Joanna Liddle and Rama Joshi explore the connection in India between  gender and caste, and gender and class. They ask whether the  subordination of women has diminished as India moves from a caste to a  class structure, and what effect colonization had on the status of women  in India. Focusing on educated, professional women, the authors look at  the particular experiences of 120 women they interviewed, and also  interpret the larger patterns of social relations that emerge from the  interviews. These sensitive stories are told with an eloquence that is  often moving and inspiring.For thousands of years Indian women have  had a cultural tradition of resisting male domination. At the same time,  the control of female sexuality has always been central to social  hierarchies in India. Women are constrained in both class and caste  hierarchies, to help distinguish the men at the top of the hierarchy  from men at the bottom, where women are less constrained. In class  society the seclusion of women allowed men to have sexual control over  women and to retain the property that was transferred in marriage.In  contemporary India, professional women have had success entering the  professions as the social groups to which they belong move increasingly  to class rather than caste structures. But men continue to control the  type of education they receive and the type of employment open to them,  and to participate in the sexual harassment of women in the workplace.  The concept that women are inferior to men--a concept that is not part  of the Indian cultural heritage--is growing. In a sense, working  professional women strengthen male control. The class structure is no  more egalitarian than the caste structure, as oppression simply takes  other forms.

Daughters of Independence: Gender, Caste, and Class in India

History

Joanna Liddle

Rama Joshi

Asia

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Books by Rama Joshi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rama Joshi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Daughters of Independence: Gender, Caste, and Class in India