Sita's Daughters: Coming Out of Purdah: The Rajput Women of Khalapur Revisited

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Leigh Minturn (Professor, Department of Psychology, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado) Swaran Kapoor

Sita's Daughters

Coming Out of Purdah: The Rajput Women of Khalapur Revisited

Leigh Minturn (Professor, Department of Psychology, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado), Swaran Kapoor

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
01 February 1993

Gender studies: women; Sociology: birth; Social, group or collective psychology

Sita's Daughters vividly recounts the dramatic changes in role and status experienced by Rajput caste women in the Indian village Khalapur between 1955 and 1975.

In the 20 years between her now-classic original field study and her follow-up with the same families, Leigh Minturn witnessed a significant decline in the women's observance of a complex system of customs collectively called purdah, which includes the wearing of veils, silence in the presence of senior men and women, the adoption of subservient postures when speaking to men, and the separation of husbands and wives. Her interviews with mothers- and daughters-in-law reveal how changes in purdah customs and religious traditions have allowed them increased access to education and health facilities, control of finances, and autonomy inside and mobility outside of their husbands' households. This work is unprecedented in its depth, scope, and exposition of the intimate details of the lives of Indian women.

Minturn's return to her original subjects allowed her to observe firsthand the changes that had transpired during the interim, resulting in the only Indian village field study to span two generations.

Having won the trust and confidence of her subjects, the author poignantly conveys their individuality, along with their stories of heroism, loyalty, infidelity, rape, incest, theft, and even murder. With even-handedness and detailed scholarship, Minturn makes use of methods such as systematic sampling and structured interviewing that are effective in capturing the richness of Indian village life, though they are uncommon in anthropological studies.

The wide range of issues addressed here will be of interest to students and researchers in women's studies, South Asian studies, anthropology, and cross-cultural psychology, as well as to interested laypersons.

By: Leigh Minturn (Professor Department of Psychology Professor Department of Psychology University of Colorado Boulder Colorado)
Associate editor: Swaran Kapoor
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 550g
ISBN: 9780195080353
ISBN 10: 0195080351
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 01 February 1993
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Leigh Minturn is a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is co-author of two other books: Mothers of Six Cultures: Antecedents of Child Rearing (with W.W. Lambert, 1964) and The Rajputs of Khalapur, India (with J.T. Hitchcock, 1966).

Reviews for Sita's Daughters: Coming Out of Purdah: The Rajput Women of Khalapur Revisited

`an admirable study of the effect of time and economic progress on some of India's most traditionally backward women ... What makes Sita's daughters such an excellent and fascinating book are the anthropological descriptions of life then and now; descriptions free from the jargon so dear to American scholars, Under Dr Minturn's pen, the Rejputs of Khalapur come to life' Asian Affairs