Gender, Patriarchy and Women’s Struggles in Easterine Kire’s Don’t Run, My Love

Abstract

The North-East of India has long been marked by a distinct socio-cultural identity that sets it apart from the rest of the country. Within this context, Easterine Kire, one of Nagaland’s most significant literary voices, highlights the lived experiences of women in a patriarchal society. Her novella Don’t Run, My Love portrays the struggles of two women—Visenuo, a widow and her daughter Atuonuo—against the backdrop of Angami Naga traditions. This paper examines how Kire represents issues of female subjugation, property rights, social expectations and cultural taboos, while simultaneously offering narratives of courage and resistance. The text foregrounds the dual burden of women in Naga society: their role as preservers of tradition and their marginalization under patriarchy. By doing so, Kire challenges the notion of “North-East Literature” as a homogenous category and presents Naga women as agents of strength, defiance and transformation.