Meena Kandasamy

Writings

Back-Street Girls is a poem that draws women to the independence enjoyed by men breaking all
constraints. Meena‟s women need not chain themselves by the rules anymore. They can act
according to their whims and fancies. They need not confine themselves within the iron bars of
culture and tradition. They have the liberty to play roles such as „sluts, gluttons, bitches, witches and
shrews‟. No manu can control them. They are independent enough to choose men as their husbands
and “strip random men”. The poem liberates women from their subjugation and highlights them as
we (women) are not the ones you can sentence for life (14).

Dead woman walking throws light on the hardships and emotional stress of the downtrodden,
abandoned women. She has brought in the mythological character, Karaikkal Ammayar who stands
for the dalit women who are sexually exploited by men. Karaikal Ammayar was deserted by her
merchanthusband to marry “a fresh and formless wife” inspite of her beauty and “the magic of my
(her) multiplying love”. Her love for Lord Shiva posed her to be a mystic in the eyes of her husband.
Meena expresses the pain of deserted women through the mouth of Karaikkal Ammayar as i wept in
vain, i wailed, i walked on my head, i went to god(17). The society viewed her as a mad woman living
with faltered step, felted flying hair, hollowed cheeks and bulging eyes.

Fire-walkers epitomizes the plight of poor women exploited by upper class people. The poet lashes
at the conventional belief of the people in making offerings to the Goddess Maari. She portrays
Maari as the exploiter who extracts pleasure from the pains of her devotees, who are depicted as
the dream chasers, the firewalkers(22).They burn and whip their bodies to satisfy Her. Maari
represents the inhuman oppressors of the dalits who is appeased by the violent sacrifices of
innocent people.

Ms. Militancy, the title poem of the volume , is based on the heroine of the Tamil Classic
Silapathikaram , Kannaki. Kannaki has been dedicated and loyal to her betrayal-imaged husband
Kovalan even after his return from his dancer-mistress Madhavi. Though this displays the patriarchal
dominance, the rage she shows at the death of her husband asserts her as a bold revolutionist. Such
a militant woman is the woman that Meena Kandasamy dreams of. She is the role-model for the
subjugated women to come out of their cocoons.

Princess-in-Exile is about Sita who “walked out” of her place from her husband Rama, when her
chastity was questioned. She indirectly avenges her husband for his suspicion on her. Likewise,
Meena wants women not to follow the rules laid by the patriarchal society.

Moon-gazers is a powerful rendition of the superiority of non-dalits over the dalits. The poet brings
home the speechless predicament of the dalits through the analogy of a classroom situation. The
teacher talks about a bird watching throughout the night. When a girl questions what the bird does
on new moon days, she is laughed at. She could not get an answer but just staring at the limitless
eyes of the teacher. Such is the fate of all the dalits remaining mute and spell-bound to the atrocities
inflicted on them.

One Eyed, the short poem highlights various atrocities committed against the dalit women. Meena
emphasizes the humanitarian attitude of inanimate things which human beings lack. The pot, the
glass and the water quench the thirst of a person while the teacher, the doctor, the school and the
press are indifferent to the needs of the people. The dalit woman Dhanam was “torn in half”(41)
when she tries to get a pot of water at the cost of her left eye.

Conclusion

Thus, Meena has themes and diction that are taboos in the cultural context of India. As Ranjit
Heskote, in his review of Ms. Militancy has rightly puts it “there is considerable current of surprise
and elusiveness that does battle with the strain of predictability in Kandasamy‟s poetry; even when
she rehearses a well-established choreography of feminist self-assertion, she does so with a sharp
eye for detail, a grasp of worldly insight and an appetite for phrasal shape-shifting”. Needless to say,
Meena‟s poetry stands a testimony to her stance in Dalit literature and in Indian English literature at
large.

