Confrontations
A Nepali woman’s experience of life is shaped by patriarchy. The need to control a woman is ingrained in the Nepali psyche. Nonconformity comes at a cost: any defiance of norms raises questions, suspicion, concern, ridicule — some visible, others silent and invisible. I am regularly made aware that I keep crossing many such boundaries. Given the psychological push and pull, I struggle to be the woman I want to be: fearless and standing by my choices. ‘Confrontations’ attempts to explore my sense of self in relation to society by saying things I’m not supposed to say, by making visible what is meant to stay out of sight. Red is used to question what it means to be a woman in my society. The color red is significant in a Nepali woman’s life: it indicates marital status, symbolises auspiciousness, sexuality, fertility, and life. Another colour significant for women is white, employed to signify a woman’s purity, vulnerability, and fragility as the unspoiled bearer of patriarchal honour.