Rape Seen as a Side Effect of Sita’s Death in the Poetry of Meena Kandasamy

Abstract

The Ramayana’s Sita is a name referred time and again whenever a case of sexual violence on women is heard. Patriarchal discourse projects Sita as the ideal woman and the renowned personalities invoke Sita and her ideal image of femininity, purity and chastity in their statements on rape victims and suggest that all women should follow the path of Sita so that they can be revered in the society. The patriarchal discourse calls the women who defy gender norms as liable for punishment like Shurpanakha. But, Kandasamy looks at Sita as a side effect on the lives of women in general and Dalit women in particular. This paper intends to study Kandasamy’s poems centered around Sita’s character and how she sees Sita as a side effect on the lives of women.