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One element of Devi's story that stuck out at me was the idea of a women's identity being formed by her motherhood. In the very first paragraph, Devi writes that "Jashoda was a mother by profession" (222).  The idea of someone being a mother by profession seems very limiting.  Why does motherhood need to be a profession?  It is true that there are many women who want to stay home and be a mother, which is a completely acceptable choice.  But women can have other professions besides being a mother.  

In discussing the effect that a liberal journal would have on the women of the town, Kangali says that "'the moment wife, or mother, or sister reads that paper...she'll say 'I'm a woman!  Not a mother, not a sister, not a wife'" (230).  I believe that this was one of the basic beliefs of second wave feminism, the idea that women did not need to stay home and take care of the kids, that they had worth outside of the house.  However, one of the challenges of a modern feminism, and a new definition of feminism, is making it okay to stay home as a mother, just as it is okay to work outside of the house.  I feel like this is often a challenge that is raised at women's colleges, where women are trained to go out into the world.  Can a women be progressive, liberal, and feminist and still be a mother and stay in the home?

One idea for a text that we could read is Middlemarch, as we discussed it in the begining of the course with regards to Middlesex.  I would also be interested in reading some theory, both dealing with "traditional" feminism, and ways to define new feminism - although I realize that this is a lot of what we have been doing.

On a completely different note, I just watched the movie of Persepolis and would highly recommend it.