Searching for Her Space: The Story of a Thappad

Interestingly, while her father categorically states that she need not justify her decision to stay at her own home, her mother (herself a product of society’s indoctrination vis-à-vis women’s role in marriage) reminds Amrita that as a married woman, the parents’ home is no longer hers and she must...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic and political weekly 2020-07
Main Authors: Mishra, Sujit Kumar, Vinayan, Soumya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Divorce
Domestic violence
Emotional abuse
Marriage
Society
Women
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Summary:Interestingly, while her father categorically states that she need not justify her decision to stay at her own home, her mother (herself a product of society’s indoctrination vis-à-vis women’s role in marriage) reminds Amrita that as a married woman, the parents’ home is no longer hers and she must go back to “her” home, reflecting the suffocating nature of the institution of marriage in a patriarchal society. Sulakshana, Amrita’s mother-in-law, who lives estranged from her husband; Sandhya, Amrita’s happily married mother, who gave up singing because her mother taught her that her primary responsibility was to focus on the family; and Sunita, Amrita’s househelp, who suffers verbal and physical abuse from her husband on a daily basis. [...]there are strong women like Amrita’s divorce lawyer Netra, an extremely successful advocate, carrying on the legacy of her father-in-law (a fact her famous and successful journalist husband mentions frequently, the outcome of which is a subtle form of emotional abuse on a daily level).
ISSN:0012-9976