“In every quarter of activity, whether in art, literature, public life or otherwise, the Indian woman is underrepresented, and where she is represented she is not seen as an equal participant.” (Espinet, 1993: 42)

Indian women have been relegated to subordinate positions as their presence continues to be limited in the social and political fabric. Though historically both men and women suffered tremendously at the hands of the colonizers, Indian women suffered doubly in the patriarchal society. (Naidu, 2005)

As a result of society and the image it has projected onto these women, the Indian woman has become a target of varying types of negative representations. For this essay I will be examining these representations as manifestations of history, and how Indo-Caribbean women writers and scholars have sought to challenge these notions and explore the experiences of this population through written works such as novels, stories, and scholarly articles and also through performance: calypso.

Historical Background:

During the period of Indentureship there was a gross disparity of the sexes. Women were disproportionately represented with a ratio of 35 women to 100 men and 50 to 100 in 1860. Even as late as 1890, the proportion of women to men declined to 41 women for every 100 men. Although repeated requests were made to colonial immigration agents for more women, the disparity of female indentured labourers remained throughout the indenture period. (Naidu, 2005)

As a result, the disproportion of the sexes created a social problem for men and women on the estates.  For the Indian women who were not only placed in a minority position, requiring protection against a dominant male culture, but they were also subject to sexual abuse by drivers, overseers and other estate personnel. The position of women since the period of Indentureship has left a long legacy for today’s Indo-Caribbean women.

Patricia Mohammed (1999:62) contends that women accommodated a traditional female role because they were also transmitters of the gender imagery which travelled from India to Trinidad. Such gender images drew heavily upon the sexual imagery conveyed through myths, cultural symbols, artefacts, religious rituals and festivals which made concrete their ideas about what constituted male and female characteristics and behaviour.

 In today’s society today it is evident; however, that the Indo-Caribbean female has taken steps to presenting herself as more than “the pure and ideal wife”. As Espinet (1993: 42) has articulated, it is because they are absent from the sphere of influence which produces…persons of impact and influence.” Indo-Caribbean women are captives of the patriarchal culture and as such forced to exist to perpetuate the will of men.

Marginalised Indian women have to fight especially harder in order to emerge and destroy the isolations that the patriarchal society has constructed. For the Indo-Caribbean Scholars and writers, it has become a major task to give this population a voice, which for so long was denied to them by a patriarchal culture. From as far back as the early days of Indentureship, Indian women were under the domination of men—be it their husbands or the plantation overseer.

The contention is that the Indian female is servile and domestic and very submissive. In several works by writers such as Shani Mootoo and Ramabai Espinet, among others, they portray these women as more than just the servile domestic wife whose only purpose in life is to be subservient to her husband and be the “good wife”.

An Indian Housewife

The short stories, novels and articles written by these women seek to illustrate and, in doing so, reject the representations that have been projected onto these women for over one hundred and fifty years.

Literature: Short Stories and Novels:

For many silenced, marginalised groups, telling ones’ story through the short story form can be vital to portraying one’s self or group in a way that speaks to the values one has of themselves and their group. It also provides a mechanism to challenge the notions that society or specific people in one’s life have.

In many of the short stories written by Indo-Caribbean women authors, they present various situations that help to further exemplify the experience of the members of the group who are unable to speak of their experiences, either because of fear or because they are unequipped to take on the task themselves.

In Ramabai Espinet’s story, “Barred: Trinidad 1987” (1992) she presents many of the notions that society has attached to Indians in the Caribbean as a whole, but she also explores notions of the Indian female within the household and the society.

“There is fear, poverty, and sometimes a heavy hand striking at night. The enemy waits outside. Who is the enemy? Is it rum? The boy I married turns into a strange man who hits and curses at night…He is hungry…I move to warm up the food…suddenly a cuff connects…he is deadly accurate.” (81-82)

In this excerpt Espinet is presenting the Indian woman who takes care of the household and subserviently prepares her husbands food, only to be physically and sexually abused. It is notable that she mentions the alcohol, as it has been perceived by wider society that the Indian male is typically a wife beater and the master in his domain.

Though, to a certain extent this piece continues to promote the stereotype of the Indian male, one must consider that for this piece to be written by an Indo-Caribbean woman, this piece represents the horror that these woman experienced, and by illustrating this, Espinet has given a voice to those who for several decades were unable to speak of their horror.

 Espinet (1992: 84-85), continues in this story to examine several ideas that relate to the Indian female. “It wasn’t long before a man came along and bought the packet of cigarettes. He was my first customer…Later we put up a Cola sign, and a Newspaper sign. People came and bought in my little parlour.” Here we see Espinet portraying an Indian woman who has started off by selling a single pack of cigarettes and turned it into a shop.

As a representation of Indo-Caribbean women, it illustrates that women are not as submissive and docile as they have been generally though to be. The lady in this story took the initiative to start this business and provide for herself and her family.

This story also holds true of modern examples where for the most part in the Caribbean and within the Diaspora, where the Indian woman plays a major role in the running of the family business. No longer is it a situation where only the male assumes responsibility of business affairs, but the woman is just as important.

It is notable that the short stories written by Indo-Caribbean women not only reflect the circumstances of women, but also of the struggles within the community as a whole.

This can be seen in an excerpt by Espinet (1992:83) where she manifests many of the struggles that Indo-Caribbean men and women experience not only within the Caribbean locale, but also within the diaspora.