International Women’s Day is celebrated to commemorate the struggle for voting rights by women in the Western world. Unlike its Western counterpart and despite cultural and political invasions, men and women worked shoulder to shoulder to restore gender equality and abolish anti-women practices in modern India
Anupama Harish
Feminism is probably the most misunderstood word of our times. The simple meaning of feminism is the struggle of women for equality, for all human beings, in all sectors of life. Political freedom, sexual freedom, reproductive freedom, equality in workplace, equal property rights, equal career opportunities and equal pay being few of the key points which women across the world have struggled for, and are still struggling in many countries.
Western feminism, though by no means simple, can be categorised as purely a struggle for women’s rights in a liberal atmosphere. The three waves of feminism can also be attributed to western feminism. It may come as a surprise to many that American women were not allowed to vote until 1919. Most women were restricted to being housewives even in the 1960s. Equal pay act was passed in June 1963 which forced employers to pay men and women equally for the same work. However there is still a slight disparity in wages of men and women and quite surprisingly less than 20 per cent American women occupy key positions such as federally elected representatives and senators. Female athletes are devalued compared to their male counterparts, lesser women are architects, surgeons, corporate CEOs among other professions.
Feminism: West and East
Feminists have accrued rights for women in the liberal atmosphere of the West and this brand of feminism applies mostly to the women in west and does not extend to women across the globe. Moreover though American women enjoy almost equal status as men, the media portrayal of American women is dismal to say the least. Thin and white women are portrayed as standards for female beauty. This has a negative impact on women from other countries. The third wave of feminism which we are going through now attempts to address this and as globalisation has shrunk the world, feminism encompassing not only the developed West but also the developing East is being intensely explored.
Globalisation has its pros and cons. The world has been rendered as an equal playing platform for everybody. We can safely say that the internet is a great leveller. Exposure to the web content has fast forwarded many aspects around the world across all cultures. Access to easy information has made life much simpler in some ways and has complicated few others. Countries in the East which are mostly entrenched in religious philosophies, good and bad have not been able to evolve gradually. The difference in the deeply religious previous generation, and the West inspired current generation is vast. Feminism and gender discourses suitable for the West are being embraced by the East and this hasn’t suited our society completely.
The more popular western brand of feminism doesn’t even apply to all women in America. The empowered status that a white woman enjoys is not available for women of different colour and ethnicity. The thin, white, successful woman’s brand of feminism is damaging to young aspiring women across the world who look up to western ideologies for inspiration. The Barbie doll image is what is perceived as the perfect female beauty. The makers of barbie doll never bothered to make dolls suited to different ethnicity. All they did was change the colour of the skin slightly and add ethnic clothing to suit respective countries. Girls who had Barbie dolls have been proven to suffer from body image issues. Malaysia has even banned Barbie dolls as there was a rise in ‘Anorexia nervosa’ and plastic surgeries among girls after Barbie dolls were introduced there.
Though India was colonised by the British, Indians held onto their civilisational values. The English had no interest to uplift the masses from cruel and dogmatic practices. Many Indians who got exposed to western education applied their liberal views to our society and attempted to change India. This period is called the Indian Renaissance and we can also say that this era was the beginning of Indian Feminism.
The biggest difference between western feminism and its Indian counterpart is that Indian feminist movement was started by men. It was men like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Eshwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Phule etc. who were prominent among Indians, who were moved by the plight of women in India during that period and fought to abolish inhuman practices like Sati, disfiguration of widows, and child marriage. They also fought for educational rights of women.
The earliest feminist movement in the West can be traced to Greece. Susan B Anthony was perhaps the earliest recorded feminist who formed The Women’s Suffrage Association in 1869. Western women have almost achieved equal status due to the strong, sustained waves of feminism but as stated earlier this exalted status is enjoyed mostly by the rich, white, privileged women.
Women Empowerment in India
Looking back at history, Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai was probably the first popular feminist role model in India. The young widowed queen revolted against the British with the help of other Indian rebellion leaders and led the male dominated army of her kingdom. She surprised the English by her extraordinary fighting spirit and valor in the battles she fought against them. India has had numerous role models even before Jhansi Rani. For instance Queen Didda of Kashmir successfully ruled Kashmir as a regent to her son ruthlessly squashing the rebellion of her trouble making ministers. She obtained absolute power after eliminating many male family members who dared to overthrow her. Razia Sultana was the only female to rule the Delhi Sultanate. Rani Abbakka Chowta (first Tuluva queen, repulsed Portuguese attacks for 40 years), Keladi Chenamma (successfully repelled the Mughals during her reign of 26 years), Kittur Chennamma (Queen, who fought the British to protect her kingdom from the effects of Doctrine of Lapse), Ahilya Bai Holkar (Maratha matriarch), Pandita Rama Bai (social reformer and educationist), Dr Anandi Bai Joshi (First Indian woman doctor), Sarala Devi Chaudhurani (founder of the first women”s organisation in India, the Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad in 1910) are examples of empowered Indian women who changed the narrative of demure, submissive and oppressed women in India.
