Araathu's novel 'Mandahasini' is a postmodern feminist work structured around the lives of three dancers—Mandahasini, Sirisha, and Honika—who lived across different geographical and temporal spaces from historical times to the modern era. This article describes the oppressions, sexual exploitation, internal struggles, and their rebellious voice against them faced by these women as dancers in a male-centered social system. This perspective analyzes how the elements of traditional historical novels are deconstructed and satirized in the novel, and how the Shiva-Parvati mythology is linked with contemporary women's suffering. Finally, this article defines the social existence of women as a whole, which languish at the intermediate point between Sirisha's world of poverty and oppression and Honika's world of absolute freedom.
This research paper examines the relationship between attainment of secondary education and the well-being of women across states of India. Three specific dimensions of women’s well-being are considered: (1) Reproductive Well-being, (2) Personal well-being, and (3) Economic Well-being. Along these three dimensions, several key indicators of women’s well-being are computed from the country-level datasets of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) and Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). For the purpose of key indicator computation from the corresponding sub-indicators, we use dendrogram techniques and/or standardization followed by averaging of constituent datapoints. The crosscorrelations between attainment of secondary education and the key indicators are computed across states of India and their relationships are established by validating their respective statistical significance. The results in this paper provide empirical evidence from NFHS-5 data on the strong association between secondary education and multiple aspects of women’s well-being.
The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), which was introduced by the Indian government in 2015, offers small and micro businesses loans without collateral in an effort to promote financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. Using secondary data from official reports from 2015–2016 to 2023–2024, this study examines the expansion and effects of PMMY loans on women entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu. Descriptive statistical approaches, such as yearover-year (YoY) growth rate and compound annual growth rate (CAGR), were used to assess changes in the number of loan accounts and the loan amounts authorized under the Shishu, Kishore, and Tarun categories in order to identify trends and progress. Results indicate that PMMY has greatly increased formal credit availability and encouraged entrepreneurial endeavors, especially among women. The program continues to encourage financial inclusion and the establishment of new businesses in the state, despite occasional volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Society largely patriarchal in structure and expression often remains intransigent even after change in belief, value system, etc. The patriarchal practices are sometime retained as mixed emerging as new form of socio-religious culture. This is true, in many cases, of Christian set-ups in society. While its mode of retention may be through cultural process, it is, in Christian context, through the religious teachings which are supposedly based on the scriptures. The teachings, when taught and practiced, reinforced the old sexism of a given society if the teachings are misinterpretive. Therefore, the outcome is continuation of sex discrimination often with benevolent sex discrimination. Therefore, there must be proper understanding of the actual imports of some problem scriptures of the Bible. In this regard the scriptures in question are 1Corinthians 14:34-35; Ephesians 5:21-25; and 1Timothy 2:11-14. The passages carry apparent teachings on sexism with regard to women speaking in church, submission to husband and authority over man. Yet, the first passage is about proper mode of learning spiritual things, and the second is about mutual respect between wife and husband and the last passage teaches on prohibition of false teachings by women. Understood properly the scriptures they negate sexism. Making them sexist is from patriarchal bias ingrained in belief and teachings. The article is a humble attempt in earnest.
Gender-Based Violence is one of the persistent and damaging challenges to our society’s growth and well-being. Tackling it requires more than just policies—it requires a collective, sustained effort to shift mindsets, strengthen support systems, and empower every citizen to act. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has proposed a comprehensive framework to deepen our impact at every level—from spreading legal literacy to strengthening emergency response systems.
