The Portrayal of Patriarchy and Gender Inequality in Sivakami’s the Grip of Change and the Taming of Women

Abstract

Patriarchy is male domination in both the public and private spheres. Feminists call it the power relationship between men and women, as well as the root cause of women's subordination. Patriarchy society gives priority to men and some extent limits women's rights. This ideology and the results of male domination are reflected in the writings of Sivakami. The present article highlights how patriarchy and gender inequality are portrayed in Sivakami’s The Grip of Change and The Taming of Women. In these novels, Sivakami depicts the miserable plight of women and how they are subjugated by men in patriarchal Indian society and how her characters are experienced and oppressed at the hands of male chauvinist society. She categorically explains all the ages and generations of women who are made to undergo physical assault, sexual exploitation, and gender discrimination. They are unable to bear the torture put on by men in Indian society. The beautiful woman who is forced to end her colourful life is also depicted in these novels. In both novels, women attain dignity only when they transgress social stereotypes and enter the public domain. From the perspective of a patriarchal society, the women characters Thangam, Lakshmi, and Anandhayi in the fiction of Sivakami are stuck with a broken social identity.