S K, Anandakrishnan and Varghese, Daigy creator text Economic & Political Weekly monographic eng

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61(8), Feb 21, 2026: p.31-36 How does political masculinity respond to female presence in politics? The article seeks to answer this by unpacking the discourse surrounding sexual slandering against K K Shailaja, Kerala’s previous health minister and electoral candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the 2024 Parliament elections. The case shows how sexualised gender essentialisations position women within a moral spectrum of gendered roles that range from reproduction to fulfilment of male desirability. The normalisation of “feminine ableness” evolved against the masculine benchmark of “political ability” and is delegitimised by sexualising women’s bodies through public reclamations of virile masculinity.-Reproduced https://www.epw.in/journal/2026/8/insight/sexual-slander-against-women-politicians.html Economic & Political Weekly 260427