Indian and Sri Lankan Hindu Gender Expectations

Abstract

This chapter recalls some of the historical gender expectations for Hindu women in India and Sri Lanka. This chapter considers the notion that selfhood within the Hindu social structure is often understood in “relational” terms, rather than in terms of individualism. This chapter illustrates the ways in which women’s participation and leadership roles are affirmed through modalities of performance which carry important responsibilities both ritual and administrative, public and domestic. In this chapter, we see some of the ways in which women’s leadership in the temple casts women as individuals, working together in mutual support of one another, family and community.