1 - Glossing over Gender Norms: The Cunning Agency of Hindu Women in Career Orientation and Marital Life

Rapid changes in Asian societies, including India, have brought about gender transformations in various aspects, and women's social participation and career orientation are some of these changes. On the other hand, individual life decisions, such as career choices, are also influenced by family norms and are seen as a negotiation between "conventional familism" and "liberal individualism".

　Among Hindus, who make up 80% of India's population, the system of intra-caste marriage, in which marriage partners are sought within caste-based social groups (clans), is common, and the sexuality of unmarried women is controlled by their family members. Once married, women tend to value the role and norm of reproductive activities in the domestic sphere. Thus, although highly educated urban professional women appear to enjoy free lifestyles, they tend to separate romantic love and premarital sex as a non-marital relationship and when considering marriage, they tend to build a relationship based on the partner’s caste, economic status, and educational level. Even after marriage, they behave in ways that respect and conform to their roles as wives and mothers, trying to juggle work, household chores, and childcare.

However, these women's behaviors do not necessarily mean that they are simply obedient to the norm. Rather, they are attempting to expand their opportunities for self-fulfillment, including career choices and social activities, in gradual and unobtrusive ways rather than overtly resisting the norm. This study examines these women's everyday strategies and cunning agencies in terms of their career orientation and marriage in the case of India.