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GLISP: Fall
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March 4, 2011
Fall
08
Introduction
project on something concerning women and children’s rights while I spent a year in New
Delhi, she told me, “Alright. That’s great. Now go away and come back with something a
little more specific next time I see you.” Well, she did not say that exactly; she put it in a
much gentler and understanding way. However, that was, in essence, what she said. So, I
began to think about what particularly stirred my passion concerning women and children’s
rights. Then I considered a presentation I saw in high school on human trafficking. I must
admit that it was a sort of last-ditch effort to come up with a noteworthy research topic.
When I took a seminar in spring semester 2010, though, which focused upon the international
sex trade (GNSS1960H: Theorizing the Global Sex Trade) I felt a reaction within my blood
that confirmed that this was indeed a subject that I could not only complete with academic
prostitutes and their children. When I put this idea before my advisor, she told me that first I
need to understand how they (the women) got to where they are. So, I set out with the
ambition of understanding the social space of women in India, that is, their gender role in
order to therefore understand how the prostitute is viewed by Indian society (as women)
before they enter prostitution, how her line of work is viewed, and how they are viewed as
being a part of the trade. In short, this paper will cover my research on the social stigma
attached to prostitutes as understood within the context of ideal Indian womanhood and the
social attitude towards the relationship between Indian women and sex.
with a group of Christian individuals and NGOs that meet to discuss various issues of sex
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trafficking, rescue of victims, rehabilitation, and reintegration. This group (which I will refer
to as the Body from now on) includes Indians and expatriates from all over India, most of
them are working within the state of Delhi. The Body has provided me with literature
concerning and insight into the social standing of women in India, the social views on women
and sex and the social stigma of prostitutes. I have chosen the Body from which to glean
information for a variety of reasons: most importantly, they are indispensible to my core
research, which focuses upon how Protestant Christian organizations help rehabilitate and
reintegrate former prostitutes; there are individuals and organizations in the Body that have
lived and worked in India for several years gathering information on such topics as women’s
gender roles, sex and Indian society, and the Indian sex trade; people in the Body are able to
enter into places and speak to people that I as a student, a foreigner, and a single women
cannot (and often, for safety’s sake, should not) come in contact with; the Body is willing to
speak to me about matters that are generally viewed as unseemly (especially for a young
woman) to discuss, namely sex and prostitution; and finally, but not least of all, the Body is a
group of individuals that I have found I can trust with my safety while I research this topic
that can be quite dangerous for a young woman to study, let alone one who is alone in a
foreign country.
An important note on the term prostitute, before I continue: Whenever I use the term
extends to male adults and children as well as intersex individuals. However, as the Body
generally is in contact with female prostitutes, my research will also focus upon this group.
The data collected for this portion of my research is from literature on prostitution and
women’s gender role in India. My choice is guided primarily by discussions I have had with
and have heard within the Body. I begin with the construction of the Indian woman through a
quick study of Sita, a primary character in the Hindu epic Ramayana who I suggest embodies
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the Indian ideal of womanhood. I then move on to discuss the Indian social view of the
acceptable relation between women and sex. From there, I use the ideal womanhood
construction and the woman-sex relationship to create an understanding of the social stigma
It is important to state a few disclaimers before I herein present what I have deduced
to be the ideal type of the Indian woman. The aim of my analysis is not meant to make
valuations of the ideals I have perceived from my collected data. To make valuations of the
ideal would be presumptuous of me for several reasons. Not only am I just at the beginning
of understanding how to look below the surface of social relationships in order to consider
linkages that are not readily apparent – as is the task of the social scientist – but I am also a
novice in the study of Indian social structures. I have drawn from the more experienced
scholars of Indian culture so that their knowledge may bolster my ignorance. Making
valuations would also be presumptuous on my part as I am not Indian and thus lack the
insight into certain social exchanges, which either I cannot perceive or are purposely hidden
With the above disclaimers in mind, clarification of the term ideal is in order. When
first I set out to define the social space of Indian women I experienced difficulty in making a
description broad enough to span the urban and the rural, the north and the south. There are
currently 28 states in India with 122 languages spread throughout the nation (this does not
include dialects) (The Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India 2001)
and over 2000 ethnic people groups (that is, “a significantly large sociological grouping of
individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another”) (Joshua
Project n.d.). It is difficult to define a woman’s social space, that is the role which a woman
assumes within a given society that the society recognizes as pleasing through the acceptance,
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that is, the integration, of the woman into the social network, when the woman one sets out to
cultural backgrounds. This woman is supposed to represent the ideal. To use the word ideal
is not to say that I believe she – this ideal – is the woman that all Indian women should aspire
to be. It is to say that she is the woman whose conduct would be deemed acceptable amongst
How does one pinpoint the ideal within such a complex country as India? As there
are multiple factors that through comparison can be utilized in the formulation of the ideal, it
is imperative to focus. I have chosen religion as it has some of the greatest influence on
shaping the behavioral patterns and social relations in Indian society. If it were not enough
evidence to take a ride in an auto rickshaw and see not only the pictures of deities inside the
vehicle but the temples, mosques and gurudwaras along the road, then there are also the calls
to prayer, the marigold garland sellers, the water on the streets from daily cleansing rituals
Religion
suggest that it is the only influence). Albeit it is a grim and grave example, communal
violence is evidence of religion’s power to affect the social climate. Undoubtedly communal
violence goes deeper than religion. (For example, the Noakhali massacre of 1946 involved
the particular targeting of the wealthy Hindu zamindars by their poorer Muslim tenants who
found themselves at the mercy of the landowners. Chandra Pal, 23-years-old at the time of
the violent outbreak, observed, “Our neighbours’ houses, the big zamindars’ houses, and
those of the big business families – those houses had been looted like anything, people had
been massacred, and their women taken away. That happened on a massive scale. It seemed
the rioters wanted vengeance against those with money and power” (Whitehead 1997).)
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However, religion does often lie at the crux of such violent clashes. The Ayodhya Debate
can demonstrate this fact well enough, particularly the events after the 1992 demolition of the
Babri Masjid. The site where the mosque stood was the former location of a Hindu religious
structure dedicated to Lord Rama, Ayodhya being his birthplace. (Ayodhya 2010) The
demolition of the mosque by a mob of Hindu fundamentalists was instigated and supported
by the Bharatiya Janata Party (a Hindu nationalist party), according to the report submitted in
2009 by the Liberhan Commission that had the task of investigating the sequence of events
that led to that day in December 1992. (Babri Masjid 2009) Nearly 2,000 people were killed
in the riots between Hindus and Muslims in the days after December 6th. (Q&A 2010)
The 2001 Indian Census records that 80.5% of the population is Hindu, 13.4% is
Muslim, 2.3% is Christian, 1.9% is Sikh, 0.8% is Buddhist, 0.4% is Jain and 0.6% is
classified as Other Religions and Persuasions while for the remaining 0.1% their religion is
not stated. (Religious Compositions 2001) I will be drawing from the first religion –
Hinduism – in order to construct this ideal. The answer to the question of ‘Why choose
Hinduism?’ can be observed in the fact that the majority of the Indian population ascribes to
that religion. Beyond the appeal of the “majority rules” paradigm, though, is the evidence
that Hinduism has penetrated the practices and perceptions of other religions in India. Or,
perhaps it is more precise to suggest that Hinduism has been able to adapt in such a way that
it can take on the characteristics of water – if given time, able to creep even through the
history and culture. In his studies on Hinduism’s interaction with other religions, he noted
Gandhi’s reaction to the relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism: “Gautama was
himself a Hindu of Hindus. He was saturated with the best that was in Hinduism and he gave
life to some of the teaching that were buried in the Vedas which were overgrown with weeds”
(Gandhi quoted in Klostermaier 2007: 376). The Reverend Paul Collins, Ph.D., a professor
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of Systemic Theology at the University of Chichester, wrote on the inculturation of
Christianity in India. He specifically cited how the bestowal of garlands and flowers and the
practice of aarti (the Hindu ritual using a sacred flame waved in front of an individual)
utilized to “welcome and honour visitors or particular individuals” (Collins 2007: 140) are
carried over into Christian worship. At the start of a Catholic mass, for example, the priest
may be received with aarti and in turn make aarti to the congregation. (Amalorpavadass
1976: 168) Even those adhering to other religions sometimes celebrate Hindu festivals. In
Lucknow, for example, the Holi Baraat procession has been a source of revelry for Hindus
Seeing that religion is a social influencer and that Hinduism is a religion in India that
has a long arm for reaching into the lives of the majority of the population as well as into the
various practices of other religions, the Indian social ideal of a woman can be found within
Sita
Sita is the wife of Lord Rama, whose story is told in the Hindu epic entitled
Ramayana; her marriage to Rama, her abduction by Ravana, and her recapture by Rama form
the central narrative. Sita was born not from a union of man and woman but supernaturally
from the earth itself, having been plowed up when King Janaka, her father, was in the fields.
