Phoolan Devi

Oni Akuma 02/17/97 Phoolan Devi: Perceptions of Power The purpose of this paper is to analyze and index gender and power as they factor into the life of one Dalit woman, Phoolan Devi. Particularly, I have chosen to examine the idea of whether or not she wielded real power. In an attempt to make it more useful to speak of this slippery thing called power, I would like to make some declarations and pose some questions …

…As long as Indian officials continue to see her as a figurehead of her caste, she will continue to have political power. As long as she is perceived as an icon of the rights of the oppressed, she will retain the power to inspire. SOURCES Nelson, Cynthia 1974 Public and Private Politics: Women in the Middle Eastern World. American Ethnologist 1:551-563 Internet Newsgroup: Soc.Feminism 1/6/97 Posted by: vhelmle@earthlink.net Bandit Queen Directed by Shekhar Kapoor 1996