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Kamala Das is one of the best-known contemporary Indian women writers, albeit largely for the controversy that her candid, confessional writing has sparked in the relatively traditional context of Indian academia. Since the publication of her first collection of poetry, Summer in Calcutta (1965), Das has been considered an important voice of her generation. Her provocative poems are known for their unflinchingly honest explorations of the self and female sexuality, urban life, and women’s roles in traditional Indian society. Critics have expressed a range of opinions on her work: some laud her boldness, compelling sincerity and striking originality, while others dismiss her work as sensationalist, limited in scope and unsophisticated. In this dissertation, issues of selfhood represented in the poetry of Kamala Das will be analysed with regard to various aspects of her identity, such as those of a housewife, a lover, an Indian, a female writer, and a confessional poet. Selected theories on identity formation posited by Erik Erikson and Norman Holland will be explored, as will relevant hypotheses on female identity by Nancy Chodorow and Judith Gardiner. I propose that selected aspects of these theories shed light on the themes, tones and subject matter of Das’s verse. Almost all of her poems are personal and are fuelled by an intense need for emotional fulfilment. I suggest that the poet’s search for love is central to her identity and I aim to show how this (largely unsuccessful) quest, as reflected in Das’ poems, stems from various expectations by and on her. The recurring theme of expectations and the resulting tones of despair (the ‘hopes and fears’) in her work will be traced and analysed. This research is valuable in that there has been little exploration into identity and expectations in Das’ work and there is almost no research on her emanating from Africa. Through close textual analysis I also aim to highlight how useful insights into identity formation and female writing can enable a more in-depth understanding of Das’s poetry. Both female identity and women’s writing are increasingly significant fields in academia today, and there has been a rise in autobiographical writing in recent years; thus this research will contribute to debates about these issues in contemporary poetry. A portfolio of my own creative writing will accompany the essay. Like Kamala Das, I am also a Malayalee woman (from the province of Kerala in India) and I identify with some of her concerns with regard to the roles of women. Although my writing is not confessional or as personal as Das’s, our shared experience of the socio-cultural expectations placed upon us (due to our gender and ethnic background) links this mini-dissertation to my poetry portfolio. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / English / unrestricted

Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute Indian born around the year 1844, crossed cultural boundaries and became an influential voice within both white and Indian societies. This thesis employs a settler colonial framework that places the sexuality and rape of native women at the center of colonial relations in the settlement of the Americas. Viewed through this lens I perform an in-depth analysis of Winnemucca's gendered critique of colonialism that focused on sexual violence. Rather than the unstable, mixed messages of native resistance and assimilation emphasized by earlier scholars, I argue that Winnemucca purposefully employed a strategy of oppositional conformity to publicize an unwavering political message that championed Paiute sovereignty, exposed white cruelty, and re-wrote the dominant gendered, racial, political and cultural constructs that bound Native American women's identity. The introduction begins with a brief history of Winnemucca's life and accomplishments. In the introduction I also address the authenticity of Winnemucca's published narrative, Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883) and identify the constraints of the settler colonial lens through which I view Winnemucca's public voice. In chapter one I argue that Winnemucca's narrative employs the gendered moral rhetoric of the colonizer to cultivate white audience receptiveness, while simultaneously criticizing whites for their brutality against Indians. In chapter two I assert that Winnemucca employed multiple political strategies to cut away at Euro-American settlers' moral justifications for colonialism, and that she articulated a unique vision of Paiute citizenship that rejected complete Indian assimilation. In chapter three I highlight the ways in which Winnemucca used her public voice to articulate rape and the sexuality of Indian women as a foundational part of colonialism hidden from view in the media coverage of the Indian wars of the late nineteenth century. Unlike her biographers, who mostly overlook Winnemucca's public challenge to the negative sexual stereotypes that plagued Indian women during Winnemucca's lifetime, I argue that Indian women's sexuality was a foundational theme in Winnemucca's public discourse. Winnemucca grasped and resisted the gendered dimensions of colonialism and her consistent focus on this theme echoed in her lived reality. Finally, I conclude that ultimately personal accusations as well as her inability to escape the heathen identity forced on Indians by Christian reformers thwarted the success of Winnemucca's political message.

