Mannequin: Working Women in India's Glamour Industry

by Manjima Bhattacharjya

The fashion industry in India is huge, employing more than sixty million people and, at $70 billion, accounting for a sizable chunk of the nation’s economic activity. Despite that, it remains a startlingly unprofessional industry—particularly when it comes to the work of modeling, and how the women who perform that work are viewed and treated. With Mannequin, Manjima Bhattacharya takes readers into the world of fashion in India to show what the work of a model is like and the difficulties it entails, from the struggle by trade unions to organize models to the fundamental question of whether fashion objectifies women or acknowledges their agency. Spanning from the 1960s to the present, and taking account of changes from globalization and shifting beauty standards, Mannequin is an up-to-date account of fashion’s forgotten workers.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, India

250 pages, Hardcover

Published May 15, 2018

About the author

Manjima Bhattacharjya is a feminist researcher, writer and activist. She has been part of the Indian women’s movement for over two decades.
She holds a PhD in sociology. Her areas of specialization include gender and sexuality, and labour and the body. Her first book, an edited volume Sarpanch Sahib was long-listed for the Crossword Best Non-Fiction Book of 2009. She has written for several publications including the Times of India, ELLE and Info-change India.
She lives and works out of Mumbai.

Reviews

[Nanditha]

For a person who identifies as a feminist, fashion is dicey. Is it empowering because a woman gets to do what she wants and largely has agency to showcase her sensuality or is it a step backward as it creates a conventional body image that other people strive towards and gives rise to many capitalistic businesses as offshoots? This is the central question "Mannequin" looks at addressing.

The book was interesting and enables readers to understand the work of models a lot better. A lot of us do not really equate modelling with "physical labour" or "work" which will surely change once you read this book. With interviews, a look at the history of fashion and the feminist movements as well as ethnographic studies, "Mannequin" is an interesting read. However, the book is not really able to answer the question it sets out to. Given the complexity of the question though, maybe it is impossible to answer. An informative read that dips in certain parts but remains largely interesting with a narrative that flows and is easy to read.

[Sahana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about female models in Indian fashion industry. The book is written in parts as a series of interviews with models and feminists. The contradiction of feminists opposing Miss World and other competitions and how all points of views were argued except that of the participants was particularly interesting. However, I wish it was a bit more in depth- 200 pages for such a vast subject felt incomplete. And I didn’t understand why at certain places names of people couldn’t just be included, especially when the reference inserted contained the complete name, incident discussed, etc. I would’ve liked a book on such a topic to be more transparent. An easy read and I do recommend it especially to understand a different angle in feminism.

[Sitara · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does feminism engage with fashion and feminity? Manjima Bhattacharjya looks this by studying the Indian fashion Industry as a part of her PhD thesis.

Looking as models as working women with real lives, and not as glamourous hangers that do not have a care in the world, she engages with the intricacies of Indian society, the male gaze as well as shift brought on via liberalisation.

There are very few books that look at beauty and feminity in the Indian context, and this is one of the few books that does. Overall, while I glanced over certain sections, it was something I enjoyed reading, giving me plenty to ponder especially in a space where certain fairness creams are being renamed.