Indian Journal of Gender Studies recent issues

Not an 'Angel', not a 'Whore': Surrogates as 'Dirty' Workers in India

Pande, A. — 2009-06-15

In this study of surrogate mothers in Gujarat, India, I introduce the concept of ‘sexualised care work’ to describe a new type of care work—commercial surrogacy—that is similar to existing forms of care work but is stigmatised in the public imagination, among other reasons, because of its parallels with sex work. I use the oral histories of the surrogates to examine the accounts they give, justifying their work and resisting stigma. I argue that while the narratives can be seen as a form of resistance, they reinforce the primary identity of these women as dependent mothers rather than independent workers.

Chhadi Lage Chham Chham, Vidya Yeyi Gham Gham (The Harder the Stick Beats, the Faster the Flow of Knowledge): Dalit Women's Struggle for Education

Paik, S. — 2009-06-15

More than a reference to corporal punishment, the chhadi (stick) in this article denotes the psychologically crippling and inerasable experiences of Dalit girls in formal institutions of education. A Dalit girl's journey to the citadel of dnyan (knowledge) to gain an education is strewn with many social and cultural obstacles. I argue that power relationships in the wider society have a strong bearing on both access to education and the quality of the education that Dalit girls receive. Dalit girls are subjected to the discipline, control, regulation and surveillance of not only state services in the education system but also of their parents. Thus, they face double discrimination along lines of both caste and gender.

Magic Moments of Struggle: Women's Memory of the Naxalbari Movement in West Bengal, India (1967-75)

Roy, M. S. — 2009-06-15

This paper focuses on women's memories of participation in the Naxalbari movement in West Bengal. These memories, sourced from women's oral histories and published memoirs, capture not only women's visions of emancipation and camaraderie but their everyday struggles, experiences of fear and violence and patriarchal domination within the movement as well. As these memories are refracted by the women's diverse socio-economic and cultural locations, the paper makes an effort to distinguish the multiple meanings of the ‘magic moments of struggle’ in the lives of peasant/working-class women, from those of middle-class women from smaller towns and upper middle-class metropolitan women.

On the Etiology and Politics of Sexual Phenomenology

Prasad, A. — 2009-06-15

Working from the conceptual site, which discloses the relationship between the theory and the practice of Judith Butler's post-structuralist framework, this paper looks at male lesbians to amplify the diversity within gender identity and sexual expression. Male lesbians problematise the sex-leads-to-gender hierarchy and, in doing so, unravel the entire enterprise of heteronormativity. More importantly, perhaps, they illustrate the confluence in the culturally manifested and scientifically prescribed binary between nature and culture. In short, this paper considers the myriad possibilities ‘biologically read’ males who identify as lesbians have on the current social epistemology that has been crystallised on dichotomies of male/female and nature/culture.

Human Rights of Women Prisoners in India: A Case Study of Jaipur Central Prison for Women

Kaushik, A., Sharma, K. — 2009-06-15

The Constitution of India guarantees equality to women and various laws have been enacted to protect and empower women. While some women have definitely benefited from these provisions, for the majority of poor and illiterate women life still remains a struggle in a very traditional, patriarchal and feudal society. The pathetic situation of women prisoners, branded as bad women who deserve bad treatment, is not surprising. The concept of human rights is totally alien to such women. We conducted a study in October 2005 of 150 women convicts lodged in Jaipur Central Prison in Rajasthan and found highly unsatisfactory conditions. Basic facilities are lacking for the women and their children; also the prisoners are visibly scared of the prison staff. There is scope for vast improvement, on all levels, particularly in the attitude of the prison staff who need to learn to respect the human rights of women prisoners.

