Why I am not a hindu woman

a personal story

Wandana Sonalkar

9789385606311PB

Women Unlimited 2020

Language: English

175 Pages

In Stock!

Price INR 350.0 Not Available

Book Club Price INR 280.0 USD

About the Book

In a reasoned critique of Hindutva and Hinduism, feminist scholar and activist, Wandana Sonalkar outlines why she, born female and upper caste in Maharashtra, has repudiated her religious identity.


Based on her personal experience, and on textual and empirical evidence, she offers an intimate account of caste practices, and argues that patriarchy and Brahminism are integral to Hinduism. As such, it is misogynist and casteist, and its exclusionary imperatives are essential to both its practice — and to Hindutva, which extends this imperative to Muslims.


She reiterates that discrimination and inequality have been so internalised that their daily observance segues seamlessly into social interactions, thus crystallising and entrenching them deeply in society.

Wandana Sonalkar
Wandana Sonalkar was professor of women's and gender studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is the translator of, among others,We Also Made History: Women in the Ambedkar Movement by Urimila Pawar & Meenakshi Moon, and of Memoirs of a Dalit Communist: The Many Worlds of R. B. More She writes regularly on gender and caste.

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