In the Footsteps of “Arundhati”

Abstract

This article examines the ideologies and conditions that form the realities of the lives of Asian Indian immigrant battered women. Twelve highly educated women from India who had sought outside help due to spousal abuse were interviewed for this study. Ten women in this group were foreign born, and two were brought up in the United States. The interviews, encompassing early socialization to life as an immigrant, were analyzed to tease out elements that affect women's experiences of intimate violence. The most important factor in these women's lives seemed to be childhood indoctrination into the ideals of “good” wife and mother that include sacrifice of personal freedom and autonomy. Although the majority of women worked as professionals, economic independence did not seem to provide them with a sense of empowerment. Furthermore, they felt responsible for the reputation of their families in India, were eager not to compromise their families' honor with a divorce, and operated under the added pressures of preserving traditions and presenting an “unblemished” image of the community to the U.S. mainstream. The story of Arundhati, an ancient Indian sage, has been invoked here to elaborate the ideology of the feminine gender role.