Journal Articles

Marriage, Violence, and Choice Understanding Dalit Women’s Agency in Rural Tamil Nadu

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The literature on Dalit women largely deals with issues of violence and oppression based on intersections of class, caste, and gender. Women’s bodies, sexuality, and reproductive choices are linked to the ideological hegemony of the caste–gender nexus in India, with marriage and sexual relations playing crucial roles in maintaining caste boundaries. Often, the ways in which women manipulate their multiple, interlinked identities as women, Dalits, workers, and homemakers to resist control over their bodies (labor and sexuality), negotiate conjugal loyalty and love, and construct a sense of selfhood is missed in the analyses. Based on research in rural Tamil Nadu, I analyze Dalit women’s narratives that reflect multiple concerns and dilemmas about marital choice and violence, generating in the process a deeper understanding of agency, voice, and gender relations, as fluid, dynamic, and intersecting in response to changing experiences, positionalities, and subjectivities.

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Detail Information

Series Title

GENDER& SOCIETY

Call Number

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Publisher

Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications., 2015

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0891-2432

Classification

NONE

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 29, Issue 3 June 2015, pages 410-433

Subject(s)

agency
violence
marriage
Dalit

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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