King Janaka raised her as his own and held a swayamwara (that is, a suitor’s contest for a
bride) in order to choose a husband for her. Rama, a prince and the hero of Ramayana,
indisputably won the contest and, subsequently, Sita’s hand in marriage. Thusly, she enters
into the tale that has marked the lives of women throughout India. (Kinsley 1998: 68)
Why Sita?
A question must be addressed before I continue, however, that inevitably arises with
my choice – why Sita? What is it about this woman in the Ramayana that would lead to
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better comprehension of the Indian social thought on the ideal woman? Why her above all
It is not important for the purpose of this paper to ascertain when the Sita ideal first
came into Indian consciousness. It is important, however, to establish that the thought of her
as the ideal does widely exist in India. Others have noted the importance of Sita in the Indian
whose field of study centers on religion and mysticism. He writes that the importance of Sita
Sahitya Akademi the sixth vice-president of India, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah exhorted
the value of Ramayana in Indian society and Sita as a role model by quoting the introduction
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nobler ideals of conduct and character. (Hidayatullah 2003: 27)
Hidayatullah, a Muslim, goes on to say in his own words, “Sita represents compassion and
grace. She suffers most but preserves herself with heroism, love and devotion. She is the
ideal wife and is the model for our womanhood” (Hidayatullah 2003: 28). As a final example
of the regard given to Sita as the ideal woman within Indian consciousness, Madhu Kishwar
offers her observations. Kishwar is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Study of Developing
Societies based in Delhi whose work has centered upon human rights, especially for women.
She recognizes that Sita is even the ideal amongst young academics, even though popular
belief tends to express that greater education correlates with a distancing from traditional
religious beliefs.
they find this ideal still relevant, the most common response is
that the example Sita sets will always remain relevant, even
try to live up to the Sita ideal to the best of their ability, while
view.
Kishwar also mentions the way Sita emerges in Christians’ work: “Not just me [Kishwar],
even my former colleague, Ruth Vanita, who is from a Christian family, wrote many a poem
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around the Sita theme. Her recent collection of poems has several poems that revolve around
From the words of these men and women it can be gleaned that Sita does indeed hold
There are many facets to Sita’s character upon which one can expound. However, it
should be kept in mind that certain qualities of this woman, although contributing to the ideal,
would not contribute to the purpose of this paper, which is to compare the Indian social
female ideal with the Indian social perception of the prostitute. Therefore, as the prostitute is
without a husband – that is, a man whose name offers her protection and position (Hope
quoted in Bell 7 Dec 2010)ii – Sita’s loyalty to Rama, although a focal point among her
praised attributes, is irrelevant. However, as I stated before, there are many facets to Sita’s
Sita does not forsake her dharma. Dharma is, put most simply, righteous duty.
