Papers by Geraldine Forbes
Women's Studies International Quarterly, 1979
Synopsis-In less than a century, the legal age at which an Indian female could begin conjugal lif... more Synopsis-In less than a century, the legal age at which an Indian female could begin conjugal life has been raised three times. While this has generally been viewed as evidence of concern with women's emancipation, a closer scrutiny of the historical evidence suggests that this particular issue has served as a vehicle to advance an entire set of socio-political attitudes. In 1891, the Age of Consent controversy was diverted from the problem of the helplessness of child wives to the question of whether or not the British government had a right to interfere in Hindu social customs. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 was fought for by reformist Hindus and particularly the emerging women's organizations because it illustrated that Indians were deeply concerned with and anxious to change certain social practices. The latest increase in the legal age of marriage (October, 1978) was related to population policy. Favoring a later age of marriage has become synonymous with commitment to modernity but it has not necessarily meant commitment to modifying the social position of women.
The American Historical Review, 2002
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2003
The Worlds of Positivism
In the late nineteenth century, Comte’s positivism struck a powerful chord that resonated across ... more In the late nineteenth century, Comte’s positivism struck a powerful chord that resonated across Bengal’s intellectual circles. Chapter 2 explores how positivist ideas were transmitted, the individuals who became interested in the philosophy, and the impact of Comtian concepts in colonial India. The first Indians to declare their commitment to positivism held contradictory views: they admired Western ideas but detested colonial rule, yearned for a spiritual life but had no faith in deities, and wanted home-rule but could not imagine it happening in the immediate future. Positivism offered them an ideology that promised progress developed in harmony with Hindu beliefs and institutions while English positivists, who treated them with respect, denounced imperialism and asserted India would prosper under self-rule.
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Behind the Veil, 2008
Spoken in a crowded train headed for Calcutta, this fictional piece of advice was directed at the... more Spoken in a crowded train headed for Calcutta, this fictional piece of advice was directed at the mother of a too-old, too-dark daughter. The apprehensive mother listened carefully. In the big city, she changed her daughter’s name (following her instructor’s advice to drop Kalidasi for a more stylish name like Swarnalata or Binodini), had the girl’s hair styled, bought fashionable clothes, and headed for a studio. The retouched photo netted an interview and, following her mentor’s counsel, the mother applied a great deal of powder to her daughter’s face and arranged an evening meeting in a dimly lit room. The groom’s side, fooled by the photograph, makeup, and poor lighting, agreed to the match. It was only after the wedding that the groom’s mother, the original advice giver, discovered her son had married the ugly girl from the train.2
A Journey into Women's Studies, 2014
Economic and Political Weekly, Apr 26, 1986
Women in Modern India, 1996
A journey into women’s studies, project started in 2009 and it wanted to capture the stories and ... more A journey into women’s studies, project started in 2009 and it wanted to capture the stories and journeys of women studies in different parts of the world. It was felt that it was high time that the story of the next generation of feminists be told so that the future generations would know the struggles and efforts that went into making women’s studies a reality. The present book is a journey of 18 women across the world, who have struggled to give women’s studies a visibility and carved out a niche for it amidst the mainstream disciplines which are by and large very patriarchal in their approach. This story had to start from the individual. First the individuals had to make themselves sensitized to this issue and some were not familiar with the issue to begin with, while others were concerned with the reality around them which was not gender sensitive. They had to start with their own research and many could move beyond this and establish institutions and centres. Some where not so...
Women's Studies International Forum, 1982
She has been working in collaboration with Indian women scholars on feminist issues for a number ... more She has been working in collaboration with Indian women scholars on feminist issues for a number of years. Her published work includes: Positivism in Bengal, winner of the Rabindranath Prize in 1979; editing A Pattern of Life by Shudha Mazumdar; and a number of articles on women in India. Synopsis-Between the end of the nineteenth century and the Second World War, Indian women began to voice their grievances, form organizations for women only and formulate a women's rights ideology. Between the time when the three major all-India organizations were formed, 1917-1927, and Independence in 1947, women worked for female education and for legislation that would free women from traditional restrictions. This article examines their treatment of three issues: child marriage, purdah and the Hindu Code. The Conclusion evaluates the feminist ideology, the relationship between this ideology and nationalism, and the impact of this movement.
Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 1998
Journal of Women's History, 2003
... Locating and Preserving Documents: The First Step in Writing Women's History. Geraldine ... more ... Locating and Preserving Documents: The First Step in Writing Women's History. Geraldine Forbes. The Beginning. ... [End Page 176]. Geraldine Forbes is a distinguished teaching professor and chair of the history department at State University of New York, Oswego. ...
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2001
Forbes on Banerjee. 2:1 2:1 Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History| © 2001 GeraldineForbes [... more Forbes on Banerjee. 2:1 2:1 Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History| © 2001 GeraldineForbes [Contents] [Search] [Muse]: Sumanta Banerjee, Under the Raj: Prostitution in Colonial Bengal. ... Geraldine Forbes State University of New York, Oswego. ...
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Papers by Geraldine Forbes
Haimabati’s honest and direct account of her life and times was originally written in lined school notebooks in Bengali. Read by only by a few family members until the 1980s, this document was translated by Tapan Raychaudhuri and edited by Geraldine Forbes and Raychaudhuri following extensive research on Haimabati’s life and times. First published in 2000, this edition has been fully revised and edited by Raychaudhuri and Forbes and includes a new introduction by the editor, comprehensive biographical notes, and photographs. Remarkable for her honesty, directness and attention to detail, Haimabati courageously wrote about the systematic and pervasive violence faced by women of her generation.