Gender Roles and Patrilineal System in the Naga Society: A Study of Easterine Kire’s A Terrible Matriarchy


The Criterion

The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Volume 17, Issue 2 · April 2026 · ISSN 0976-8165

Open Access
CC BY 4.0
Crossref DOI


Gender Roles and Patrilineal System in the Naga Society: A Study of Easterine Kire’s A Terrible Matriarchy


Bunty Pangambam, Dr. Khundrakpam Nirupama

Indian Literature
Pages 589–600
Article #37
2026V17N2101

DOI

Digital Object Identifier

10.66376/criterion.v17.n2.37

Registered with Crossref · Open Access · CC BY 4.0

Abstract

This paper examines Easterine Kire’s A Terrible Matriarchy through the lens of socially constructed gender roles that are to be possessed by male and female in the Naga society. The novel is the story of the protagonist Dielieno’s coming-of-age. From an early age, she lived under the guardianship of her grandmother Vibano, an orthodox woman whose only purpose is to groom Dielieno to be a good Naga woman. Utilizing feminist framework, the study would analyse how Kire’s story disrupts traditional gender roles and limitations puts on women due to patriarchy in the Naga society. The paper attempts to analyse social disparity and injustice meted out to the women’s community of the Angami tribes. It also investigates the patrilineal system in the Naga society that put women in a deprived section of the society leaving widows and unmarried women economically and socially insecure.

Keywords
gender rolespatrilinealsocial disparitypatriarchyinjustice

Cite This Article — MLA 9th Edition

Bunty Pangambam, and Dr. Khundrakpam Nirupama. “Gender Roles and Patrilineal System in the Naga Society: A Study of Easterine Kire’s A Terrible Matriarchy.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 2, Apr. 2026, pp. 589–600. DOI, https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n2.37.

Article History
Received
3/29/2026/2026
Accepted
22 Apr 2026
Published Online
30 Apr 2026

Journal
The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Volume / Issue
Vol. 17, No. 2 (April 2026)
Pages
589–600
Article ID
2026V17N2101
ISSN
0976-8165

Open Access
CC BY 4.0
Crossref DOI

Open Access · CC BY 4.0 · Crossref DOI ·
the-criterion.com

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