(Henderson 2002: 31) “Though destitute of virtue,…or good qualities, a husband must be
constantly worshiped as a god by a faithful wife…. She who controls her thoughts, words,
and deeds, and never slights her lord, resides with her husband (in heaven after death), and is
called a virtuous (wife)” (Laws of Manu quoted in Wadley 1977: 118). This was Sita’s
dharma. To fulfill one’s dharma, that which “one must do in life,” is to “sustain society
against the chaos that is introduced through failure, supernatural forces, evil, and bad luck”
(Henderson 2002: 54). This adhering to dharma – when Ravana abducted and tempted her,
when Rama doubted her virtue, when Rama exiled her – all was to Sita’s credit. “People
commonly perceive Sita’s steadfastness [in her love of Rama] as a sign of emotional strength
and not slavery, because she refuses to forsake her dharma even though Ram forsook his
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Sita is not ruled by desire for personal gain. She does not place value upon jewels or
the wealth of palaces. It is not the luxuries of the transient that give delight her. She exhibits
this characteristic first in her willingness to forsake the palace of Ayodhya so that she does
not leave the side of her husband when he is exiled. (Ayodhya Kanda in Prose: Sarga 30
2008) Rama attempts to deter her from following him with outlining the horrors of such an
existance, stressing that a woman who is accustomed to a palatial lifestyle would not be able
to endure in the harsh wilderness. (Ayodhya Kanda in Prose: Sarga 28 2008) However, Sita
is insistent that she is ready to leave behind everything in order to follow him. In her
insistence, I reiterate that it is not relevant to this paper that she was being loyal to her
husband. It is relevant that she does not cleave to wealth, which would mean forsaking her
dharma. Even after she is captured by Ravana her resolve does not crumble. He allows her
to be tortured by rakshashis (ogresses) and then comes to her to offer a more luxurious way
of life contingent upon her becoming his wife. But Sita says to his offers, “I am not capable
to be tempted by wealth or by money” (Sundara Kanda in Prose: Sarga 21 2008). She will
Sita is chaste. Although Sita is beautiful she does not use it to entice. Hers is a chaste
beauty and even if she does invoke erotic desire (Zacharias 1994: 34) she does not succumb
to the desires of one who is not her husband. After Rama accuses her of having been
unfaithful during her captivity with Ravana, Sita undergoes a trial by fire. “Because of her
innocence and purity, Agni [the god of fire] refuses to harm her and returns her to Rama so
unscathed that even her flower garland remains unwithered by the heat of the flames”
(Kinsley 1998: 74). It is then, and only then, that Rama welcomes Sita into his arms after
rescuing her. It is her chastity that garners much of the acclaim she holds within India.
Sita respects those with authority over her. Throughout Ramayana Sita shows
evidence of being conscientious of and respectful towards those in authority over her. When
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Rama tells her that she must not follow him into exile but stay within the safety of the palace
with her in-laws, Sita alludes to her upbringing: “My mother and father taught me in many
ways how I should conduct myself. I need not be told as what I have now to do” (Ayodhya
Kanda in Prose: Sarga 27 2008). This implies that she not only remembers the council of her
parents but through their counsel she has learned how to properly conduct herself, showing
respect for their words. She also exhibits respect for those whose years, and therefore their
understanding of life through personal experience, are beyond hers. From The Book of
Ayodhya in the Valmiki Ramayana, we see Sita receives instruction from Anasuya, the
elderly wife of an elderly sage, on the conduct of a good wife and the shortcomings of an evil
one. Although she is not personally attached to this woman, Sita readily accepts her advice.
(Aklujkar 2000: 58) Finally, when Rama calls for her after her rescue, Sita is eager to rush to
him. But Vibhishana, the demon sent to fetch her urges her to follow the instructions of her
husband:
This further shows her respect, her obedience, her regard for those who have authority over
her, whether their authority comes by personal connection or age (as is the case of Anasuya).
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Having outlined the characteristics of Sita – chastity, respectfulness, selflessness, and
dharmikta (righteousness) – I will now further explore the concept of chastity and sex.
