Parsi theatre: How female impersonators controlled the female body and its representation on stage

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Parsi theatre: How female impersonators controlled the female body and its representation on stage

Female impersonation has been understood in South Asia as a theatrical compulsion resulting from the social taboo against women performing in public. The gendered segregation of public and private spheres forced the seclusion of women within the households of socially prominent families. Singing and dancing were relegated to a stigmatised class of women who sought economic stability through attachment to one or more patrons. To the question why …