Citation

Dewey S. Am. Ethnol. 2009; 36(1): 124-139.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1548-1425.2008.01104.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In India, cultural prohibitions on discussions about sexuality and violence against women have resulted in a parallel public sphere in which individuals make use of popular culture to resolve private dilemmas. In this article, I examine how female discourse regarding two highly publicized cases of violence against women in Mumbai employed the parallel public sphere, a cultural phenomenon that allows individual normalcy to be gauged as part of a broader process by which the silenced learn to use their voices only at certain times and in certain ways.