Expressive Behaviours of Hmar Women

The participation of womenfolks in the sociocultural life of a community with patriarchal form of social set-up is often judged within the context of patriarchal culture and its norms. Their role and identity are defined in terms of men and when compared to men, they are often assigned a role subordinate to their male counterparts. This biased tradition of representation robs women of their complete view of the thought, feelings and their unified cultural behaviour. This is especially true of the Hmar women of Assam on whose cultural values, no scholarly research or work has been carried out or published either by male or female scholars. This book deals with those meaningful and relevant cultural performances and behaviours that are characteristically female-oriented in the cultural tradition of the Hmars. By focusing on the different expressive genres that flourish especially within the domain of women, this work makes a humble attempt to try to situate Hmar women in their rightful traditional value. The book aims at providing a comprehensive detail of the traditional life of the Hmar women and, a perspective that relies on Hmar women's sociocultural experiences and expressions.