Book Reviews

2009-06-15

New Resources

Vyas, A. — 2009-06-15

African American Travel Writing and the Politics of Mobility: The Narrative of Nancy Prince

Nayar, P. K. — 2009-04-06

This article examines a 19th-century travel narrative by an African-American woman, Nancy Prince, and identifies three principal rhetorical modes in her narrative: mobility, labour and community. It suggests that Prince's rhetoric of mobility consists of a mobility of poverty, when she moved from one place to another due to her straitened circumstances, and a mobility of agency, when she travelled as a means to assert her individuality, but within specific ‘structures of travel’. Prince's rhetoric of labour gives her agency as an individual when she undertakes ethnographic information-gathering and maps her own suffering. Labour, like mobility, helps her demonstrate an individual self. Finally, the rhetoric of community aligns Prince with the evangelical movement. Her agency as a black person becomes iconic of the transformation of her race itself—through the choice of a career and the practice of a profession outside the USA. This rhetoric takes her narrative out of the mere category of travel writing into one about community-building and racial identity.

Bodies Gone Awry: The Abjection of Sexuality in Development Discourse in Contemporary Kerala

Devika, J — 2009-04-06

The article attempts to probe the silence of mainstream development discourse on sexuality and reproductive and sexual rights. This seems to go against the fact that there is now greater admission in development literature on Kerala that gender imbalances in a number of crucial indices do mar the state's claims of high levels of human development. This question is approached through an examination of the ways in which developmentalism has inflected both public discourse and academic knowledge in Kerala, and their interpenetration. Historically, sexuality has been marginalised in Kerala and projected onto prostitute-bodies; in the 1990s, the fear of ‘unbounded’ sexuality had been a prominent feature of public discourse. The sexualisation of deprived groups to strip them of moral claims to welfare indicates the heightening of abjection as a major mode of social exclusion. The abjection of sexuality in contemporary Malayalee public discourse and the silence about women's sexual and reproductive rights in contemporary development discourse do not appear unconnected. The current situation seems to call for creative dialogue between feminist and counter-heteronormative politics, which would resist protectionism and heterosexism.

Dowry among Indian Muslims: Ideals and Practices

Waheed, A. — 2009-04-06

The discourse on dowry in India has generally been confined to non-Muslim communities, with little research undertaken on dowry among Muslims. This article, based on secondary source material, surveys the practice of dowry among Indian Muslims as it has existed and continues to exist in different forms and in different regions. ‘Dowry’ is an ambiguous word that does not have a uniform or standard definition, and there are wide-ranging regional variations in people's understanding of it. Technically, it is the property of the bride but, in practice, the husband's parents, brothers and sisters have access to it. Indian Muslims commonly use the Arabic word jahez for dowry and, very often, justify the practice in terms of jahez-e-fatimi. Islamists classify jahez into two categories. The first comprises some essential articles for the outfit of the bride as well as for conjugal life. The other is made up of valuable goods, clothes, an amount of money settled on after bargaining, and lavish food and hospitality for the barat. They say the former is a very old and established practice, while the latter is a recent phenomenon among Indian Muslims and mostly prevalent in south India—in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. However, this article takes a contrary view, saying that the practice of jahez has not been voluntary but coercive among Indian Muslims for a long time. It has its origin in the Muslim social structure and the lifestyles of the nobility in north India.

NGOs in Bangladesh: Are They Successful in Increasing Awareness among Vulnerable Women?

Sultana, N., Islam, N. — 2009-04-06

The main purpose of this article is to study the effect of NGO activities in increasing the awareness levels of vulnerable women in Bangladesh. The authors attempt to show the extent to which awareness levels of vulnerable women increased after joining NGOs. The basic questions asked included: Are NGOs really capable of increasing awareness among vulnerable women in Bangladesh? What impact do the programmes of NGOs have on the women's lives? To find answers to these questions, the researchers applied a combination of methods. Two NGOs were selected as case studies: one of them a national NGO and the other local. Data was collected mainly from primary sources, though various secondary sources were also used. The major findings of the study confirmed that the awareness levels of women had indeed increased after joining NGOs.

Do Women Differ in Their Investment Information Processing Style?

