ABSTRACT
A Muslim woman covers her face with a head shawl leaving a crack through which she can view the men. She squats on the floor in the corner of the open-air, three-sided men's bungalow shouting and waving her arms. Today there is a gathering of about twenty men who sit on rope-strung cots in the bungalow. The Muslim woman, Honey, is addressing a village council, a panchayat, in her affinal village. Her father, brother, uncle, husband, male in-laws, and important elders are present. It is unusual that she would voice her side of the story instead of only being represented by her father. But this speaks to the crux of the issue: Honey is said to be bold, assertive, and to dominate her husband, Rahiman.