Dead Woman Walking

I am a dead woman walking asylum corridors,

with faltering step, with felted, flying hair,
with hollowed cheeks that offset bulging eyes,
with welts on my wrists, with creasing skin,
with seizures of speech and song, with a single story
between my sobbing, pendulous breasts.

once i was a wife: beautiful,

married to a merchant: shifty-eyed.
living the life, until he was lost in listless doubt—

of how, what i gave him was more delicious

than whatever, whatever had been given to me.
his mathematics could never explain
the magic of my multiplying love—this miracle—
like materializing mangoes out of thin air,
like dishing out what was never there.

this discrepancy drove him away:

a new job in another city.
he hitched himself to a fresh and formless wife.

of course, as all women do, i found out.

i wept in vain, i wailed, i walked on my head, i went to god.

i sang in praise of dancing dervishes, i made music

for this world to devour on some dejected day.
i shed my beauty, i sacrificed my six senses.
some called me mad, some called me mother
but all of them led me here,
to this land of the living-dead.
 Indian Poetry

Indian poetry expresses the collective consciousness of India. It reflects the traditions of the country
and exposes the glorious past. Poets have become the voice of the commoner. The realities of life
across borders have been given life in their poems. In spite of many obstacles women writers have
pushed aside boundaries and their poems have made way to the world out there.

Dalit Literature

Dalit literature has emerged out as separate category in Indian Literature. A young and rebellious
woman poet, Meena Kandasamy in her poem collection Ms. Militancy focuses on caste oppression
and women issues. The poems in the collection focus on women empowerment and psychological
pressures of women and how the poet plans to grant the women an identity. Meena Kandasamy’s
first poetry collection was published in 2006 named Touch. This paper throws light on two poems of
the collection, M.s Militancy and the Dead woman walking.

Sexual Exploitation

Karaikal Ammayar represents the Dali women who are sexually exploited by men. They were forced
to carry the scarlet letter of shame and blame whereas the exploiters escape with clean hands. The
poem poignantly tells us how such women die even while they are physically alive.

The Trauma of the woman

In the point of view of the society, Karaikkal Ammayar was a mad woman. Her appearance was
terrifying. The bulging eyes, long lose hair, etc were the images which come to the mind when she
has to be given an image. Even though she assumed this form after leaving the pleasures of life, it
reflects her inner trauma of dejection.

Theme of the Revolution.

The poem having the title of the collection is “Ms. Militancy”. This poem includes the protagonist of
the story of the first epic in Tamil. The poet sends across the message that women need to be brave
and a revolutionary just like Kannaki. Even though Kovalan betrayed his wife, he is welcomed by his
wife after he returns from Madhavi’s place. Kannaki supports him after his return by handing over
her anklets so that they could start a new life. There is a complete contrast of the character of
Kannaki in the first stanza of Kandasamy’s poem and the last few lines. That is, a submissive and
typical Indian wife to her husband at first due to the norms of the patriarchal domination changes
when there is injustice done to her. She becomes a rebel and her rage outpours in an enormous way
when her husband gets killed. She is bold and reinstalls justice which both the Pandiyan King and
Kovalan failed to hold on to. By being a female, this is a huge success for her against the male
dominant society thus creating an identity for her. Her anger is subsided only when she burns down
the city of Madurai and not by getting only the justice. Kandasamy rightly puts it as, “a bomb of her
left breast” (36). Kandasamy herself demands from a woman that when she has to stand up to any
injustices she has to do so. The poet is portrayed as an example for subjugated women to look up to
as she has given voice to the voiceless through her lines.

Ravishingly beautiful she is not someone who deserted her husband in devotion of lord Shiva, The
poem opens with an image of Ammaiyar that corresponds to the popular iconography on temple
walls but Kandasamy employs it to bring out the anguish felt by a dejected woman. As a spiritless
woman, with unsteady steps, matted and unruly hair, sunken cheeks counter balanced by protruding
eyes, bruised wrist and wrinkled skin, Ammaiyar wanders in asylum cloisters, suffering from epileptic
fits of speech and song, bearing only a single tale of... he was lost in listless doubtof how, what i gave
him was more delicious than whatever, whatever had been given to me. his mathematics could
never explain the magic of my multiplying love-this miraclelike materializing mangoes out of thin air,
like dishing out what was never there. (Militancy 9-15) instead was abandoned by her husband who
was a merchant shifty-eyed ( Militancy 17). dejection between her sobbing pendulous breast
(Militancy 17). Her rejection of the normative standards of femininity by opting for instant old age in
exchange of her beauty is synonymous with the subversion of feminine attributes appropriated as
essential for women, by patriarchal society.

The Narrative of the Poem.

