Networks of care: Autobiography, relational survival and women performers in 20th-century Indian theatre and cinema

Women entering the performing arts, particularly theatre and studio spaces, in 20th-century India navigated a patriarchal and hierarchically structured sphere marked by systemic gendered exploitation. Moreover, the stigma surrounding women’s participation in public performance rendered them subjects of social disapproval and moral scrutiny. This article argues that, despite such stigma and the hierarchical power structures that characterised the performing arts in 20th-century India, networks of care enabled early women performers to enter and sustain careers in this field. Drawing on the autobiographies of Kanan Devi and Zohra Segal, pioneers of Indian theatre and cinema, the study explores how their narratives of everyday trials are interwoven with accounts of supportive relationships that shaped their artistic journeys and resilience. The analysis situates these relational dynamics within the broader framework of the ethics of care. However, given the Western-centric orientation of care ethics and its tendency to prioritise gender at the expense of other intersecting identities, the study adopts an intersectional approach that grounds care in performers’ caste, class and gendered experiences in 20th-century India. In doing so, it contributes to feminist scholarship on the significance of relationality and community in advancing women’s empowerment and extending care ethics beyond its Global North foundations.