Mittal, M., Vyas, R.K. — 2009-04-06

Men and women differ in their risk and investment styles. Women are more risk averse and prefer low risk fixed income investments. Psychologists suggest the reason for their different investing style is that women are more methodical in information processing strategy, which leads to increased perception of risk as compared to men. The article investigates whether gender differences exist in the preferences for risk and whether the reasons suggested by psychologists for women being more risk averse are valid.

Book Reviews

2009-04-06

New Resources

2009-04-06

Experiences of Childlessness in an Indian Context: A Gender Perspective

Mehta, B., Kapadia, S. — 2009-01-05

This article focuses on the gendered experiences of involuntary childlessness and the societal perceptions of the state of being childless. It is based on research aimed at understanding the experience of involuntary childlessness among women and men in the urban middle class of a cosmopolitan city (Vadodara) in India. The study involved a gendered analysis of individuals’ experiences, with specific reference to ideas about parenthood, the importance of children, and the psychosocial implications on self and marital relationships within the context of family and society. The results revealed substantial gender differences. The euphoria surrounding the event of parent-hood, the importance of a child in fostering cohesiveness among family members, and strengthening the marital bond were also examined. The implications of childlessness on self and on marital relations were manifested as feelings of loss, especially during the initial years. Based on the findings, interrelationships are drawn between larger ideologies of Indian culture.

Women and Male Partner-dating Violence in Nigeria

Izugbara, C. O., Duru, E. J.C., Dania, P. O. — 2009-01-05

In this article we address experiences, understandings of and responses to dating violence among a small sample of abused Nigerian female university students. Dating violence broadly manifested in forms such as physical hurt, sexual harassment and emotional abuse in public and private spaces appears to be a male strategy for sustaining women's place within certain culturally defined boundaries. Women's views regarding their abuse reinforce the cultural belief that men are naturally violent and that women are sometimes to be blamed. Women's understandings of their abuse and responses to it refract the patriarchal ideologies that organise gender relations in Nigeria. Social and cultural institutions need to be repositioned to meet the challenges posed by the abuse of women by their intimate male partners.

Male Hierarchies and Gender-balanced Boards

Ahmansson, G., Ohlund, L. S. — 2009-01-05

The aim of the present study is to examine whether the established fact that men by far outnumber women in leading positions is an inherent unintentional characteristic of a hierarchy where appointments happen one by one on an individual basis, as opposed to boards where the members are appointed as a group. The sample consists of those appointed to the hierarchies as well as the boards of 36 state universities in Sweden. The main finding is that significantly more men are appointed in hierarchies than to group-composed boards. When the gendered distribution of those in leading positions becomes fully apparent, the last and final position in the hierarchy is significantly more often given to a woman. However, these women are much older than their male counterparts, a fact that makes it harder for them to reach the final step of the ladder. The article concludes with a discussion of whether the higher probability of appointing a woman as vice-president when both chair and president are men is a fair acknowledgement of an unfair gender distribution, or if there are other possible explanations.

Domestic Violence in India: Effects of Education

Simister, J., Makowiec, J. — 2009-01-05

This article studies domestic violence between husband and wife in India, and attitudes to domestic violence. We use the term ‘gender-based violence’ because some men use violence to control their wives. Data from the Demographic and Health Survey 1998–2000 has been analysed. This survey includes women in the ages of 15 to 49, in 26 Indian states. We focus only on violence by husbands against wives, ignoring other types of violence (such as a wife being hit by her husband's family, or a man being hit by his wife). Evidence in this paper is consistent with previous research indicating that gender-based violence is very prevalent in India. It seems likely that it is related to whether such violence is seen as acceptable in the perpetrator's family and in the local community. We suggest that there are similarities between the behaviour of some Indian men and the ‘machismo’ values reported in other cultures (especially in Latin America). We confirm previous claims that violence is less common if women and men are well educated; we also note that acceptance of domestic violence appears to be related to the respondent's education level. Thus, we encourage the Government of India to prioritise education for both boys and girls.

