Quotes24716 of 42574 |
||
|
...the effeminacy of the inhabitants of Bengal not only became more widespread and virulent , but also acquired a more specific meaning in the late nineteenth century sterotype of the ‘effeminate Bengali babu .’ If in the past effeminacy loosely characterized all the inhabitants of Bengal, in the second half of the century it was used quite specifically to characterize the Indian middle class, or a section of this class identified as babus . In Bengal itself, therefore, effeminacy came to be associated with a small percentage of the total population.
Lord Maculey, in Mrinalini Sinha, Colonial Masculinity: The 'manly Englishman' and The' Effeminate Bengali' in the Late Nineteenth Century, Manchester University Press, 1 January 1995, p.16 | ||