Tied into the ideal is the concept of praise. Throughout Ramayana, Sita is praised for
her character. Conversely, it can be assumed that there is condemnation for such behavior
that does not align with the ideal. There is that which is acceptable and that which is
unacceptable. The chastity of Sita is the acceptable, the praised character of sexuality in
women. However, there is a need to define what chastity means within the Indian context. In
the following sections is outlined the social structures and landscapes within which
One must define the boundaries of the socially acceptable if one can hope to
understand what lies outside of them. So, when is sex considered socially acceptable? That
is, when is it that a woman can engage in sex without hazarding social censure? Sex within
marriage, and only within marriage, is stressed as the only context in which sexual relations,
for a woman, is acceptable. Victor Joseph, D.Min. (2009) wrote on the views of sex and girls
Girls who lose their virginity before marriage are made to feel
A woman must remain a virgin until she is married to avoid public censure. (Chakraborty
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2010: 3) In Hinduism “kanya [the term meaning ‘virgin girl’] as a construct entails the
dharma of virginity while her parents must provide protection and appropriate dana [dowry]”
(Khare 1992: 149). In the Kolkata slums young women caught infringing upon the accepted
social boundaries of female sexual conduct face violence, harassment and an even greater
social risk than the young man. “A female’s izzat is strongly linked to her sexuality through
chastity before marriage and faithfulness after, and she, and [maybe even] her family, may be
socially stigmatized or…physically and verbally abused if she deviates from this norm”
(Chakraborty 2010: 4).iii There is a double standard, as a Muslim young man can “get away
with” sexual promiscuity while a Muslim young woman bears a heavy consequence, like
forced arranged marriages, disownment (in the case of elopement) or curbing of mobility.
(Chakraborty 2010: 4) (“Zina, or premarital sex between men and women, is haram
[forbidden] in Islam for both men and women” (Emphasis of ‘both’ mine, Chakraborty 2010:
4).)
However, the act of marriage can even cause discomfort for married couples. In her
study of marriage within Hindu Bengali society, Lina Fruzzetti, Ph.D. wrote
It is embarrassing for a Hindu couple to have children after they have grandchildren because
it indicates that they are still having sex, at a time in their lives when it is believed they
The discussion of sex, although it has broken into the public domain (for example, the
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India Today annual sex surveys that began in 2003), is still considered taboo. In America,
the complaint is often heard that the media deluges the youth with sex. The same complaint
is voiced within India as well. India’s MTV shows more skin than is seemly to traditional
Indian society and Bollywood films are featuring western-clothing-clad heroes and heroines
whose styles become more risqué as the years pass. The social norms of what is acceptable
and unacceptable in relation to sex are reiterated in what is and is not shown. The women in
rural areas are shown in films as innocent, “good girls” who cover themselves up from head
to toe, like Hum Saath Saath Hain, while women that wear western-style clothing are
considered to be inviting the attentions of young men, like in Raja Hindustani. (Banaji 2006:
381-383) In the article “Subliminal Seduction” in the Indian magazine Femina, the writer
covers sexual subliminal messaging, a subject that is frowned upon by society norms as a
whole. How can one tell? Because looking at the provided pictures of Disney subliminal
messaging, the circles that would provide a zoomed in view of the otherwise unnoticeable
sexual images are blurred for censoring purposes. (Kokra 2010)iv Even in a society that is
increasingly becoming more open with the discussion of sex, there are still boundaries that
maintain a considerable silence.v “A woman who talks about her sexuality, even to her close
The social shame attached to a woman losing her virginity outside of marriage is not
only attached when she loses it through consensual sex. Rape victims also face
stigmatization. “Even young girls, of whom a high percentage experience some type of
sexual abuse, are ashamed to speak out about what happens to them. One of the main reasons
for their silence is that if they speak out, their parents will blame and punish them” (Joseph
and Hill 2009: 33). Human Rights Watch released a report in 2010 on the ineffectiveness and
irrelevancy of the two-finger test, which physicians conduct on women who report that they
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are victims of rape, in the proceedings of the prosecution of an alleged rapist. (The
examination entails the physician sticking two fingers into the vagina to check the state of the
hymen (broken or intact) and to determine the size or laxity of the vagina. (Kashyap 2010: 2,
3)) The report draws attention to the emphasis that this type of examination places upon
with Human Rights Watch said, ‘I find that in most cases where
Further evidence of the stigma that tends to be attached to rape victims is offered in
other studies. Using a sample of Indian college students in their study of the attribution of
causal and moral responsibility to a victim of rape, “Kanekar and Kolsawalla (1980) found
that greater fault was attributed to a victim dressed in provocative attire than to a victim
dressed unprovocatively” (Cassidy and Hurell 1995). Victims of rape are often believed to
have invited the attention and their families will even turn them out of the house for fear that
the stigma attached to their daughter or wife will cast a blemish upon the rest of them.
