Fun fact:
During the colonial era in India,around the early 20th century,Mohiniyattam,an Indian classical dance,was banned by the British being considered improper and a symbol of "devadasi prostitution". The seductive gestures and movements in the dance were deemed improper
This is talked about in "The wrongs of Indian Womanhood" by Marcus B. Fuller:
(Written in 1900,this is a propoganda text,but historically important)
302 p. 20 cm
The dance is used as one of the many "proofs" that Indian women were "harlots".
Mohiniyattam was banned by the British through a series of laws (1931-1938)
This law was protested against and repealed partially in 1940. Due to this,there was a renewed interest and reconstruction in the dance form by the people of Kerala(a state in India,for the non Indian viewers),especially the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon
The dance "Mohiniyattam" is based on the hindu goddess Mohini,who is the female form of Vishnu,and is portrayed as a seductress.(hence the seductive gestures and erotic representation of feminity)
This was just one of the thousand ways the British tried to destroy Indian culture,and it involved weaponizing the sexuality of Indian women against them.
