Sikh Women Research Articles

The Status and Role of Women in Sikh Religious Doctrine

This study explores the status and role of women within Sikh doctrine, aiming to contribute to and enrich academic discussions on the intersection of religious doctrine and gender studies. Using a qualitative approach that focuses on religion and gender, the research employs a library-based methodology, analyzing various sources and relevant prior studies. The findings demonstrate that women in Sikhism are granted equal status to men, rooted in the doctrine that emphasizes an intimate relationship between humans and the divine, where gender holds no significance in the connection to God. Moreover, the study delves into human relationships as shaped by behaviors, attitudes, and societal norms during the Sikh Gurus' era, illustrating the ideal dynamics between men and women. Despite Sikh teachings of equality, women in the Sikh community still face challenges in accessing leadership roles, as cultural and historical narratives often prioritize male dominance. The contributions of Sikh women have been historically marginalized, leaving subsequent generations with limited role models. This research offers both theoretical insights into Sikhism and gender and practical implications for encouraging the Sikh community, particularly men, to uphold Guru Nanak’s vision of gender equality.

Immersing into the lives of Punjabi women: Personal narratives on alcohol consumption

ABSTRACT Historically, alcohol has been seen as a male-dominated activity, leading to societal expectations for women to avoid excessive drinking due to their role in reproduction. This creates a repressive double standard, controlled through societal norms and family influence. Focusing on Punjabi Sikh women in Malaysia, this study is vital as it uncovers their experiences with alcohol, filling a gap in research on ethnic minority women. Through interviews, it explores diverse interpretations of religious and cultural norms, indicating that many women feel a sense of freedom and exhibit no reservations in their alcohol consumption, challenging conventional expectations.

Understanding Indo-Canadian Sikh Women’s Challenges after Covid-19

Abstract This paper focuses on Indo-Canadian Sikh women’s issues after Covid-19 and their challenges of diasporic consciousness. It is based on a study conducted with face-to-face interviews in Victoria, Canada, to assess these women’s post-Covid-19 challenges in healthcare and employment and their diasporic dual identity crisis. The research addressed questions like: What are the challenges of Indo-Canadian Sikh women in Canada after Covid-19 and the impact of current political affairs? What are women’s integration challenges (perhaps insecurity, discrimination, etc.)? This research is significant for understanding the difficulties of Indo-Canadian Sikh women as a vulnerable group in terms of diasporic dual consciousness, racial discrimination and post-Covid experiences. Discussions on identity incorporate a diasporic theoretical understanding of the dual identity crisis and elaborate on Canadian multicultural policy from a political perspective.

Unleashing the power of the youth: A sparkling new era of Sikh activism

ABSTRACT This article discusses the emerging trend of Sikh women in leadership roles who are making significant contributions to build a more inclusive and equitable Sikh community outside of traditional male-dominated religious institutions. Organizations like Umeed-Hope Inc are helping to shift cultural norms and expectations around gender roles by carving out new spaces. The herein publication offers insight into the experiences of Sikh women historically and in these new spaces, the threats they face as they continue to push for equality and empowerment, and the importance of providing platforms for marginalized groups to advocate for themselves.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Knowledge among Followers of Various Religions in India

Abstract Introduction: Effective educational interventions to knowledge, attitude, and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) may limit the spread of the disease. However, the relevance of HIV knowledge to followers of religions is unknown. We assessed the 2015–2016 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from India to investigate the levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists in relation to standard sociodemographic variables in India. Methods: We used the individual and household level data from the internationally and temporally harmonized cross-sectional DHS. These data were representative of the national population and were collected from January 2015 to December 2016. Results: The age range of the population was 15–54 years (n = 224,531). We found the highest level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Sikh men (than the followers of other religions (80.4%–92.7%). Conversely, Muslims and Hindus were least knowledgeable of HIV/AIDS (80.4% and 81.2%). Younger participants (82.5%), residents of urban areas (90.6%), more educated (98.6%), never married (84.9%), wealthier (95.5%), and having more access to mass media (90.4%–96.7%) were more aware of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge. Among various religions, Sikhs were more educated (16.1% with higher education), wealthier (59.5% in the top quintile), with higher exposure to communication means than Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. Conclusion: We report that Sikh men are most knowledgeable of HIV compared to Sikh women and followers of other religions. Our findings may help formulate public health strategies targeting various religious groups to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS.

