The Guru's Gift: An Ethnography Exploring Gender Equality with North American Sikh Women

by Cynthia Keppley Mahmood, Stacy Brady

This ethnography focuses on the concerns of young Sikh women in North America interested in asserting their rights, highlighting the voices of 13 young women finding their way through the competing traditions of Punjabi and North American culture. Mahmood is associate professor of anthropology at th

Genres: Religion, Anthropology

123 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1999

Reviews

[Cory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in college originally. It's still an interesting read, but I'm curious how the book would be different if the ethnographic work was done now with the current political tensions and prejudices.

[Steel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly great book that is a great introduction for Sikh, but also for anthropology in general and how it works.

[P · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first -- this is an academic book. It is an ethnographic (anthropological) look at Sikh North American women.

I had already read Mahmood's excellent book on Sikh Militancy, so I looked forward to this one. It did not disappoint. The book primarily consists of interviews with Sikh women (and some men) and quick accompanying analyses, all sandwiched in between commentary on ethnographic anthropology (which I did not find particularly interesting).

Although most of the comments from the women did not surprise me in the least, I was impressed by the way in which they expressed their opinions.

Ultimately, this book is a referendum on gender equality in the North American Sikh community. Clearly, the community has a long ways to go, but the Sikh community is very unique in that the religion that serves as its foundation is perhaps the only one that so dramatically emphasizes gender equality in its scriptures. As the authors put it, this puts Sikh women in the unique perspective of being able to use religion to achieve equality.

I'll end with the last paragraph of the book:

"We urge you, readers, to think about this book in the spirit of reflexivity. Take to your heart the Guru's gift: a humankind divided into complementary halves that need each other to be truly whole."