Women`s Work` in the `Mission of Sisterhood` to Indian Women

The article Ironies of Emancipation : Changing Configurations of Women 's Work in the `Mission of Sisterhood ' to Indian Women ' by Jane Haggis is an article that was written from a feminist perspective to ask specific questions about how the influence of the mission of sisterhood either helped or hurt Indian women in the 1800 's . The author takes the position that Indian women were confined to marriages more acutely because of the presence of female missionaries in India . The author points out that the female missionaries became almost a symbol of emancipation

in terms of British imperial feminism ' and for this reason alone , the Indian population was unhappy with the way the females presented themselves and did not change (Haggis123 . The missionary work , in of itself , was women 's work ' and was a way in which the British women were able to exert their own independence while doing the will of God

This article focuses a great deal on how the religion of the time affected the way in which British and Indian women communicated and interacted with each other and was a reason for the outcome , either the failure or the accomplishments , of the Mission of Sisterhood . The author describes how these women were expected to carry out their women 's work ' despite the domestic duties that were expected of a Victorian wife and mother , mostly because in Travencore women had a different role in terms of motherhood because their children were often sent away to school to get a proper British education . This left them able to pursue other duties , such as their mission to the Indian women (Haggis 119

This article makes a lot of good points about how British women were involved in missionary work in India in Victorian times and explains their role in their society , both at home and abroad . It 's interesting to note that the Indian women were perhaps kept back because of the influence of these women on their culture , instead of being converted

Work Cited

Haggis , Jane "Ironies of Emancipation : Changing Configurations of 'Women 's Work ' in

the 'Mission of Sisterhood ' to Indian Women " Feminist Review 65 (2000 108-126 . JSTOR . 5 Feb . 2007...