It is a unique account of the long term and contemporary imposition of patriarchal gender ideologies on the women of Tamil Nadu -- whether these ideologies are manifest in art, laws, economic activities, or in any other area of individual and collective life. Being a ''native'' of Tamil society in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Dr Thiruchandran knows what it means to suffer from political discrimination. And secondly, being a woman herself, is aware of the larger issues facing the Tamil women in general. Her book, using extensive interviews, reinforces a common theme of ''gender suffering'' that tragically permeates the lives of women -- notwithstanding their social, cultural, economic differences or inter-caste conflicts.

Dr Selvy Thiruchandran is Executive Director of Women''s Education and Research Centre (WERC) in Sri Lanka, and also editor of the Feminist Journal Nivedini.