Dead woman walking” Kandasamy retells the myth of Karaikal Ammaiyar, one of the greatest figures
in Tamil mythology, a devotee of lord Shiva, a demon-goddess hunting cremation grounds; and
brings a different perspective to her story by suggesting that “suspected of infidelity for being
ravishingly beautiful” she is not someone who deserted her husband in devotion of lord Shiva,
instead was abandoned by her husband who was “a merchant shifty-eyed” (Militancy 8) .The poem
opens with an image of Ammaiyar that corresponds to the popular iconography on temple walls but
Kandasamy employs it to bring out the anguish felt by a dejected woman. As a spiritless woman,
with unsteady steps, matted and unruly hair, sunken cheeks counter balanced by protruding eyes,
bruised wrist and wrinkled skin; Ammaiyar wanders in asylum cloisters, suffering from epileptic fits
of speech and song, bearing only a single tale of dejection between her “sobbing pendulous breast”
(Militancy 17). Her opting for instant old age in exchange of her beauty is synonymous with rejection
of the normative standards of femininity.

Breaking all the constraints of patriarchal beauty concepts

The poet can be seen breaking all the constraints of patriarchy. She is alone and has many traits that
can easily leave her devaluated as an ugly woman. She is dead inside. Her emotions are no longer
palpable. Her beauty is ruined and she hunts graves but she is nonetheless a woman. The poet is
trying to bring the Ideas of cultural capital that premise itself on beauty standards. For an average
dusky and curvy Indian woman, the most desirable and accepted attributes of beauty are to be
considered slim, fair and tall. And adhering to these attributes is now being equated to discipline,
self-control, elegance, youthful and socially attractive. Attaining the ideal Barbie doll image has
become the sole purpose and a scale to measure her and her family’s hierarchy and power in their
‘habitus’. In a patriarchal society female beauty is a currency system like the gold standard it assigns
value to women in a vertical hierarchy according to a culturally imposed physical standard; it is an
expression of power relation’. The expectation that the Indian women sculpt her to a Barbie doll
image is the major device constructed by men to gain social acceptance and cultural power. An
Indian man’s status in society is measured by not only his economic and social capital but also by the
women in his life (cultural capital). And women, who measure their accomplishment and status in
society through the lens of their men (father, brother, husband and son) strive to attain the beauty
standards through the process of self-turned hegemony. Indian patriarchal concepts of feminine
beauty is.

In India, women feel comfortable and free to judge and pass judgments on the other’s appearance,
even in their presence. The practice of ‘seeking brides’ or ‘seeing girls’, which ‘infantilises’ the
women’s bodies and faces, is where the groom’s family evaluates the bride in their presence and
decides if she falls into their standards. It has not only pressurised these young women to conform
to the societal standards of beauty but also attests to the fact that the power discourse is not
wielded by both the men and ‘the few’ haves of the Indian society (Lee, 1990). The others, who
compete to gain social and capital power, embrace unhealthy eating habits and expose themselves
to harmful bleaching creams which become the largest selling creams in India (Runkle, 2004). For
these women, beauty becomes non-negotiable for they define and arrange themselves in the
discursive beauty hierarchy that defines their social and cultural position.

The manifestation of her spiritual powers instils fear in her husband. He no longer wants to enjoy
carnal aspects with her. The patriarchal attitude of subverting sexuality for spirituality is another
theme meditated upon by the poet. Her spiritual beauty cannot be accepted by her husband. In his
eyes she was just a carnal object to be enjoyed by him as he pleased but the manifestation of her
powers elevates her status. He feels threatened by this and abandons her to marry another woman.

The exploration of the myth from this View point reveals the same.

The patriarchal construct of women as the centre of the family and its psychological ramifications
after abandonment.

A breakup in relationship is certainly the most terrible situation for a woman that results into an
emotional setback. The mental health indicators which are affected by abandonment relate to
depression, anger, low self-esteem, and anxiety. The woman may blame herself for such a mishap as
the prevalent patriarchal discourse considers woman as responsible for everything related to the
unity of the family. Abandonment leads to poor psychological and physical health in women. The
results revealed that divorced women have a higher susceptibility to chronic illness, especially over a
period of time compared with married women. A stressful life event has also shown to have affected
the psychological health of these women after abandonment. Abandonment has become a serious
problem; challenging the establishment of the family in a routine manner and causing severe
impacts on the emotional and mental health of the individual especially, women. Since women are
considered as the binding force in the family, they are believed to be responsible for whatever
wrong is done. The prevalent patriarchal discourse argues that women invest more in the family,
takes a larger responsibility for marriage, and therefore perceive divorce as a greater failure than
men do. This gives men the ability to perceive wives as expandable form of human resources that
can be employed for household chores and sexual pleasures.