Gender Disparity and Legal Awareness in Assam

Deka, M. — 2009-01-05

This article addresses the question of gender disparity and legal awareness in Assam, and attempts to contextualise ‘legal awareness’ among women in the state within a complex framework of the post-colonial legal structure. This is a legacy of the traditional pre-colonial and colonial legal structures, and is reinforced through various social, economic and political forces. Such an approach would enable the understanding of the historical development of legal awareness as such, from tradition to change and its continuity, and also to explore whether there were spaces for women's legal awareness within the traditional constrained sphere of a dominant patriarchal society.

Book Reviews

2009-01-05

New Resources

Vyas, A. — 2009-01-05

Disability, Gender and Society

Addlakha, R. — 2008-08-13

Sameness and Difference: Twin Track Empowerment for Women with Disabilities

Dhanda, A. — 2008-08-13

Whether one should ‘mainstream’ or adopt ‘special measures’ has been a perennial dilemma whilst devising strategies to deal with gender discrimination. The United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities has tried to skirt this conundrum by adopting a ‘twin track’ approach. Consequently, it has inducted the gender question in all relevant spaces, in addition to incorporating a separate article on women with disabilities. This article explores how the Convention came to adopt this approach, and what kind of interpretational and implementation efforts will be required for its promise to be realised for women with disabilities. With the acceptance of this approach, the Convention has unequivocally conceded that multiple forms and levels of discrimination require a multiplicity of rights.

The Need for a Framework for Combined Disability and Gender Budgeting

Hans, A., Patel, A. M., Agnihotri, S.B. — 2008-08-13

Women with disability (WWDs) represent the most vulnerable category in the realms of both disability and gender. A recent survey on government allocations and expenditure in the disability sector in four states in India, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal, has underscored the need to develop specific safety nets for their survival and well-being. In recent years gender budgeting has emerged as an effective tool for locating the gaps between the policy rhetoric on women's empowerment and the resources provided to match it. There is a similar need to develop a disability budgeting protocol and, more importantly, a combined gender and disability budgeting tool to ensure that WWDs are not left out of resource allocations by the state. This study attempts to look at the resource allocation to the disability sector in general. It has to be kept in mind that gender-disaggregated data are not available; therefore, the analysis of the budget on the sector as a whole will be indicative of the situation for the WWDs as well. Using tools of gender budgeting and the baseline data on WWDs in the four states, this article attempts to develop a framework for a composite gender–disability budgeting exercise.

From Mental Illness to Disability: Choices for Women Users/ Survivors of Psychiatry in Self and Identity Constructions

Davar, B. V. — 2008-08-13

This article traces the critical engagement of the women's movement with psychiatry, mental health and disability in India over the past two decades. Three phases can be discerned in this history. The first was a phase of radical intellectual disbelief about the very existence of mental illness as a valid knowledge category. In the second phase the experiential reality of women, who had to engage with their own emotional states, found expression in a variety of discourses about women and mental health. The marginalisation of women by the mainstream medical sciences was addressed, and the right to care was redefined as the creation of gender-sensitive sciences. In the third and present phase I interrogate the paths we have taken in the creation of such gender-sensitive mental health practices. A mental illness language has been exhausted of any positive content. The rights orientation to mental health can be developed from disability thinking, which is providing an alternative vision for the world, as well for persons labelled mentally ill.

Prenatal Diagnosis: Where Do We Draw the Line?

Ghai, A., Johri, R. — 2008-08-13

Feminists in India have been concerned about the declining sex ratio in the country. The Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act 1994 or PNDT Act, which outlaws sex-selective abortions, has been welcomed by feminists, even though they remain concerned with bottlenecks in its implementation. A relatively unnoticed but critical issue, however, is the possibly unwitting legitimisation of the abortion of potentially disabled children. This article endeavours to question the ideology that regards abortion as the only option when prenatal testing reveals a birth abnormality, an option sanctioned by the PNDT Act. We contend that disability is, to a great extent, socially constructed: its conceptualisation reflects societal attitudes that view the lives of disabled people as tragic, worthless and a burden. The article recognises the tension between the feminist and disability activists around the issue of women's choice. These issues are discussed through the voices of the mothers of both non-disabled and disabled children in Delhi. We contend that: (a) the concept of individual choice, which is reified through the PNDT Act, is socially constructed and contextually located, and (b) while a pro-choice perspective is important to feminists, the thoughtless use of prenatal testing could reduce, rather than expand, women's choices.

