Femininity reinterpreted: an ethnographic study of women's folk speech in kajarī folk song

This study examines the verbal and nonverbal strategies rural women employ in singing kajarī folk songs, with particular attention to the interplay between everyday speech and the stylised language of oral tradition. Women's folk speech has received limited scholarly attention, especially from anthropological perspectives, despite its potential to illuminate questions of gender, performance, and power. Drawing on ethnographic material from Mirzapur, India—including kajarī lyrics, bodily gestures, and performance practices—this research highlights how women negotiate agency through expressive forms. The analysis demonstrates how folk speech simultaneously subverts male-centric constructions of femininity by challenging linguistic and sexual norms, while also reinforcing conventional and stereotypical ideals of womanhood.