Representation of Ethnic Women in Upendra Subba's Lāto Pahāda [Dumb Hill]

The article aims to examine the images of ethnic women in Upendra Subba's Lāto Pahāda [Dumb Hill], a collection of short stories. The focus of the article is to analyze the portrayal of female characters in the selected five stories from the collection and to explain how they subvert the image of the ideal woman promoted by mainstream Nepali literature. These stories deal with the issues of Limbu people, an ethnic community residing in the eastern hilly region of Nepal. Through them, Subba raises the issues of ethnicity and representation of marginalized people. He explores the pain, suffering and hardship of these people who have been at the margin of the society. The stories, mostly, focus on men who play the primary roles in them; nonetheless, female characters play an important role to make sense of the lifestyle of the Limbu people. Portrayed in the secondary roles as wife, daughter, and mother to the male characters, they maintain equal relation with their male counterparts. They work with self-determination and do not experience male domination in thei lives. To analyze the issues stated above, this paper draws theoretical ideas from third wave feminism which rejects the universalist claim that all women share a set of common experiences. The third wave feminists deny the concept of universal femininity; they clarify that the forms of oppression can be as varied just as resistance to them can have specific local color. The finding of the article suggests that Subba's female characters are depicted in the ethnic background which is nonhierarchical and believes in gender equality. Their portrayal subverts the image of ideal womanhood created and circulated by mainstream Nepali literature.

New Ideal Womanhood

In discussing the divine figure of Bharatmata (Mother India), it is impossible to overlook her human prototype, Bharatiya Nari—the ‘new’ Indian woman. This latter figure did not come into existence overnight. Instead, its emergence by the end of the nineteenth century was the culmination of innumerable social reform debates, discussions, and legislations on women’s issues like sati, widow rehabilitation, child marriage, and female education over the past few decades. Women writers often used their fiction to draw attention to the diverse problems that their fellow women faced, and in doing so, these authors consciously participated in the ongoing social discussion that moulded the ‘new’ woman ideal. Consequently, it is often in their writings that the evolution and sculpting of the Bharatiya Nari are best documented. This chapter discusses works by Ramabai Trikannad, Nalini Turkhud, and K.S. (full name unknown).

Helping or Heightening Vulnerability? Midwives as Arbiters of Risk for Women Experiencing Self-Directed Violence in Urban Sri Lanka

The response of midwives to women engaging in self-directed violence (SDV) may affect women’s care and outcomes. The author explored midwives’ understanding of SDV through semi-structured focus groups and in-depth interviews with 11 Public Health Midwives in urban Sri Lanka. Thematic analysis identified four key themes: (a) perceived dimensions of women’s risk and vulnerability to SDV, (b) midwives as arbiters of risk, (c) representations of women engaging in SDV, and (d) midwives’ perceived capacity to respond. Given their proximity to communities, trustworthiness as sites of disclosure, and respectability as women and guardians of ideal womanhood in Sri Lankan society, midwives occupy a powerful position in the health system through which to alleviate or reinforce women’s risk to SDV. Yet, investment in developing their skills and role to respond to the growing phenomenon of SDV among women in Sri Lanka must consider the context within which midwives assess and select their responses.

Tamed identities? Glimpsing her identity in Proverbs 10:1–22:16 and selected African proverbs

Notions about worthy womanhood are shaped to a large extent by the cultural contexts in which they are constructed. In the global village though, shaped as it is mainly by Eurocentric cultures, it would be presumptuous to assume that one can with certainty pinpoint what may be termed ‘purely traditional African notions of womanhood’. Also, it will be an exaggeration to argue that Africa does not have its own notions on ideal womanhood. Particularly in Christian African contexts, notions about womanhood are still shaped to a large extent by both the traditional African worldviews and the received biblical interpretations about womanhood. In the preceding scenario, one wonders if women’s identities reveal their real selves or whether they are tamed, and thus artificial. In one’s attempt to unravel notions of womanhood from both the corpus, Proverbs 10:1–22:16 and in the South African context (cf. selected African proverbs), this article has sought to answer the following main question: if images of women in selected African (Northern Sotho) proverbs (cf. also selected South African narratives) and in the book of Proverbs (cf. Pr 10:1–22:16) are brought together, what kind of picture may emerge from such a comparison?

