Unpacking the Lived Realities of Widows at Beed, Maharashtra: A Case for Dalit Women-Centric Praxis
摘要
In this chapter, an attempt is made to unpack the lived realities of Dalit women based on the empirical study of Dalit widows in the Beed district of Maharashtra. Using an in-depth qualitative approach, the study enters into the lived experiences of the willing Dalit Widows to theorize and visibilize Dalit women’s lived experiences. The study reveals a complexity of vulnerabilities that construct lived experiences expressed in deeply entrenched gender stereotypes, social stigma, and discrimination. Given this, the chapter, while reaffirming gender inequality as the oldest and most pervasive known forms of social discrimination against half of the world’s population, goes further to argue that Dalit widows face three forms of social discrimination—gender, marital, and caste.