WOMEN’S EDUCATION DEBATES IN KERALA: FASHIONING STHREEDHARMAM Ph.D. Thesis submitted to MANIPAL UNIVERSITY by TEENA ANTONY CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY (Affiliated to Manipal University) BANGALORE - 560004 March 2013 Bangalore 1 March 2013 Declaration I, Teena Antony, do hereby declare that this thesis entitled Women’s Education Debates in Kerala: Fashioning Sthreedharmam contains original research work done by me in fulfillment of the requirements for my Ph.D. Degree in Cultural Studies from the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society and that this report has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree or diploma in this or any other institution. This work has not been sent anywhere for publication or presentation purpose. Teena Antony ii Bangalore 1 March 2013 Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (Affiliated to Manipal University) 'Pramoda', Flat No-302, 70/1, Surveyor Street, Basavanagudi, Bangalore-560 004 Certificate Certified that this thesis entitled Women’s Education Debates in Kerala: Fashioning Sthreedharmam is a record of bonafide study and research carried out by Ms. Teena Antony under my supervision and guidance. The report has not been submitted by her for any award of degree or diploma in this or in any other university. Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana (Supervisor) Dr. Rochelle Pinto (Member, Ph.D Committee) Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Director) iii CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1 Introduction to the field .................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 Malayalam magazines and the re-fashioning of sthreedharmam .................... 22 CHAPTER 3 Ideas and practices in formal education ........................................................... 93 CHAPTER 4 Malayali women: imagined and real ............................................................. 181 CHAPTER 5 From the past to the present ........................................................................... 248 APPENDIX I ................................................................................................ 272 APPENDIX II ............................................................................................... 275 APPENDIX III .............................................................................................. 278 REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 282 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Pictures from the December (1-14), 2007 issue of Vanitha (FIGURES 1, 2, 3, & 4) ..................................................................249 Picture from the August (15-31), 2008 issue of Vanitha (FIGURE 5) ....................................................................................249 “Ayurveda” (From Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala) (FIGURE 6) .......................................................... 249 Pictures from the August (15-31), 2008 issue of Vanitha (FIGURES 7 & 8) ......................................................................... 249 “125th Diocesan Jubilee Cross Welcoming Programme” (From www.churchnewssite.com) (FIGURE 9) ..........................................250 “The Temple Procession: Kanhangad, Kerala” (From http://www.flickr.com/photos/46721134@N04/5640158602) (FIGURE 10) .................................................................................................250 “Polling Gets Underway for by-Election in Kerala” (From http://sevensisterspost.com/) (FIGURE 11) .................................................250 Picture of a Syrian Catholic woman in her 90s (Personal collection) (FIGURE 12) .............................................................280 “Syrian Christian girls in Malabar” taken around 1912 (From the online archives of the Basel mission) (FIGURE 13) ..................280 "Muslims women (Maplas) in Malabar" taken either in 1901 or 1912 (From the online archives of Basel mission) (FIGURE 14) .................................................................................................280 v “Malabar family” taken around 1926 (From the online archives of the Basel mission) (FIGURE 15) ..............................................280 "Brahmin family in Malabar" taken around 1902 (From the online archives of the Basel mission) (FIGURE 16) ...................................280 Cover page of Vanitha Kusumam (1928) showing the writer, politician and activist Muthulakshmi Reddy (FIGURE 17) .............281 Cover page of Bashaposhini (1932) (FIGURE 18) .....................................281 “Nayer girls from Malabar” taken around 1914 (From the online archives of Basel mission) (FIGURE 19) .........................................281 Cover page of Indulekha published by Oxford Paperbacks Publishing (FIGURE 20) .............................................................................281 Picture from Vanitha Kusumam (1927) titled “English Dance” (FIGURE 21) ...................................................................281 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a large number of people I am grateful to for helping me with the writing and completion of this work. I thank my supervisor, Tejaswini Niranjana, without whom my thesis would not have taken off or taken the direction it did. Thank you for giving me free rein in choosing a topic close to my heart and giving me critical guidance at junctures when I did not know how to proceed. I need to thank J. Devika who has had a formative influence on my work in various ways: for directing me to the rich archives and for valuable suggestions as to what needed to be done to take forward my interest in the field of women’s studies in Kerala. I am indebted to CSCS faculty, especially Mrinalini Sebastian and Rochelle Pinto, for their critical comments that helped me at the initial stages of writing this thesis. I would not have been able to reach this juncture without the intellectually stimulating atmosphere provided by the various talks, courses, WIPs, conferences and seminars; the new ways of seeing, reading and analysing texts/movies/law/history taught by S.V. Srinivas, Sitharamam Kakarala, and Ashish Rajadhyaksha. I am grateful to Prof. P. Madhavan, Prof. Venugopala Panikkar, Dr. Stany Thomas, Dr. T.K. Anandi, Mr. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Susan John for their help at various stages of this work. vii I also need to thank Maheshwari, Pushpa and the other librarians of CSCS. I need to thank in particular Nagaraj, Padma, Nagesh and Bharati for taking care of my various requests on time with perpetual smiles, and Sheetal for reminding me that I must finish on time. I am grateful to the Librarians and staff of Appan Thampuran Memorial Library, Ulloor Smaraka Grandhashala, Sree Chithira Tirunal Grandhashala, St. Joseph’s Monastery library, Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Orthodox Theological Seminary and Collins Memorial library. I am indebted to Philip for making it possible for me to access materials bypassing official red tape. Shirley aunty and Jose uncle, Santha aunty and Jose uncle, Santha aunty and Ousepachan uncle, Bobby chetan, Joe chetan, Mattachan chetan, Neena chechi and Tom chetan and Daisy aunty - thank you for food, time, advice, help and support. Jose Uncle and Jyothi, thank you for last minute editing. I thank Asha, for being the best mentor ever … Dunkin, Sahana, Bitasta, Sushmita, Sushumna, for friendship, laughter, fun, critical guidance… Ashwin, Ratheesh, Radhika, Rajeev, Sujith, Sashikala, Kanti, Nitya, Elizabeth, Sneha, especially Maithreyi, for reading my chapters at various stages and suggestions… viii Meera and Ambika for getting the details of the various contacts and for other help … Girija chechi for boosting my flagging self-confidence… Arya, Roopa, Anila – thank you for helping with the editing and for being there. This work would have stopped half way through if I had not had non- academic help from the following people – Chachan and Amma by supporting me in various ways, Anu and Manu by turning a blind eye to my idiosyncrasies, Titta by carting around books/materials at the drop of a hat, Joe, Rajani, Rochas, Anil and Bini by their concern and love, Chechi and Chitra by making sure I could concentrate on my work, Lisa Chechi and Makothakat achan by directing me to the wonderful world of English Literature, Ashok and Jose by being there for me and reminding me constantly that there is more to life than deadlines, To Daddy for wanting me to make something of my life, And Amma for pushing me, believing in me and taking pains to ensure that I had help at critical junctures in my life. ix CHAPTER 1: Introduction to the field In 2003, I was teaching in a small town in Kerala. In a casual conversation one of my students mentioned a wedding she had attended in her village. The bride was from a town a few hours from her place. A girl who had come with the bridal party was wearing a short kurta (a kameez which stops slightly above the knee), which became an object of curiosity to the villagers. Extremely shook up by the girl's outfit, my student's brother later confided in her that he had felt like tearing it off her. After my initial shock at what I read as an over the top reaction to a dress worn by young Malayali women, I was intrigued: why is it that a 20 year old man, with secondary school education and access to television and print media, and not part of any political/religious group