Traces of Phallocentrism, Trauma and Holocaust Imagery in What the Body Remembers and Ice Candy Man

Apart from wars, the Partition of India and Pakistan was one of the most horrific events in human history. Massacres, rapes, and sexual torture were used to promote racial hate, and women suffered a great deal more than males. Many people lost their lives, their homes, and even their identities. Therefore, this essay explores how the horrific Partition era affected the lives of women by turning them into silent victims of phallocentric or male supremacy through the Partition novels from which Shauna Singh Baldwin's What the Body Remembers and Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice Candy Man have been taken. Women were kidnapped, raped, forced into prostitution, and died during Partition. In the Rawalpindi area, where Muslim mobs preyed on women, systematic violence against women first appeared in March 1947. Before further attacks, many Sikh women committed suicide by jumping into water wells to save honour and avoid conversion. Due to phallocentric society's rules, the time of Partition was a traumatic experience for women on physical, emotional, political, social, and sexual levels. These female writers wrote about these experiences through a female perspective, which demonstrated resistance and retaliation against phallocentrism or the male point of view. Because of this, the present dissertation will add new aspects to the established canon of women, trauma, and phallocentrism.

Stoicism: Portrayal of Women in Khamosh Pani, Pinjar and Eho Hamara Jeevna

Women bodies are the victim of sheer oppression and violence due to their vulnerable status since time immemorial. Instances of rape, murder, abduction, honour killing, and domestic violence are quite common in the case of women even in the contemporary world. They were the principal victims of the communal violence at the time of partition as well. They were murdered and humiliated before their loved ones; abducted and forcefully married after conversion or even sold out like inanimate entities. To avert the worst, copious of them committed suicide or others were killed by their family members for the sake of honour. The plight of these misfortunate women has been depicted by many writers very often through their works and even by cinema industries. The present paper tries to explore the fate of these wretched women which have been depicted on the silver screen in Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters), Pinjar (The Skeleton) and Eho Hamara Jeevna (Such is Her Fate). Women characters in these movies are trapped in a quagmire of hideous social evils, inflicted upon them by society, which has left them with nothing but trauma, violence, suffering, identity crises, atrocities and so on. All these women are Sikh women, who are swirling in the gyre of ‘in-betweenness’ due to their past traumas and the kind of life they are living right now. Keeping aside their emotions, these women do not lose their self-control and always try to strike a balance to live a harmonious life even after such atrocities. Their stoic personalities have encouraged them to undergo the sufferings inflicted upon them but their soul is completely torn due to these inhuman atrocities.

Voice against Instrumentalization of Shame in Sanghera’s Daughters of Shame: A Feminist Perspective

The primary aim of this research is to explore how the female protagonists of the novel, Daughters of Shame by Jasvinder Sanghera resist the patriarchal trend of instrumentalizing women as shameful creatures, marginalizing women and how they struggle to establish their identity. Through the close reading of the text from the perspectives of Materialist feminism, the paper focuses on how the major women characters, along with the writer herself, like Shazia, Fozia Maya, Shabana and Yasmin help each other by giving psychological and physical support to fight against exploitation by men. These characters represent the dominated Pakistani Muslim and Sikh women in the modern city in Derby in particular and the Sikh and Muslim communities in general. The memoir has presented women as the object to be used for convenience, the satisfaction of men, and as unpaid domestic laborers. The chief finding is that the memoir depicts the social reality of how Muslim and Sikh women living in Western countries are compelled to tolerate domestic violence, honor-based crimes, and forceful marriage. It is expected that the article will encourage other researchers to apply materialist feminism in other fictions.

