“Dear Dr. Kothari …”: Sexuality, violence against women, and the parallel public sphere in India

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 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]