Social and spatial constraints on rural women's sexuality: observations from an Indian village
Dandekar, H.
Ekistics; Reviews on the Problems and Science of Human Settlements 49(291): 422-426
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0013-2942 PMID: 12279299 Document Number: 389335
The rural woman's life in Sugao, Deccan Maharashtra, India, is a brutal one confined to child bearing, rearing and performing the back-breaking tasks of domestic work and agriculture. The sexual act seems to be performed more out of a sense of duty than out of passion and desire. There is little room for romantic love or friendship between man and woman in the social milieu of the village. Social structures and expectations coupled with a lack of personal space and privacy render them helpless and unable to begin to explore and actualize their sexuality. If there is a desire or a hope to intervene in this system the actions envisaged must display a much greater sensitivity and responsiveness to the reality and the social and physical constraints.