Walker's Womanism in P. Sivakami's Novel: "The Taming of Women"

<p>P. Sivakami’s work The Taming of Women<br>originally written and published in Tamil brought to the<br>focus for the first time the lived experiences of Dalit women<br>community that was deliberately pushed to the<br>fringes/margins of Indian Society. Dalits particularly Dalit<br>women stood at the intersection of caste, gender, class and<br>religion which cut Sivakami at heart and stimulated her to<br>articulate them through her works. This study explores Alice<br>Walker’s ‘Womanism’ in Sivakami’s ‘Anandayi’ a Dalit<br>woman protagonist as well as the politics in the identity of all<br>Dalit women of southern India. Nevertheless, the uniqueness<br>in Sivakami’s personality is in her rejection of the<br>marginalized status. Equipped with highest education and<br>being as an IAS she empowers herself for the emancipation of<br>oppressed women. The study traces the saga of Anadhayi,<br>Lakshmi and many other women from the same village who<br>are obstinately victimized by patriarchy and are forced with<br>gender discrimination and power domination.Sivakami<br>claims to be the ‘voice’ for the ‘voiceless’ in the caste-ridden<br>society. This paper traces the element of egalitarian ideology<br>that was already growing within her even as a Dalit IAS<br>oppressed in many circumstances. Sivakami uses truthful<br>diction, shocking and realistic narrative to bring out her<br>ferocious womanism into the indifferent minds of the readers,<br>provoking them to empathize with the victims of gender<br>bigotry. At the same time, it also depicts the resilience of Dalit<br>women who live life and enjoy fellowship with each other<br>despite their hardships.</p>