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(Sleightholme and Sinha 1996: 26, 27) The belief that the victim of the rape somehow was
inviting sexual attention, especially those victims who have a history of sexual activity,
makes them targets for social scorn. (John and Nair 2000: 25)
The Indian consciousness of sex and the woman lies within the realm of the
acceptable and the unacceptable defined by the ideal of chastity (which is emulated in Sita).
A woman is not to exhibit sexual passions and is subject to social stigmatization if she does
so. She is expected to remain a virgin until she is married and then to remain demure in all
matters concerning sex. The prostitute exists completely outside of this realm of socially
acceptable sex.
The Prostitute
The prostitute’s social stigmatization rests in her existing outside of the boundaries of
the Sita ideal and within the realm of socially unacceptable sex.
There are many types of prostitutes to be found in India – common girl (full-time at
brothels, restaurants, road-side hotels, etc.), singing and dancing girls, concubines/semi-
attached, call girls (usually work “for furthering their financial capital and social network”
rather than for financial support), religious, and cage/brothel (mostly those forced or sold into
prostitution). (Chattopadhyay and McKaig 2004: 161) The formal Hindi word for prostitute
is veshya. “Veshya is someone with whom men form economic rather than social
relationships. This is about sex, but a very particular situation in which a woman and a man
form a temporary relationship based on money” (Chatterjee n.d.: 281). From this definition
of her work, the precise nature of her exclusion from the Sita ideal previously outlined –
The prostitute as unchaste. The prostitute’s very work involves engaging in sex with
a man that is not her husband. As mentioned in the section concerning the acceptable and the
unacceptable, it is considered socially unacceptable for a woman to have sex with a man that
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is not her husband, whether that means losing her virginity before marriage or having an
extramarital affair. Women sexually active outside of marriage are viewed as being
passionate. (John and Nair 2000: 17) Sita is warned against passion by Anasuya
who can visualize the later regions, good or bad – such women
will attain to heaven just as well as the ones who have done
So, the prostitute, being considered unchaste and therefore passionate, attains disrepute.
passion, the prostitute, according to Anasuya’s advice to Sita about evil women, has
destroyed her own code of conduct, her duty, her dharma. She is unchaste when, as a
woman, it is her duty to be chaste. (John and Nair 2000: 17) In being chaste she would
maintain the ideal and thus sustains society against the chaos that stepping outside of the
the characteristics of the ideal – selflessness. Sita goes into the wilderness rather than leave
her husband’s side, which would mean forsaking her dharma, to stay in the luxury of the
Ayodhya palace. She does not give in to Ravana’s erotic desire, which would mean being
unfaithful to her husband, when he offers her wealth instead of her continued torture in
exchange for her hand in marriage. The very essence of Chatterjee’s definition of
prostitution is the exchange of sex for money. It already has been established that sex before
or outside of marriage is considered adharmik and unchaste, and thus immoral. Therefore,
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prostitution can be socially considered an act of selfishness, of greed, for the prostitute trades
age to hold onto her virginity until marriage and to keep sex within marriage. Sita
remembered the lessons taught to her by her parents and conducted herself accordingly.
Since the prostitute violates the sexual moral code, she is seen as having cast off the advice of
her elders. This results in social censure, not only for the prostitute but for her family as well.
(Chakraborty 2010: 4)
So, being outside the bounds of the Sita ideal and socially acceptable sex, the
prostitute is rejected. Even if she leaves the sex trade, society sees her past as a blemish. A
very promising site the Home – a recently emerged organization providing rehabilitation and
reintegration services to girls rescued from sex trafficking – was considering in December for
the after-care program unfortunately was not to become theirs because of the social stigma
attached to prostitutes. Even though the proprietor was willing to lease the building to the
Home, the proprietor’s mother was of a different opinion. She did not want former
prostitutes living there for fear that the neighbors would find out and think that they are
However, the prostitute is perceived as a “necessary evil.” Some police officers see
prostitution as necessary to lower the rate of sexual crime. (Joseph and Hill 2009: 17) An
Indian dispatched intelligence bureau officer shared his opinions on prostitutes and
married at thirty?’
