Posted on November 5, 2008 by Aparna Singh
BACK FROM THE DIWALI break, I was chatting with the elderly lady who comes to sweep our street everyday. Though she is employed by the municipal corporation, the wages are paltry so residents usually help her with small tips in cash or kind. As I handed over her Diwali tip and a small box of sweets, she blessed me saying, “May you have male children year after year!” Quite apart from the fact that overburdened India doesn’t need anybody producing children year after year, what is with this obsession with the male child, that simply refuses to go away? Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Motherhood, Our Bodies, Society, Violence Against women | Tagged: cradle baby scheme, disappearing daughters, female foeticide, male-female ration, sex-selective abortion | 10 Comments »
Posted on November 4, 2008 by Anindita Sengupta
I JUST GOT BACK from a break to discover the flurry of comments around Meena’s post. There’s lots of accusations about it not being well thought out / clear etc and I would like to clarify, yet again, that UV is a space to share informed opinion but also feelings, angst, even rants. Quite simply, it’s a space where women can voice things. Not all those things have to be perfectly logical little pieces of social / cultural critique. Not all of them have to come with their five-point solution for saving the world. If you don’t like that, don’t read. If you want to make it better, contribute. Guest posts are always welcome.
Read more »
Filed under: Identity and Destination, UV News, Women's Lives | Tagged: cyber crime, cyber stalking, free speech | 6 Comments »
Posted on October 28, 2008 by Meena Kandasamy
HOW DO I WRITE an article that does not sound like a celebrity too much crying paparazzi, an article where I want to discuss issues that are political but have arisen out of experiences in my personal life? How do I write an article about the dangers that women writing on gender and caste have to be well-prepared for, without sounding like somebody who wants undue publicity about unpleasant things happening to her? How do I sound genuine and serious when I discuss something that might appear as trivia(l)?
Where do I begin after all? Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Identity and Destination, Law, Media, Women's Lives | Tagged: Abuse, anonymity, Caste, defamation, Dr.Ambedkar, expression, Facebook, gneder, individual, Orkut, personality, technology | 22 Comments »
Posted on October 10, 2008 by Sharanya Manivannan
UNMANA INITIATED a lively discussion on marriage a few weeks ago, and there is news now that the institution as we legally define it in India may be set to change. Maharashtra is picking up the cause of legalising live-in relationships and providing more rights to extramarital female parties within a marriage. The state cabinet announced on Wednesday that the definition of the word “wife” under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code may be amended, thus facilitating the expansion of the institution of marriage. The bill cannot be cleared without the Centre’s approval, and the amendment has been suggested ostensibly in the interest of securing the rights of women in relationships that do not have the protection of the law. Read more »
Filed under: Institutions, Law, Marriage, Relationships, Women's Lives | Tagged: Institutions, Law, live-in, Marriage, Relationships, spouse, wife | 10 Comments »
Posted on October 8, 2008 by Guest Contributor
By Shilpa Phadke
Mistaking one work of fiction to represent all women in a country is rather blinkered and when it’s a country of the diversity and complexity of India, it borders on the ridiculous. Compounding this by attempting to pontificate on a subject about which you clearly know nothing and circulating this in an international newspaper should be a libelous act. I refer to Anand Giridharadas’s recent piece ‘A feminist revolution skips the liberation’ in the column ‘Letter from India’ in the International Herald Tribune. The writer begins innocuously enough by reviewing Meenakshi Madhavan Reddy’s book ‘You are Here’. The trouble begins when Madhavan Reddy’s fictional protagonist Arshi, drawn from her blog, begins to represent all Indian women–or at least all Indian urban women and what he calls ‘Indian feminism’. Read more »
Filed under: Books, Identity and Destination, Media | Tagged: Indian feminism, International Herald Tribune, You Are Here | 13 Comments »
Posted on October 7, 2008 by Dilnavaz Bamboat
