''Stri Dharma'', translated into English as 'The Sphere of Women', was an anti-colonial and pro-nationalist

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

of the

Women's Indian Association The Women's Indian Association (WIA) was founded at Adayar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, and others to liberate women from the deplorable condition women suffered in socio-economic and political matters ...

which was first published in January 1918 by two

Theosophist Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...

feminists –

Margaret Cousins Margaret Elizabeth Cousins (''née'' Gillespie, also known as Gretta Cousins; 7 November 1878 – 11 March 1954) was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was ...

and

Dorothy Jinarajadasa Dorothy Jinarajadasa (born Dorothy May Graham; 19 March 1881 - 13 January 1963) was an English feminist, suffragette, and writer based in India. Along with Margaret Cousins and Annie Besant, she established the Women's Indian Association in 1917, ...

– and continued until August 1936. Dorothy Graham Jinarajadasa,

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

, Mahadeva Sastri,Srimati Patwardhan and

Muthulakshmi Reddy Muthulakshmi Reddy (also spelled Reddi in some British Indian sources; 30 July 1886 – 22 July 1968) was an Indian medical practitioner, social reformer and Padma Bhushan award recipient. Muthulakshmi Reddy was appointed to the Madras Legisl ...

formed the magazine's originating board. Its title was

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

for the

dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

of women: their right way.

Audience

The magazine targeted Anglo-Indian, Indian, and British women readers.

Content

It published news of women’s activities, feminist opinion pieces on topics such as women’s suffrage and equal rights, reports of conventions and analysis of new legislations that affected women in India and abrode.

Pricing

Like other women's magazines of its time, Stri Dharma focussed more on recovering production costs than making a profit and focused on reaching a female audience. It was priced cheaply at 2 annas and was available in reading rooms and educational institutions. Initially, it did not publish advertisements. To manage costs, the magazine experimented with paper quality, size and frequency of publication.

References

Citations

Sources

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External Links

* Archive of Stridharma magazines available here: https://wiachennai.org/stridharma/ {{womens-mag-stub 1918 establishments in India 1936 disestablishments in India Defunct journals Feminism in India Defunct feminist magazines Magazines established in 1918 Magazines disestablished in 1936 Women's magazines published in India