Women's Higher Education in Contemporary Kerala, India
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2004 To Stand on Their Own: Women’s Higher Education in Contemporary Kerala, India Alcira Forero-Pena Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1808 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] TO STAND ON THEIR OWN: WOMEN’S HIGHER EDUCATION IN CONTEMPORARY KERALA, INDIA BY ALCIRA FORERO-PENA A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3127867 Copyright 2004 by Forero-Pena, Alcira All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3127867 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 11 ©2004 ALCIRA FORERO-PENA All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. [signature] / Vi Date /p h m t of Examining Committee Ij[signature] Date Executive Officer Jane Schneider Shirley Lindenbaum Eva Friendlander Outside Reader Supervisory Committee The City University of New York Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. IV To the memory of my mother, Elvira, and to Cecilia, mi tia. In their belief that women must be educated and “cultivated", they always encouraged and supported me (though they never imagined this journey o f mine would take that long...) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT STANDING ON THEIR OWN: WOMEN’S HIGHER EDUCATION IN KERALA, INDIA by Alcira Forero-Peiaa Advisor: Professor Joan P. Mencher This is a study of the significance for women of college education as it occurs in colleges administered by Christian nuns in Kerala, India. Particularly, it looks at the paradoxical effects of the dramatic social changes Kerala underwent during the twentieth century that guaranteed, among other things, formal education, including post-secondary, to a large proportion of women. On the other hand, it shows not only the persistence of blatant social inequalities fed by class, caste, and gender distinctions but also the increase in inequality due to the forces of globalization. On close examination, there is little correlation between the vast numbers of educated women and those who possess personal autonomy along with meaningful employment. The interplay between gender constructions and the absence of symbolic, cultural, and financial capital can be seen as major factor in the processes leading to social reproduction through educational practices and institutions. The prestigious women’s colleges run by mms tend to reinforce the “traditional” roles of women as mothers and wives through enforced disciplinary measures that discourage independence and dissent. Therefore, access to formal education is not enough to guarantee gender or even social equality. As elsewhere, in Kerala the cultural and social capital available to most Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VI young women is unequally distributed. The rise of distorted interpretations of “dowry” contributes to downplaying women’s acquired formal education and the stress that the woman or her family has to undergo to arrange her marriage. All these phenomena, the dissertation shows, have their roots in historical developments related to the Indian colonial experience which resulted in the decline of social institutions such as matriliny that assured women’s property, high regard, and home regardless their civil status. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V ll Acknowledgements Dreams, needs, desires, pressures, projects, efforts, illusions (our own and others): all are part of the explicit or unspoken subtext of what we are, what we do, and what we would like to become. This dissertation is the result of all of these things. As a woman of Latin American origin, the research on women's education has impelled me to reflect on my own paths of intellectual and existential wandering. It has also involved emotional challenges, struggles, and discoveries, which in turn, are related to the specific ways gender and class are constructed and reconstructed in that part of the world where I come from. For me as a woman from the "South", the process of reflecting on women's education in India has unfolded as a mirror (not necessarily upside down) of Latin American societies. As a woman from the "South", a new immigrant in the US, a “Latina”, and a “woman of color”, the whole process of obtaining a doctorate in the US, has involved a constant struggle with identity, with new ways of being, feeling, thinking, and obviously, learning and un-leaming. I would like to thank all those who have made this part of the journey possible, and they are many. First and foremost, I am grateful to all the members of my committee. Shirley Lindembaum, with her proverbial charm and insight, offered stimulating conversations and thought-provoking questions about my assumptions regarding the universality of forms of female “autonomy” and knowledge. Joan Mencher, my adviser, on countless occasions, enriched my background, historically and otherwise, on Kerala and India and provided needed support in so many fronts and in so many ways. She has given me more than anthropology lessons; she has been a friend. Jane Schneider has been Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vm an invaluable source of inspiration, providing me with the initial crucial support at the Graduate School and through suggestions about methodology, conceptualization, and editing. And lastly, I am grateful to Eva Friedlander for reading this dissertation and making very constructive critiques. In the fall of 1998, coming back from Paris, feeling quite disconnected from the Anglo academic world, I had the chance to share with my friends and colleagues a stimulating exchange of ideas and constructive critiques under the invigorating coordination of Vincent Crapanzano. Thus, with Assel Sawala, Murphy Halliburton, Carmen Medeiros, Bea Vidacs, Jonathan Shannon, Gita Ranjbaran, Alfredo Gonzalez and Julia Butterfield the climate was created for collegial encouragement and motivation. For friendship, guidance, and support, I am grateful to Adriana Moreno, Lyda del Carmen Diaz, Dr. Patricia Tovar, Dr. Anthony Marcus, Lyria Santa, and Roman Santillan. I also would like to thank Ellen DeRiso and Janet Kaplan for all the needed support. In India, I must acknowledge the debt I acquired to the late Dr. T. N. Krishnan, my field supervisor, for his kindness and refined approach to my subject. Drs. Chandan Mukherjee, Michael Tharakan, Thomas Isaacs, Irudaya Raj an, and Leela Gulati, all fine scholars at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), in one way or another provided much needed guidance, information, and support. The staff at CDS was always helpful and sympathetic to my project. My friends in Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. Nata Duwury, Vanitha Nayak-Mukeheijee, Dr. Uma Nambiar, Phil Roy, Mme Srikumari, Sheela Velayudhan and her husband, and our next-door neighbors Amma and Accha, all opened windows into their hearts and onto the Malayali universe during my fieldwork and a few years earlier when I was a student at CDS. Also at CDS, and from 1989-1990,1 was the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. IX recipient of Dr. Gita Sen’s scholarly and friendly inspiration; this was crucial in my desire to continue my work on gender and on Kerala. To the those young college women who kindly answered my questions, volunteered opinions, and challenged my notions, thank you. Also, I would like to thank the Principals and faculty members of the colleges I visited. They showed their support of my project in the efforts they made to help me secure visits to their colleges, arrange interviews with the students, and through their sharing their own personal and professional views and experiences. To all the Malayalees who answered my questions, often with interest and sympathy, thank you and my best wishes for their wellbeing. From my years at El Colegio de Mexico, I will never forget Dr. Flora Bottom’s support and my friend Raul Vazquez de Lara. More recently, I have been blessed with the friendship and support of Dr. Maila Puolamaa, Kyss Jean-Mary, and Bill Heidbreder. Bill has graciously and professionally helped me with editing. To Deirdre Mahoney and Martha Rodriguez goes my gratitude for being there when I needed them. Both helped me with brainstorming, sharing fun, and editing. To Willie Neale and Heather Larson, I would like to thank them for their fnendship.