Ironies of Emancipation Essay

The article â€Å"Ironies of Emancipation: Changing Configurations of Women’s Work in the ‘Mission of Sisterhood’ to Indian Women† by Jane Haggis is an article that was written from a feminist perspective to ask specific questions about how the influence of the mission of sisterhood either helped or hurt Indian women in the 1800’s. The author takes the position that Indian women were confined to marriages more acutely because of the presence of female missionaries in India. The author points out that the female missionaries became almost a â€Å"symbol of emancipation in terms of British imperial feminism† and for this reason alone, the Indian population was unhappy with the way the females presented themselves and did not change (Haggis123). The missionary work, in of itself, was â€Å"women’s work† and was a way in which the British women were able to exert their own independence while doing the will of God. This article focuses a great deal on how the religion of the time affected the way in which British and Indian women communicated and interacted with each other and was a reason for the outcome, either the failure or the accomplishments, of the Mission of Sisterhood. The author describes how these women were expected to carry out their â€Å"women’s work† despite the domestic duties that were expected of a Victorian wife and mother, mostly because in Travencore women had a different role in terms of motherhood because their children were often sent away to school to get a proper British education. This left them able to pursue other duties, such as their mission to the Indian women (Haggis 119). This article makes a lot of good points about how British women were involved in missionary work in India in Victorian times and explains their role in their society, both at home and abroad. It’s interesting to note that the Indian women were perhaps kept back because of the influence of these women on their culture, instead of being converted. Work Cited Haggis, Jane. â€Å"Ironies of Emancipation: Changing Configurations of ‘Women’s Work’ in the ‘Mission of Sisterhood’ to Indian Women. † Feminist Review 65 (2000): 108-126. JSTOR. 5 Feb. 2007.