Do Caste travel with gendered body?: Reading Indian diaspora online matrimonial advertisements

Abstract

Advertisement is not just a business expenditure undertaken in the hope of moving some merchandise off the store shelves, but it is an integral part of modern culture. Indian diaspora online matrimonial advertisements are one of those booming advertising sites which are attracting many people through their promises. Indian diaspora matrimonial advertising sites advertise the profiles of grooms and brides to arrange the marriages of Indians living outside India. Matrimonial websites, faster than any traditional matchmaker, filter profiles according to the preferences and choices of the person looking for a partner. The paper will look beyond the fancy pictures of matrimonial sites and advertisements to question the social, cultural, economic, and ideological concerns. In this respect, the paper will employ the feminist critique of advertisements in order to analyze the process of creating an online profile and looking for a recommended profile. The paper will observe the complexity of gender with Caste in order to see the persistence of strong caste-based marriages far from the Indian land among the diaspora. In this regard, two profiles of male and female each is created on Jeevansaathi.com to access other existing profiles of brides and grooms. Among many profiles, 50 random profiles are taken for the case study.