Exploring Constructs of Intellectual Disability and Personhood in Haryana and Delhi

Mehrotra, N., Vaidya, S. — 2008-08-13

Intellectual disability is one of the least researched areas in social science inquiry. This paper traces the complex interplay between the concepts of intellectual disability, gender and personhood. It outlines the socio-historical and cross-cultural variability of intellectual disability, and its connections with class, urbanisation and modernisation. Based on ethnographic material on the disabled in Delhi and the neighbouring state of Haryana, it presents case studies of two NGOs working with the intellectually disabled, namely, Arpan, a school for the mentally retarded in Rohtak, Haryana, and Action for Autism in New Delhi. It engages specifically with the notion of masculinity and the manner in which intellectually disabled male adults are feminised and infantilised. An attempt is made to understand how disabled individuals and their families seek social spaces for themselves and negotiate the social compulsions for ‘normalcy’ and competent adulthood.

Burden of Caring: Families of the Disabled in Urban India

Chakravarti, U. — 2008-08-13

While most parents adapt well to caring for a disabled child, some do not. The literature on disability, narratives of parents, professionals and disabled activists in India highlight the role of prevailing social conditions in the suffering of the disabled and their families. Many issues germane to their day-to-day lives are made invisible by society, and personal and social suffering are ignored. Families also require a range of support services to be able to successfully care for a disabled member. Using the case study approach, this article examines the experiences of caregiving in families of young people with cerebral palsy. It highlights the individual and social dimensions of disability, and their intersection in the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families.

Identity Formation and Transnational Discourses: Thinking Beyond Identity Politics

Friedner, M. — 2008-08-13

This article is an attempt to explore the role, if any, that transnational deaf identity politics plays within the lives of members of the Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women (DFDW). Taking a two-pronged ethnographic and historical approach, I will examine how the DFDW came to exist, situating it within the field of organisations serving the deaf in Delhi, as well as providing an overview of its structure and client profile. I will also examine the terrain of identity politics within the deaf community of the DFDW, and ask questions about what identity, deafness and kinship mean to its members. Most theory coming out of Deaf studies has ignored, until relatively recently, the category of gender. This article seeks to explore how culture and gender modify the constructions and experiences of Deaf identity.

The Inner World of Adolescent Girls with Hearing Impairment: Two Case Studies

Limaye, S. — 2008-08-13

This article explores how young females with hearing impairment respond to the developmental tasks of adolescence. Using a case study approach, the author explores Radha and Hasina's understanding and attitudes towards issues such as bodily changes, peer relationships, autonomy, economic independence, marriage and family, and personal identity. The limitations imposed by the impairment, combined with the environment to which they are exposed, may not be conducive to normal development. So, while on the one hand adolescents with hearing impairment face the same developmental needs and tasks that confront hearing adolescents, yet their passage through normal developmental stages may become more complicated. This is because the basic deprivation due to deafness is not just the sensory one of sound, but also the acquisition of communication skills. Nonetheless, instead of submitting meekly to their disability and the authority of their families, both Radha and Hasina emerge as self-assertive, individualistic and high-spirited persons who contest popular negative stereotypes of persons with disabilities. The article does not claim that the ideas contained in the two accounts are in any way representative of and equally applicable to all deaf adolescents. It is only an exploratory study, an attempt to throw light on the impact of deafness on the developmental tasks of adolescents with hearing impairment.

Book Reviews

2008-08-13

New Resources

Vyas, A. — 2008-08-13