Sikh women’s internet sites: development, content, mission

ABSTRACT Sikhs have had a significant presence on the Internet since the 1990s. For the most part, early web sites were clearly gendered, highlighting male-focused history, identity, and concerns, with some sites including a ‘women’s section’. Sikh women’s specific sites were few. The scenario has changed considerably with a number of new sites developed by and for women. “Kaur Life”, “Kaurista”, the “Kaur Project”, and the “Sikh Feminist Research Institute” reflect the needs, practices, and concerns of a new generation of engaged, reflective, and activist Sikh women, here identified as “i-Kaurs”. I explore the development of Sikh women’s sites, examining changes in content, presentation, and mission between the earlier and later online milieu. To what extent do Sikh women’s sites offer opportunities to network, to provide safe spaces for women to exchange ideas and commentary? How do these online spaces intersect with offline Sikh religious environments? To what extent do these sites engage and reflect wider women’s concerns?

Sikh women diaspora in the United Kingdom: redefining identity and empowerment

ABSTRACT This article explores multiple ways in which gender is interpreted and expressed within the field of diaspora. It highlights the dearth of writings on Sikh women within the diaspora and their role being limited to preserving the culture and identity. It examines Sikh women's lives through two key variables- identity and empowerment. These variables are analysed through different perspectives that play a crucial role in the lives of diasporic women with an intention to provide an overview of the changes in the lives of Sikh women through different generations and calls for challenging the existing positioning of women within it.

Intersections of gender, ethnicity and age: exploring the invisibility of older Punjabi women

ABSTRACT Older Punjabi Sikh women are central to their families and communities, but their own needs are often overlooked. Probing the intersections of gender, ethnicity and age and interlocking experiences of sexism, racism and ageism within and beyond their own communities can deepen our understanding of why this happens and what we can do about it. Vertical hierarchies of women that develop in response to male domination, the gendered nature of women’s work and leisure activities, migration patterns that result in generational role reversals, unmet childcare needs, and sponsorship policies that engender dependency and promote isolation of older adults all play a role. These disparate threads are integrated through application of the intersectional life course lens, which recognises the importance of structural influences and oppressions on life course transitions over time and space.

Women’s ‘Retrieval’ from Pakistan: ‘India’s Daughters’ and the Emotional History of Partition

The Partition of 1947 remains an important reference point for Hindu nationalist political discourse in India, defining its relationship with Pakistan and Muslims in South Asia. This article investigates the use of the label ‘India’s daughters’ by the BJP-led NDA government (2014–15), a term originally used to describe Hindu and Sikh women retrieved from Pakistan in 1947. It offers an example of the emotional power wielded by Partition metaphors and demonstrates the BJP’s attempts to insert itself into the emotional history of Partition by transforming the meanings of its terms. The case of Uzma Ahmad’s retrieval from Pakistan acts as a case in point, illustrating the BJP’s increasing attempts to harness Partition semantics.

The Sikh Gender Construction and Use of Agency in Spain: Negotiations and Identity (Re)Constructions in the Diaspora

For decades, Sikhs have made the choice to migrate to the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), or Canada, as these countries are held in high esteem by Sikh communities and appear to afford prestige in socio-cultural terms to those who settle in them. However, changes in border policies (among other considerations such as the greater difficulty of establishing themselves in other countries, the opening of borders by regularization processes in Spain, commercial business purposes, or political reasons) have compelled Sikh migrants to diversify their destinations, which now include many European countries, Spain among them. The first generation of Sikhs arrived in Spain as part of this search for new migratory routes, and there are now sizable Sikh communities settled in different parts of this country. All migrants need to follow a process of adaptation to their new living environment. Moreover, a novel living context may offer new possibilities for migrants to (re)negotiate old identities and create new ones, both at individual and collective levels. This article will explore a case study of a Sikh community in Barcelona to reflect on the forms in which Sikh men and women perceive, question, and manage their identity and their lives in this new migratory context in Spain. The present paper argues that adaptation to the new place implies identity negotiations that include the redefinition of gender roles, changes in the management of body and appearance, and, most particularly, the emergence of new forms of agency among young Sikh women. In addition, we argue that new forms of female agency are made possible not only by the opportunities offered by the new context, but also emerge as a reaction against the many pressures experienced by the young women and exerted by their male counterparts in Sikh communities, as the latter push against the loss of traditional values.

