts, sexual preferences and lived experiences. With reference to his famous play Do the Needful, this paper gives a brief account of the condition of Indian theatre pre- and post-colonization and projects the camouflaging techniques adopted by the discursive identities of gay people, for example, in order to conspicuously feature as straight and normal. It outlines the social constructions associated with gays in India and how these formations compel Indian men to internalize and succumb to the conventional norms of heterosexuality as the only acceptable norms.</p>
</abstract>

Although the issues related to sexuality are of prime importance in the contemporary world, in the Indian society they are closeted and ignored even today. Several social injunctions are conceptualized against men with alternative sexualities. To avoid social stigma, men refrain from coming out of the closet and accepting their natural sexual identity and orientation. However, there are certain playwrights who have addressed this otherwise taboo subject of sexuality on the Indian Stage. Mahesh Dattani is one amongst them. His plays firmly assert that gender and sexuality are concepts that are not confined to one’s biological orientation, but rather go beyond it. They are conditioned by socio-cultural norms and hegemonic practices. He elucidates how the socio-cultural determinants of gender and sexuality contradict one’s own individual instincts, sexual preferences and lived experiences. With reference to his famous play Do the Needful, this paper gives a brief account of the condition of Indian theatre pre- and post-colonization and projects the camouflaging techniques adopted by the discursive identities of gay people, for example, in order to conspicuously feature as straight and normal. It outlines the social constructions associated with gays in India and how these formations compel Indian men to internalize and succumb to the conventional norms of heterosexuality as the only acceptable norms.

Mahesh Dattani’s <italic>Do the Needful</italic>: A Tussle Between Innate Sexuality and Imposed Identity

Gender Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Mahesh Dattani’s : A Tussle Between Innate Sexuality and Imposed Identity

Although the issues related to sexuality are of prime importance in the contemporary world, in the Indian society they are closeted and ignored even today....

Mahesh Dattani’s Do the Needful: A Tussle Between Innate Sexuality and Imposed Identity

Published Online: Dec 21, 2022

Page range: 45 - 65

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/genst-2023-0004

Keywords
patriarchy, effeminate, gender, heterosexuality, Indianness

© 2022 Chhavi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Mahesh Dattani’s Do the Needful: A Tussle Between Innate Sexuality and Imposed Identity

Published Online: Dec 21, 2022

Page range: 45 - 65

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/genst-2023-0004

Keywordspatriarchy, effeminate, gender, heterosexuality, Indianness

© 2022 Chhavi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
patriarchy, effeminate, gender, heterosexuality, Indianness