Abstract

Indian matrimonial sites are among those booming advertising sites that attract people of Indian origin worldwide to find their partners online. The online matrimonial market evolved in the 1990s with the internet and soon crossed the borders. Matrimonial websites created space among the South Asian diaspora to connect with their culture, marriage system, community, and homeland. This article digs into the matrimonial website jeevansathi.com with the question: How are gender roles and expectations reflected in the matrimonial profiles on the site? What role does caste play in the matchmaking process on Jeevansathi.com? The study is based on a quantitative method of collecting data from jeevansathi.com. For the study, twenty-five male and twenty-five female diaspora profiles were taken, from which the information on caste and gender were collected. Methodologically, this article is based on digital ethnography. Theoretically, the article will do a close reading from the Dalit diaspora feminist perspective. We analyze the data collected in three steps: first, analysis of gender-specific roles and the politics of the body, such as body type and body color, on a matrimonial site; second, the role of caste in the matrimonial site; and lastly, the intersection of gender and caste and the representation of Dalit diaspora women on the matrimonial site jeevansathi.com.