Disruptive Garb: Gender Production and Millennial Sikh Fashion Enterprises in Canada

Several North American Sikh millennials are creating online values-based fashion enterprises that seek to encourage creative expression, self-determined representation, gender equality, and ethical purchasing, while steeped in the free market economy. Exploring the innovative ways young Sikhs of the diaspora express their values and moral positions in the socio-economic sphere, one finds many fashionistas, artists, and activists who are committed to making Sikh dress accessible and acceptable in the fashion industry. Referred to as “Sikh chic”, the five outwards signs of the Khalsa Sikh—the “5 ks”—are frequently used as central motifs for these businesses (Reddy 2016). At the same time, many young Sikh fashion entrepreneurs are designing these items referencing contemporary style and social trends, from zero-waste bamboo kangas to hipster stylized turbans. Young Sikh women are challenging mainstream representations of a masculine Sikh identity by creating designs dedicated to celebrating Khalsa Sikh females. Drawing on data collected through digital and in-person ethnographic research including one-on-one interviews, participant observation, and social media, as well as fashion magazines and newsprint, I explore the complexities of this phenomenon as demonstrated by two Canadian-based Sikh fashion brands, Kundan Paaras and TrendySingh, and one Canadian-based Sikh female artist, Jasmin Kaur.

Negotiating Ambivalent Gender Spaces for Collective and Individual Empowerment: Sikh Women’s Life Writing in the Diaspora

In order to examine gender and identity within Sikh literature and culture and to understand the construction of gender and the practice of Sikhi within the contemporary Sikh diaspora in the US, I analyze a selection from creative non-fiction pieces, variously termed essays, personal narrative, or life writing, in Meeta Kaur’s edited collection, Her Name is Kaur: Sikh American Women Write About Love, Courage, and Faith. Gender, understood as a social construct (Butler, among others), is almost always inconsistent and is related to religion, which, too, is a construct and is also almost always inconsistent in many ways. Therefore, my reading critically engages with the following questions regarding life writing through a postcolonial feminist and intersectional lens: What are lived religions and how are the practices, narratives, activities and performances of ‘being’ Sikh imagined differently in the diaspora as represent in my chosen essays? What are some of the tenets of Sikhism, viewed predominantly as patriarchal within dominant cultural spaces, and how do women resist or appropriate some of them to reconstruct their own ideas of being a Sikh? In Kaur’s collection of essays, there are elements of traditional autobiography, such as the construction of the individual self, along with the formation of communal identity, in the postcolonial life writing. I will critique four narrative in Kaur’s anthology as testimonies to bear witness and to uncover Sikh women’s hybrid cultural and religious practices as reimagined and practiced by the female Sikh writers.

Sundri, then and now

ABSTRACTThis paper examines Bhai Vir Singh's novella, Sundri (1898) from the context of the Singh Sabha reform movement (1880–1920). Sundri, Vir Singh's fictional heroine, became an important and idealized site of female identity construction during this time. Bhai Vir Singh's Sundri will be juxtaposed with a pixelated version, a recent animated film by the same name. Similar to the novella, the animated Sundri too can be understood as a highly particularized, contemporary construct of Sikh women's identity, created, more than a century later, but similarly, during a period of intense scrutiny of Sikh women's religious identity.

‘Woman Seems to Be Given Her Proper Place’: Western Women’s Encounter with Sikh Women 1809–2012

Over a period of two centuries, western women—travellers, army wives, administrators’ wives, missionaries, teachers, artists and novelists—have been portraying their Sikh counterparts. Commentary by over eighty European and north American ‘lay’ women on Sikh religion and society complements—and in most cases predates—publications on Sikhs by twentieth and twenty-first century academics, but this literature has not been discussed in the field of Sikh studies. This article looks at the women’s ‘wide spectrum of gazes’ encompassing Sikh women’s appearance, their status and, in a few cases, their character, and including their reactions to the ‘social evils’ of suttee and female infanticide. Key questions are, firstly, whether race outweighs gender in the western women’s account of their Sikh counterparts and, secondly, whether 1947 is a pivotal date in their changing attitudes. The women’s words illustrate their curious gaze as well as their varying judgements on the status of Sikh women and some women’s exercise of sympathetic imagination. They characterise Sikh women as, variously, helpless, deferential, courageous, resourceful and adaptive, as well as (in one case) ‘ambitious’ and ‘unprincipled’. Their commentary entails both implicit and explicit comparisons. In their range of social relationships with Sikh women, it appears that social class, Christian commitment, political stance and national origin tend to outweigh gender. At the same time, however, it is women’s gender that allows access to Sikh women and makes befriending—and ultimately friendship—possible.

