In a developing country like India, women are the most important national
resource, as half of the population constitutes women. Despite successive
decades of activism and a large number of movements and legislation in the
country, the efforts at improving the status of women have not been successful
and women continue to suffer social and physical stigmas. This book contains
research conducted among the Maharashtrian women in India's city of Pune. It
examines issues - sociocultural, educational, economic, and political - and the
role of mass media in women's development. Women who attain an education and
better economic status are found to be developing new and modern