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Abstract
A galaxy of social reformers and a few reform-minded elites emerged in the Nineteenth Century, to remove societal obstacles that stood in the way of women's emancipation and development. Of all the reformers, Periyar E.V.Ramasamy (E.V.R.) alone attacked, for the first time, the ideological basis of the "enslavement of women" in society through his journals. Periyar considered his journals as powerful vehicles to spread his message to the Tamil Society. In 1925, he started a journal, Kudi Arasu, (People’s Rule) which was followed in 1928 by Revolt. Then he started a Tamil journal called, Puratchi. It was then replaced by Pagutharivu, (Rationalism), on 26 August 1934. He made quick substitutions of each banned journal. It illustrated the importance he attributed to printed media because journals regularly carried his social and political reform ideas to the nook and corner of Tamil Nadu. As a matter of fact, till the end of his active public life, E.V.R. continued the floating of new propaganda journals. He started Unmai (Truth) in 1970 and Modern Rationalist in 1971, both when he was extremely old. In all his journals, Periyar paid much attention to the emancipation of women and elevation of the Depressed Classes.