This research ties into contemporary debates about the relevance of post-Enlightenment universalism in a context where women are asserting their differences. It emerged from the research that women are subject to the gender regime in their culture in ways which transcend the multiplicity of their experience. Forms of gender suffering which existed in different guises through a long historical run in Tamil Nadu, exacerbated by the historically continuing encroachment of Brahmanic values, were brought out through the study. An analysis of modern Tamil cinema and its role in replicating stereotypical views of women was also explored. The findings of the research are published under the title "Ideology, Caste, Class and Gender".