Conclusions

This chapter summarizes the findings of the previous chapters, arguing that acknowledging the gender hierarchies and physiological constructions at the core of maternal imagery in the New Testament serves at least two purposes. First, it enables readers of the New Testament and early Christian literatures to understand better the imagery and theologies within these writings. Second, it exposes the fluidity and contested nature of gender constructions in developing Christianity, particularly in discussions of soteriology. Rather than consistently enforcing or prohibiting a maternal telos on women, these writings emphasize a need to be oriented toward life, the source and continuance of which is located in God alone. This reframing of ideal womanhood simultaneously reframes masculinity as well, even though it perpetuates the equation of perfection and masculinity. Noting the constructed nature of these gendered identities, however, can encourage contemporary readers to move beyond ancient gender hierarchies to better appreciate all life.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the topic of motherhood in the New Testament by exploring recent scholarly contributions and the growing interest in embodied aspects of theological constructions. This book builds on these earlier studies by examining the maternal language of the New Testament with a gender-critical lens aided by ancient medical and philosophical literatures, which offer distinct constructions of the female body. The chapter also traces the lingering association of ideal womanhood with motherhood that is at home in the ancient Mediterranean world that rests on constructions of perfection as masculinity. This collapsing of womanhood and motherhood persists in contemporary, western societies. These societies continue to figure motherhood as both a proper “choice” and an aspect of “personal fulfillment” for women. The chapter ends with a summary of the book’s argument and overview of the study.

Emily’s Maternal Ideal: Pregnancy, Birth, and Resistance at Kingston Penitentiary

The 1850s and 1860s saw the rise of a new women’s prison reform ideology that would shape the next half-century of women’s imprisonment. “Maternalism” was the promotion of femininity as the basis of reform and rehabilitation with accompanying notions of ideal womanhood and appropriate roles for imprisoned women and in the aftermath of a penitentiary sentence. This paper looks at literal motherhood in the penitentiary by examining the experiences of prisoner Emily Boyle. Boyle was pregnant during two separate terms at Kingston Penitentiary. During the first term in 1926, she was paroled so that she could return to Edmonton to give birth. During her second term in 1932, no mercy was extended in consideration of her pregnancy and Boyle began a battle with the Department of Justice over her right to keep her baby within the walls of Kingston Penitentiary. The warden recommended that Boyle be separated from her child and it be sent to the Home for Infants, in spite of the fact that the father was in Edmonton. Boyle resisted this decision, and in fact resisted all penitentiary involvement with her pregnancy and childbirth. She ultimately gave birth in the bathroom of the women’s ward with the assistance of two matrons. When the child was taken away from her, both Boyle and her husband fought the Department of Justice decision on the matter, rallying against the notion that their child was better served by the Children’s Aid Society. The paper examines multiple questions about motherhood and maternalism in the penitentiary’s first century. It argues that maternalism and motherhood were found at cross purposes when balanced with the demands of punishment. Emily Boyle found herself at this intersection, fighting to keep her child in an institution geared towards teaching her to become the ideal mother.

“Fat Woman in a Car”

“Fat lady in the theatre,” “Fat woman in car,” and “Mother of 9 children” are some of the roles attributed to Uma Devi Khatri, aka Tun Tun, in her Wikipedia filmography. Tun Tun, regularly typecast and often appearing for a few seconds without any narrative consequence, was a household name, yet her star persona has yet to garner much attention. This essay takes up this lack of attention, scholarly and archival, to speculate on a connection between Tun Tun's corporeal excess and the narrative inconsequentiality she was expected to occupy. Looking beyond her image as a superfluous comedienne, this essay investigates the narrative of Tun Tun as an ambiguous one that can be interpreted, in spite of its subversive potential, as reinforcing normative codes of ideal womanhood.