Event #26

 

Women are the same all over the world, but in some ways the role of the Indian woman goes beyond the understanding of many. What has changed for the Indian woman from the distant past to the present? This is an essential theme in the work of Anita Nair: understanding the way changes in Indian femininity are reflected in the way women write. The oppression and repression of the Indian woman are determined, according to Nair, by something more, and not merely by social or religious factors. What makes the Indian woman what she is? And what direction is she going in? Nair especially discusses the dichotomy present between rich and poor women, the educated and the uneducated, and how equality between women is also an open question. It is precisely this situation of inequality that is exploited by patriarchal elements, and it is added to the ills that affect a woman’s life in Indian society.