Gendering of Public and Private Selves in Colonial Times

Abstract

The chapter looks at various modern cultural, material, and political sites where masculine and feminine identities as well as gender relationships came to be reconfigured in colonial times. It shows how such reconfigurations depended to a large degree upon Indian initiatives and understandings, although these in turn operated within the constraints and possibilities opened up by colonial rule. Colonialism produced a range of legal and social reforms, introduced new labour regimes, encouraged educational challenges, and triggered political mobilization amongst various communities.