The present study examines the relationship between acculturation, parental control, and psychological adjustment among adult first and second-generation Asian Indian women who have immigrated, or whose parents have immigrated to the United States, from the Indian state of Kerala. Data from 73 participants indicate second-generation immigrants report poorer psychological adjustment than do their counterparts. Additionally, regression analyses reveal discomfort towards Kerala culture significantly predicts depressive symptoms, while high maternal control predicts self-esteem. Qualitative data were collected to provide richer understanding of immigrants' adaptation to the U.S. Implications of this research may impact mental health practitioners' ability to improve quality of life with Asian Indian women from Kerala.

Cette thèse étudie la condition féminine indienne et les prémices des différentes mutations opérées par la présence française en Inde, à la lumière du journal d’Ananda Ranga Pillai, Dubâsh pour le compte de la Compagnie française des Indes Orientales entre 1736 et 1761. Grâce à ses chroniques quotidiennes en cette époque décisive de la colonisation, observateur et acteur à la fois, le diariste témoigne d’un intérêt constant pour la gent féminine, loin des considérations romanesques. Il rend possible l’étude de la place et du rôle des femmes indiennes en politique sous le prisme de la guerre, la mise en évidence de leur implication dans la sphère socio-économique et les répercussions dans leur vie privée, apportant un éclairage interne plus global sur la société coloniale dans cette première moitié du XVIIIe siècle. / This thesis reviews the status of Indian women and the start of various changes under French rule in India, in light of the diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai, Dubâsh for the French East India Company, between 1736 and 1761. Through his daily chronicles in this decisive period of colonization, being both an observer and an actor, the diarist displays his constant concern for women, far from the romantic considerations. The study of the place and the role of the Indian women is made possible in the fields of politics through the lens of war, highlighting their involvement in the socio-economic sphere and its impact in their private life, by shedding a more internal light on global colonial society during this first half of the 18th century.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of previous theories concerning women’s access to roles of power within hunter-gatherer societies. This study examines how accurately immanent social identity theory and bifurcated role circumstantiality predict women’s access to the role of healer (shaman) within California hunter-gatherer groups. A sample of 27 California hunter-gatherer groups was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Notably, chi-square tests of independence evinced a correlation between men’s and women’s circumstantial labor and observed healer gender. Through the statistical verification of such engendered ideas, this study tests notions concerning the strict binary division of labor and posits that gender may have operated as a role-based identity marker rather than one structured around innate characteristics. This research ultimately provides a better analytical framework from which archaeologists can interpret the past through the use of ethnographic analogies that are more inclusive of gender-enriched methodologies. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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This exploratory study investigates how racialized immigrant women experience and respond to intimate partner abuse (IPA). The American and European models of intersectionality theory are used to highlight structural constraints and agentic responses as experienced and enacted by racialized immigrant women. Eight women described their experiences through semi-structured interviews, revealing an array of both defensive and pro-active types of strategies aimed at short- and long-term outcomes. Responses included aversion, negative reinforcement or coping strategies like prayer or self-coaching, and accordingly varied by the constraints under which the women lived as newcomers to Canada. Policy recommendations promote acknowledgement of women’s decision-making abilities and provide a model in which women can choose from a selection of options in how to respond, rather than strictly interventionist models. Study results can help to challenge stereotypes of abused women as passive victims, and empower the image of immigrant women as active knowers of their circumstances.

This exploratory study investigates how racialized immigrant women experience and respond to intimate partner abuse (IPA). The American and European models of intersectionality theory are used to highlight structural constraints and agentic responses as experienced and enacted by racialized immigrant women. Eight women described their experiences through semi-structured interviews, revealing an array of both defensive and pro-active types of strategies aimed at short- and long-term outcomes. Responses included aversion, negative reinforcement or coping strategies like prayer or self-coaching, and accordingly varied by the constraints under which the women lived as newcomers to Canada. Policy recommendations promote acknowledgement of women’s decision-making abilities and provide a model in which women can choose from a selection of options in how to respond, rather than strictly interventionist models. Study results can help to challenge stereotypes of abused women as passive victims, and empower the image of immigrant women as active knowers of their circumstances.