TWO WEEKENDS AGO, my cousin and I had a girls’ night out and ended up watching the late night show of Rock On. After the show ended, we hailed a cab, hopped in and sang like wannabe rock stars all the way home, between squabbling about who was the hottest man in the movie. She dropped me off with a loud “Rock on!” and a wave and rode away in the same cab toward where she lives with her husband and daughters. It was 2 am. And I came home and realized I should send up a silent prayer that I was safe. Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Society, Violence Against women, Women's Lives, Work Life | Tagged: murder, new delhi, Rape, soumya vishwanathan, women's safety | 9 Comments »
Posted on September 29, 2008 by Dilnavaz Bamboat
A COMMON FEATURE of most fights in India, whether they be in the public or the private domain, is the use of the phrase, “wear bangles.” Having heard it in at least five languages at last count, I have come to the conclusion that the purpose of hurling it at a man appears to be an attempt to emasculate him by labeling him weak and ineffective. It’s interesting, this line, spoken with contempt, as if the world at large is expected to know that those who wear bangles are helpless, shackled as they are by their gender. Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Identity and Destination, Society | Tagged: eunuch, language, semantics, words | 16 Comments »
Posted on September 22, 2008 by Anindita Sengupta
DEEPA MEHTA’S new film on domestic violence premiered at the Toronto film festival. There were two reasons the trailers caught my eye. Firstly, because the abusive man is played by Vansh Bharadwaj who I’ve seen in Neelam Mansingh’s terrific play, The Suit, which played here in Bangalore twice in the last year. I loved his rendition of the cuckolded husband turned manic. The second reason is because it reminded me so much of Provoked, the last Indian film on domestic violence. The context seems very similar. Simple, sheltered Pujabi girl is married off to NRI abusive husband and then finds her escape. Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Domestic Violence, Media, Society, Violence Against women | Tagged: bell bajao, breakthrough, commercials, deepa mehta, film, television | 4 Comments »
Posted on September 16, 2008 by Unmana Datta
HELLO UV READERS! I’m excited to be writing my first post here. And going by the old feminist slogan, “the personal is political”, my first post is about something that is intensely personal: marriage. My views on marriage have always been ambivalent. Even as a child, I recognized that most marriages I saw around me were unsatisfactory and, almost always, unfair on the woman. But it seemed like the default option. Once you grew up, you got married. Usually by the time you were 25 if you were female. You had a few more years if you were male. Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Law, Love, Marriage, Morality, Society, Women's Lives | Tagged: couples, living together, Love, Marriage, Relationships, sexism, stereotypes | 37 Comments »
Posted on September 8, 2008 by Indhu Subramaniam
THE PRESSURE TO WRITE has been mounting. Guilt at not writing has been increasing steadily. But as a not-so-young mother of a small child, I am continually battling either illness of some sort or domestic issues which mean a series of chores! Add a demanding job to the mix. Sleepless nights, throbbing sciatic nerve, acidity — my physician gave me a wry smile and said classic symptoms of stress. Sometimes I am convinced that being feminist hasn’t helped. Read more »
Filed under: Identity and Destination, Women's Lives | Tagged: child care, feminism, housework, stress, women's roles | 11 Comments »
Posted on September 2, 2008 by Aparna Singh
SOME DAYS AGO, at a function, a distant relative was gently ribbing me and my husband as to who was responsible for cooking at home. Specifically, he was taking a few shots at my expense, that I must be ‘making’ my husband do all the cooking. Most of this was inconsequential small talk; I doubt this relative really cares about who cooks at our place or whether we cook at all. I didn’t take it seriously or feel riled. Still, behind these jokes are some notions so ingrained that we have a hard time recognizing them. The joke exists because the notion exists that a woman must be an excellent cook, devoted to feeding her family. Read more »
Filed under: Culture, Women's Lives | Tagged: cooking, home food, home-making, housewives, housework, traditional roles, women at home | 24 Comments »
Posted on August 29, 2008 by Indhu Subramaniam
UV’s BIRTHDAY? Usha and I looked at each other, our eyes saying ‘you mean it’s been a year?’
Actually, at HHS, we can’t believe that a year has passed. Amidst our other work, the blog has been such an alive and vibrant platform. In the past, we had tried different ways for people to get together and engage with feminisms. Read more »
Filed under: UV News, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
