Drawing the Line

Drawing the line is a compelling anthology by 14 Indian women responding to the 2012 New Delhi bus attack that was a flash point in the women’s rights movement against sexual violence. While some of the short stories deal with sexual violence straight on, many others focus on the gender disparities that support the rape culture. The stories span in perspective from babies, young girls, and older women, highlighting the realities of Indian women that shape their experience and their inner thoughts. 

The text works well in its entirety to address how feminism may look different globally or to think about gender as intersectional as the text covers elements of the caste system and colorism. It could also be a wonderful way to add shorter pieces to a course that contains many longer texts. By using a selection of these, students could be able to see how to write a shorter comic story themselves. 

It’s difficult to summarize an anthology with diverse authors. To describe each narrative and artstyle is a bit outside the scope of this blog. However, I can recommend Rajesh V. Nair’s “Rethinking Panel Culture” in the Indian Journal of Gender Studies as it gives a summary and a gender analysis of each story.