Gender

Indigo Textile Dyeing in Daboya, Ghana

The Indigo Dyeing Tradition in Daboya: Notes from the Field

Daboya is a semi-urban community in the Savanna Region of Ghana. It is well noted for its organic indigo textile dyeing and weaving tradition which dates back to over three centuries. Before the introduction of synthetic dyes, Indigo was the foundation of most textile traditions in West Africa. In Ghana, most of the traditional smock dresses and related fabrics that are worn are produced in Daboya. Below, I present an account of the indigo dyeing process as observed in Daboya in May 2022.

Unsettling Facts You Need to Know about Matrimonial Sites

Femmes for Freedom (FFF) is a feminist organization founded by Shirin Musa in the Hague, Netherlands, in 2011. It aims to defend girls’ and women’s rights and advocate against gender-based violence, particularly, marital captivity (Femmes For Freedom, 2022). FFF noticed that several women victims that reached out to them for help had met their husbands through matrimonial sites, which is a variation of standard dating websites. However, the main focus is on those wanting marriage, instead of simply dating (Soneji, 2022). 

"Hidden" Meanings

Pha hol is the name for an ikat-patterned silk cloth woven among ethnically minoritized Khmer communities in today's Thailand, especially in Surin and Buriram provinces. Hol is "the Queen of Surin silk" many say -- the most beautiful, locally meaningful pattern. Calling hol a Queen draws attention to its creation and use primarily by women.

Farmers in Nepal

Image: Woman with Cane Basket, Crates filled with oranges from orange orchards in Panauti Nepal. These orchards are sold by the farmers’ families while the profit goes to the landowners and they only earn a part of the profit made on the crop since they do not own the lands anymore due to brain-drain, high taxes and the push for privatization by the government.

Woman Led Self-Reliance Family

Woman Led Self-Reliance Family

I would like to share something with you about an ethnic Lahu family in Southern Shan State, Myanmar. This is a women-led family and they are relying on their own farm for their family foods and income generation. She is Daw Thida Aung with 52 years old and her husband is a religious leader. The family consists of four family members with her husband, a daughter and son.

Cultivating Rice in Covid-19 Times

 COVID-19 is not the only challenge that common people across the world have been faced with. But there are places where this problem has been compounded due to other kinds of natural challenges felt locally. This has been particularly so in the state of Assam in India where annual flooding ravaged  lives and livelihood. The worst hit have been the ones settled in low lying flood prone zones across the state, making it simply impossible for many to engage in cultivation of the staple food crop, rice. 

Different? Not really

The two women are as different as chalk and cheese. And I don't mean in terms of skin colour alone. Their appearance distinctly identifies them from two different regions of India - Northeast and South. They speak different languages and cook and eat food vastly different. But they are one - as women, as mothers as sisters in arms. They are united in their strength in the face of adversity. Migration, resettlement and subsistence bring them together in this space. Each is invisible, marginalised and discriminated against - be it colour, caste or communal identity.

Cycling Shades of Chennai

Simi Mariya Thomas, Research Scholar, MIDS, selected a photograph from the exhibition, Ambedkar Nagar- Near Kakkan Bridge, Chennai, to write her story for the session on Reading/Writing/Re-writing/Telling/Re-telling using prompts, 20 December 2019.

Superwomen of Chennai always surprise and excite me. They design their life in a manner in which they are fully involved into some sort of activities around the clock.

Voices from the Outside

Dr Imsuchila Kichu is an Assistant Professor of English at Cotton University, Assam. The following is an excerpt from a piece penned by her reflecting upon Naga women and society from the perspective of an insider who has lived away from her community.

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