Imperilled in the Purity Culture: Jeevana of Dalit Women's Un/Touchable Bodies

This project examines how Dalit women’s bodies in the caste system are imperilled within  the cultures of purity and pollution. Jeevana, is used as both an ethic and methodology to analyze the paradox of “touch” surrounding Dalit women’s bodies. It is a Kannada term refers to the experience of being alive, living, and the unfolding of human events and activities. However, for Dalit Women it signifies everyday acts of resistance against the interconnected oppressions of caste, class, and gender. Although Dalit women are defined as untouchable and impure, their bodies become “touchable” only in situations of violation; therefore, I term their bodies as un/touchable. This project asks why men from caste communities as well as Dalit communities perceive that Dalit women’s bodies can be touched anytime, anywhere, and everywhere without their consent. It argues that un/touchable bodies exist as witnesses carrying memories of abuse and discrimination, not as victims but resisters of oppression and oppressors.