‘He enjoyed it more than I did’!: young British Sikh women negotiating safe sex in heterosexual encounters

ABSTRACT Sex education and relationship strategy of the U.K. allows parents to withdraw their children from sex education, which has left many young people especially those from Black Minority and Ethnic communities with low or no sex education. Similarly, the government's policy environment enables faith schools to teach these subjects under the tenets of their faith. This empirical research was carried out in South-West London using 12 qualitative interviews with women and men (ages 18–20 years) discusses young women's experiences of their first sexual encounter who navigate their reputations, relationships as well as negotiate safe sex in the absence of appropriate relationships and sex education. Sex education not only brings into focus sensitivities around gender but also tensions around religion in the U.K. Evidence from the study suggests that despite the importance placed by the Indian community on maintaining virginity, young women asserted that religion and culture did not prohibit them from exploring their sexuality. In this study, the priority is to present young women's voices and experience of sexual encounters.

A Gap Exposed: What Is Known About Sikh Victims of Domestic Violence Abuse (DVA) and Their Mental Health?

There is emerging evidence that Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) has the potential to pose a real threat to the Sikh community as it seeks to ensure that gender equality is embraced within its religious practice. Nevertheless, the interface of domestic abuse and the distress it causes to Sikh female victims in relation to their mental health is barely explored within UK academic literature. From the existing literature on DVA and South Asian women, what we do know is that there may be a denial of the issue within communities due to shame and family exposure. We are aware of the high rates of suicide and self-harm that is prevalent within the South Asian culture, something often attributed to inter-familiar conflict. The pioneering community-led British Sikh Report or BSR (British Sikh Report 2017) surveyed 2000 Sikhs and found that seventy-two percent of Sikh-identifying males and females considered that violence and sexism affected British Sikh women’s lives. Notably, the type of violence was not particularised enough to be able to gain a full understanding and extent of the issue. A further eighty-three percent of male and female participants felt that women should be provided mental health support in Gurdwaras (temples). This grassroot report has been presented to Parliament and was pioneered by local MP’s and is clearly topical in terms of study.To date, we are aware of no UK-based academic study that focuses on the experiences of Sikh victims of abuse. This paper aims to extrapolate key generic studies on domestic abuse in the South Asian culture, in order to help formulate an initial understanding of issues involving domestic violence and mental health as it impacts Sikh women in Britain. Further recommendations for research within this community are presented.

Sikh Women Diaspora in Malaysia: The Reality of their Role and Status in the Religious Domain

This article aims to examine how the Sikh women diaspora from two generations exercised their rights within the religious domain in Malaysia. Sikhism has a unique world view of gender ideology; from a gender perspective, God is symbolically described as a husband to all of humanity, whereby all humans, irrespective of gender, are perceived as having the status of wives to God. Since the Sikh religion focuses on the concept of the spirit rather than the physical body; therefore, the position of God and mankind should be cognized from the viewpoint of transformation of spirit. Most significantly, every human being, be they male or female, is held in equal importance, with each individual being conferred the same position, status, rights and opportunity to live this life as God has ordained. In fact, tenets of life that define practices as being praiseworthy, or to be avoided, are not gender specific. This makes the philosophy of gender equality of the Sikh religion particularly interesting and worthy of academic scrutiny. To what extent is it true that women have equal status with men? The authors discovered that patriarchal cultural practices have clearly dominated Sikh women’s views about their roles in daily life, as well as in the perception of their own status. This article concludes with specific recommendations to uplift and strengthen gender equality among the Sikh community in the religious domain.