GENDER IN FOLK PAINTINGS OF BENGAL views on the media that has robbed him of his daily bread. The audience's expectation is fulfilled as humour is used as a weapon by the frustrated patuas who retreat to the shelters of moral values stemming from a medieval past. The patua allowing the images of a reversed world order to once again gain ground, projects the typical patriarchal norms and their deeply ingrained hegemony. Men in the scheme of the patuas are always protected by the sati or punished and subjugated by the asati. To both he denies human identity. [The contemporary scroll paintings discussed are the works of patuas from Medinipur. The Manasa Pata is the work of Bahar Chitrakara who is also known as Ranjit Chitrakara.] NOTES 1. Bagchi, Jasodhara. 'Representing Nationalism: ideology of Motherhood in Colonial Bengal', Economic and Political Weekly, October 20-27, 1990. 2. Bhattacharya, Benoy. Cultural Oscillation, Calcutta, 1980. 3. Chatterjee, Partha. The Nationalist Resolution of the Woman's Question', in Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History. Edited by Sudesh Vaid and Kumkum Sangari, New Delhi, 1989. 4. Chatterjee, Ratnabali. From the Karkhana to the Studio: A Study in the Changing Social Roles of Patron and Artist in Bengal, New Delhi, 1990. 5. Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from Cultural Writings, ed. David Forgaes and Geoffrey No well Smith, trans. William Boclhower, London, 1985. 6. Guha, Ranjit, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in India, New Delhi, 1993. 7. Kapur, Geeta. Place for People, New Delhi, 1981. 8. Sarkar, Sumit. The Women's Question in Nineteenth Century Bengal' in A Critique of Colonial India, Calcutta, 1985. 9. Sarkar, Sumit, 'Koli Juger Kalpana O Oupanibeshik Samaj' Itihas Anusandhan 4 (in Bengali), 1989. 10. Sarkar, Tanika. 'Nationalist Iconography: Image of Women in 19th century Bengali Literature', Economic and Political Weekly, November 21, 1987. 11. Sinha, Kaliprasanna. Hutom Pyanchar Naksha, ed. Arun Nag, Calcutta, 1991. Translation of excerpt by author.