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“Dear Dr. Kothari …”: Sexuality, violence against women, and the parallel public sphere in India
Author(s) -
DEWEY SUSAN
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1425.2008.01104.x
Subject(s) - human sexuality , public sphere , gender studies , sociology , domestic violence , phenomenon , sexual violence , criminology , political science , law , poison control , suicide prevention , epistemology , medicine , politics , philosophy , environmental health
In India, cultural prohibitions on discussions about sexuality and violence against women have resulted in a parallel public sphere in which individuals make use of popular culture to resolve private dilemmas. In this article, I examine how female discourse regarding two highly publicized cases of violence against women in Mumbai employed the parallel public sphere, a cultural phenomenon that allows individual normalcy to be gauged as part of a broader process by which the silenced learn to use their voices only at certain times and in certain ways. [ South Asia, sexuality, Mumbai, popular culture, Habermas, violence against women ]