ThinkHer

 I believe that a nation that has to protect its women rather than empower them has a problem. One has to understand that power hides itself in the language of protection and purity. This is where the statement, "Fundamentalism uses women's bodies as a battlefield in its struggle to appropriate institutional power", by Malathi De Alwis, makes sense. Malathi de Alwis ©Colombo Telegraph Malathi de Alwis is a pioneering Sri Lankan anthropologist, feminist scholar, peace activist and a teacher. Born on 6 October 1963 in Sri Lanka, she earned her PhD in socio-cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago. She spent her career unpacking the uneasy alliance between gender and nationalism. During the turbulent decades of civil war in Sri Lanka, she stood out as a voice that asked difficult questions. Her work has been indispensable to understanding Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and its construction of the good woman. Her PhD work, titled- Maternalist Politics in Sri Lanka: ...

When we reflect on a person's legacy, although we try to focus on their achievements—their impact, contributions, and the struggles they endured—we inevitably recognize the more human and nonlinear aspects of a person’s life. Each of us is a complex mosaic of contradictions, shaped by the values of our time and reevaluated through the shifting lens of history. Iravati Karve, regarded as India’s first female sociologist and anthropologist, embodies such intricacies. Her life and work stand at the crossroads of pioneering scholarship, progressive thought, and the lingering constraints of outdated ideologies from her time. Born in 1905 in Burma (present-day Myanmar), Iravati Karve was raised in a highly intellectual environment that shaped her worldview from an early age. Sent to India to be educated by the progressive Paranjpye family, she absorbed their emphasis on academic rigor, individualism, and social reform. Marrying into the Karve family—known for their contributions to educa...

"Ishango bone discovered in East Africa is one of the earliest examples of a lunar calendar indicating men's need to record days and months to understand seasonal changes for agriculture." When we read the quote, do we feel like looking it up and checking if this is a fact? How about this: "Ishango bone discovered in East Africa is one of the earliest examples of a lunar calendar indicating women's needs to record days and months to understand the menstrual cycle and the possibility of pregnancy." Now all the factual enthusiasts, including us, are curious to know if this is, in fact, true. This has been a debate going on for years now. This debate, far from being a simple academic squabble, underscores a broader historical narrative: the overlooked contributions of women to early mathematics, calendars, and agriculture. An illustration of Ishango bone Ethno-mathematician Claudia Zaslavsky argued that the Ishango bone originated with women’s need for a lunar ...