The exact same problem can be seen while analysing the poem and the myth from this perspective.
The wife gets a new identity that it far nobler than what the patriarchal discourse deems possible.
This makes her husband abandon her. In simple words women that break the discourse of patriarchy
are prone to abandonment by their significant other.

Problems of Abandonment

Social rejection

Abandonment also resulted in social rejection. Abandoned women especially Dalit women, were
treated as belonging to a different group because of their singlehood. In a patriarchal society a
woman who becomes single after marriage is seen with contentious eyes as the system doesn’t
allow her freedom from the predetermined roles of the society. They were not able to share the
same kind of relationships with their friends like before, because of social ostracization. The status of
divorced women deteriorated as compared to married one. They feel ashamed that they are no
longer married and are at times too frightened to make contact with old friends. Before marriage
and after marriage friends have same relationship but when they know about divorce, they try to
keep distance due to their social prestige. This is another aspect of patriarchal practises that are
executed by woman against women. The lack of realization with regards to gender identity forces
women to implement patriarchal ideas against other women. The patriarchal idea of associating
disgrace with abandoned woman prevents their friends from associating with them. In the Indian
patriarchal scene Dalit women are not just socially ostracized they are isolated and exploited in work
places. They are forced to change their Jobs very often. They are not accepted even in their family
circles. In an Indian patriarchal society the married women are considered as the sole responsibility
of the husband and are not given any property rights. Abandoned women are seen as dead weight
for the family and they are driven away from their families. They are not entitled to any property
rights as it is the male members who usually have inherit properties. They are not given any say in
the dynamics of her original family as the members perceive her as a failure in family life, even if the
women are innocent. They are estranged to the status of a stranger. Most of the time they suffer
whatever that is dished out to them due to the lack of shelter and protection outside her original
family house. This is also directly linked to the patriarchal system as it subverts women
empowerment that gives them a chance at an independent life. The poet hints that an abandoned
woman in a patriarchal system is good as dead.

These elements can be seen in the poem and the myth, when analysed from the perspective of
social rejection. The abandoned woman in the poem couldn’t depend on anyone and decided to
transform herself with a spiritual identity that was able to surpass the patriarchal system. This paved
the way for her independent existence.

Blame

Mos of the time women are blamed for their separation or abandonment, especially by their
relatives or some times by their siblings. In the Indian patriarchal scene, the elder male often
chastises the woman for not putting up with her husband, even if it was an abusive relationship.
Abandoned victims of sometimes face questions of regarding their woman hood from their own
families.

In the poem the lady has transformed herself into a person that no longer embodies the patriarchal
principles of womanhood. She went from house wife to grave hunter at the altar of her devotion to
strip the patriarchal institutions that control women’s social and sexual aspects.

Weak Family Support

Abandoned women are not supported well by their families. The parents find themselves under
pressure in because of the social stigma around them. An abandoned woman is considered to be a
case of disgrace and by extension her parents are also brought into it. The society associates it with
bad parenting. This makes the original family exhibit signs of resentment against the abandoned
woman.

The poet shows that this is also an element behind the transformation of the woman into an
intensely spiritual ghost. The lack of support and the social backlash compels her to adopt roles that
defy the system. This enables her to survive in the world, though outside the social sphere.

Harassment and Exploitation

Abandoned women experience different levels of exploitation. After separation a married woman is
seen as sexually and economically needy. People try to get sexual favours in return for money. The
status of an abandoned women in a patriarchal society dips even below the status of a prostitute. If
she is of a from a lower caste section exploitation and harassment can be more than a harrowing
experience. Members of higher caste feel privileged to sexually harass them by exploiting their
financial vulnerability.

In the poem the woman takes an inhuman shape to exist in the world.

Spiritual Inferiority

Men are regarded as the more powerful practitioner of a spirituality in the Indian patriarchal scene.
Indian treatises regarding spirituality gives both sexes equality in the case of spirituality but the
corruption of that system by patriarchy led to the subversion of woman. Most of the spiritual heads
of religious institutions are men.

In the poem the husband cannot accept the spiritual superiority of his wife and abandons her.

Hardships an abandoned woman.  

Suffering wife.

Emotional stress

The mad woman in the Attic

Pitiful trauma

o a major life transition that has far-reaching social, pathological, legal, personal, economic, and
personal consequences”
Many couples experience “stress and friction” when there are changes in the division of their
economic and social roles,