ABSTRACT

This article examines the role of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in constructing the terms of political engagement for young Christian women in South Asia. It focuses on a periodical called The Young Women of India and Ceylon, published between 1908 and 1916, which typically carried didactic essays and short aphoristic pieces of writing by Western educators and social workers, addressing a predominantly South Asian readership. Through this magazine, as well as through its Bible-study groups, social events, sporting gatherings and social work activities, the YWCA sought both to create opportunities for women’s participation in public life in South Asia and to articulate the boundaries of proper Christian womanhood in this practice. In particular, I argue that the writing in this magazine emphasised ideals of enterprise, positivity and professionalism. The article also examines the effects of this discourse, considering how South Asian Christian women inhabited an ethic of religious womanhood and showing that they engaged in a balancing act that both reiterated and contested the missionary ideal of ‘good’ womanhood.

摘要

本文探讨了基督教女青年会 (YWCA) 在为南亚年轻基督教女性构建政治参与条件方面的作用。它专注于一份名为“印度和锡兰的年轻女性”的期刊, 出版于 1908 年至 1916 年间，通常包含西方教育家和社会工作者的教学论文和简短的格言作品，主要面向南亚读者。通过这本杂志，以及通过圣经学习小组、社交活动、体育聚会和社会工作活动，基督教女青年会寻求为南亚妇女参与公共生活创造机会，并阐明适当的基督徒女性身份的界限这种做法。特别是，我认为这本杂志的文章强调了进取心、积极性和专业精神的理想。这篇文章还考察了这种话语的影响，