Blog Post #2
The mission of RKSS is to work with disadvantaged women, children, and adolescents through community engagement and programs designed by beneficiaries in Mumbai, India. One group that RKSS provides assistance to is young, disadvantaged women. According to RKSS, poor adolescent women between the ages of 14–18 drop out before reaching secondary school. These young women are arranged to get married, start families, and carry responsibilities. However, things like economic issues and domestic violence occur due to misogyny and violent disputes from their husbands. This causes women to find a lack of self-care; physically and emotionally. They often cannot combat the issues that they’re facing, due to the lack of resources. This results in young women not having a sense of self and having unhealthy relationships and cycles.
A study conducted by Daulat and Wadhwa (2023) examines Indian American women’s experience of work engagement and contributions of self-identity and mental health in diverse workplaces. The study concludes 90 Indian-American women who were born and raised in India, then immigrated to the United States. Ameera, who is an Indian-American, migrated to the United States as an infant. She grew up respecting her family values and traditions, and was even told to “uphold her family’s reputation.” There’s a common issue amongst Indian-American women where they struggle to find their identities due to the enormous amount of responsibility from their families. This includes maintaining family image, reputation, incorporating cultural norms into their daily lives, etc.
“Indian American women navigate myriad cultural expectations, many of which stem from patriarchal traditions that can shape their self-acceptance and mental health. Like their counterparts in the broader South Asian diaspora, society expects Indian American women to prioritize the preservation of their community, Indian cultural standards, and gender norms while achieving career and professional goals’’ (Daulat & Wadhwa, 2023). These expectations are carried with them, especially in the workplace. With any kind of emotion comes its impact in certain situations. The correlation is that identity self acceptance has a positive relationship with positive mental health in women, or if it’s negative, then women’s mental health will be negative as well.
Based on the article and the background of RKSS, there are ways to help Indian women to achieve more in their lives. Dropping out of school shouldn’t be one’s last resort, nor should it be an option. School is vital to one’s upbringing and can implement useful information later in life. I believe that the study and information from this article can be beneficial to RKSS due to the shared common problems and traits. Cultural heritage is also a large factor, and with some insight from the article, it can help my group mates and I perhaps understand more deep and interpersonal details regarding why young Indian women are raised differently. Overall, the information obtained has been useful and it has given me better insight on cultural norms, self-identity, and the importance of mental health.
Daulat, N., & Wadhwa, H. (2023). Examining Indian American women’s relationship to work engagement through self-identity acceptance and positive mental health. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 14(2), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000279