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[Kristof:] ‘Well, is the best solution really to kidnap Nepali
Indian men will even say of themselves that they believe that if they do not have prostitutes
to have sex with then they will end up attacking an innocent girl. (Bell 25 Jan 2011)
She may stand outside of the boundaries of acceptable society due to her not adhering
to the modicums of ideal Indian womanhood, but the prostitute is toleratedvii – and even seen
as necessary by some – in order to satiate the supposed fundamental needs, which seemingly
Conclusion
So, having studied the ideal of the Indian woman – that is, Sita – in relation to the
social understanding of the prostitute I have come to understand that due to her not being in
accord with “the acceptable,” the prostitute is placed on the outskirts of society. The Indian
attitude towards the connection between sex and women also contributes to the prostitute’s
stigmatization. Sex is taboo. For a woman to even speak of it suggests that she is immoral
and to be immoral is to be placed within the realm of the unacceptable, the social outcasts.
rehabilitation and social reintegration process for those women (and children) who are
leaving the sex trade. There will be challenges to her entering “acceptable” society. The
blemish of the stigma is not easily removed from her reputation. That she has left
prostitution is not enough. She must prove herself in order for society to accept her,
especially if they know her past. My next paper will address how the social stigma of
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prostitution affects the rehabilitation and social reintegration processes for former prostitutes.
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i
This is not to say that the studies and observations of native scholars are more valuable than that
of foreign scholars. Individuals from each classification can offer different perceptions and
therefore contribute to a more complex, richer insight into social relations. It is for this reason that I
have drawn from the observations of social scientists foreign and native to India.
ii
Hope (not her real name), an Indian who works in women’s rights advocacy, told the story of her
housekeeper’s suffering domestic abuse. When Hope advised the woman to do something about it
– speak up or leave him – the housekeeper said, “No. My children need a father. I have the name,
whose areas of study include the sexual health and identities of young people and contemporary
South Asian studies – the concept of izzat (that is, in simple terms, honor, integrity and self-respect)
determines what is decent in terms of women’s sexuality within Indian society. (3) Izzat is very
important to consider what the law has to say concerning women’s sexuality as the law reflects how
society views certain matters. Censorship law paints a picture of how sex finding its way into the
public social sphere is handled. If material appeals to the carnal side of human nature or sexually
arouses it is labeled as obscene and is banned from the public eye to protect decent people. Such
censorship pops up in unusual ways, as is the case with the Femina article. (There are exceptions
made for material with a “socially redeeming purpose,” like giving advice to married couples.)
(Kapur 1997: 294) This suggests that sex and sexuality, though a part of human nature, is immoral
unseemly sources. Blue movies (pornographic films) and Internet sex sites are often a means of
education for those who would otherwise not know about sexual relations. Preeta, a young woman
from Bombay admitted that she and her Muslim friend go to cyber cafes to only look at
pornographic sites. It is from these sites that she learns anything about sexuality and sex. (Banaji
2006: 13) Although blue movies are not the best forms of education as they depict more fantasy
than reality, the young women were searching for exposure where they could find it.
vi
I would be remiss if I did not address the Kama Sutra in relation to sex and women in
India. When sex and India are mentioned together, one thing most often comes to mind (at least, to
the Western mind) – the Kama Sutra. However, it is erroneous to assume that since this book is
from the “Golden Age” of India that sex is emphasized and praised in Hinduism. “Despite a
general acknowledgement of male sexual need, even promiscuity, male celibacy has…been
valorised as an indisputable (upper caste) ideal” (John and Nair 2000: 16). It is popularly known
that Gandhi, the Father of the Indian Nation, upheld this ideal. Women’s sexual conduct is also
fearful aspects of the woman’s sexual appetite [e.g. Kali, a fierce and
Hindu men and women are encouraged to abstain from their baser desires to obtain something more
eternal (Quinn), while today the mainstream message is that the stronger the passion the better.
vii
Further evidence that she is tolerated can be found in the fact that prostitution is not illegal in
India. There is no legislation that deems it as such. However, it is very difficult to practice legal
prostitution. For more information, see Sithannan, V. (2007) Immoral Traffic: Prostitution in India.