We cannot deny that India has had other strong women characters as role models. Indians have had these Puranic characters as role models. The western narrative of Indian women is that she was always disrespected and oppressed but it isn’t true. Conflating issues between worshiped Goddesses and incidents of women oppression have become a norm in the current Feminist narrative in India.
Post independence the status of women in India has been changing gradually. We have Sarojini Devi Naidu who was a famous poet and freedom fighter. She studied in London and Cambridge, and was passionately involved in India’s freedom struggle. She accompanied Annie Besant to London to present the case for the women’s vote to the joint select committee. India can also boast of having a female Prime Minister as early as the 1966 where as America hasn’t been able to produce a single Female President.
The current feminist culture in India cannot be categorised under one philosophy. A section of feminists have achieved great heights while being rooted to our culture. They do not adhere to the western brand of feminism where individual rights of women matter the most. Some leading examples of women who have broken the stereotypical western idea of an intelligent successful woman are the eight women scientists who were behind the launch of the Indian satellite Mangalyaan to Mars. They have shown us that any stream of study is not limited by gender and more importantly, women do not have to follow the western standards of
feminism to achieve great heights in any field.
This year’s women Padma awardees are beacons of female empowerment and each and every one of them is rooted in rich and diverse Indian traditional ideologies, but achieved amazing things. Unfortunately a successful woman is usually picturised as an English speaking, western attire wearing woman who has emerged successful only after giving up everything that is Indian. Reality is far from that and these women have proven beyond doubt that women can achieve anything they want without having to succumb to the pressures of looking and talking like western woman. It’s natural for a woman in the west to have this image but seems very forced when women from other ethnicities ape them without reason.
‘Let Women Decide’
In an article titled Empowerment of Women in Rural India, (Sulekha, May 9, 2003) TL Raghavan recounts his experience of a rural seminar on “Water Stress Management” in Northern Karnataka. To his pleasant surprise, he observed several women agriculturists who, were a small fraction of the participants,
listened to every speaker with rapt attention, diligently took notes, and participated in the ensuing discussions that followed. Raghavan writes, his concept “empowerment of women’ which is gradually coming to be bandied about, not unlike the other towering terminology “women”s liberation’, runs still deep in the rural Indian concept. It is just there
without anybody having to give it. In an unobtrusive way these women have been “empowered” equally like say Kiran Bedi or Kalpana Chawla. Only they are not feted, displayed and projected.
Raghavan writes that the highlight of the conference was an award for the best sugarcane cultivator, which went to a 70-year-old woman. He formally interviewed her and asked her how she got into agriculture. She said that it was “like asking a duck how it got into water” and revealed that her husband, father and brother had supported her unconditionally, which enabled her to cultivate 75 acres of sugarcane. Raghavan questioned her about the hurdles she might have faced as a woman agriculturist, this is what she said, “If you people just stop talking of man and woman as if they were different entities or species, you will get the answer. There was no obstacle for my progress. No special “power” from the family or society or the Government was required. God has created man or woman with differences… It must be granted that women are definitely less qualified for arduous and strenuous work, and in the past they were confined to that which were thought to be places where they belong — kitchen, bedroom and the like. But today, with so much of technological transformation all around … women are gradually being exposed to activities which … only man could do. Take for example…ploughing,…Possibly yoking bulls to the plough and the actual ploughing would have been beyond me as a woman … But today, I do the ploughing comfortably with a tractor just like a man.”
This is true feminism at best without radical ideas which many women succumb to unawares. There is no denying the fact that Indian women are far behind in terms of equal status as men but such women have proven beyond point that equality can be achieved without
abandoning everything Indian, and without hating all men for the crimes of few.
There is no denial that especially since medieval period, Indian society has been patriarchal and women’s aspirations and goals have always taken a back seat. Male children are still given more privileges and preference in many parts of the country. Having said that, women have progressed leaps and bounds.
Redefining the Contours
Due to globalisation and exposure to the western standards of feminism, a section of young impressionable women are in a conflicted state as their mothers come from a different generation of women who still held on to Indian traditions. To them feminism is the freedom to do whatever they want. They have confused feminism to rebelling against anything traditional and Indian. Radical man hating feminists disagree with everything that men stand for without logic or reasoning.
As more and more girls in India are being raised as sons, many have forgotten to raise their sons as daughters. This has resulted in a conundrum of situations where the girls have progressed socially but the boys haven”t been able to cope with the new independent Indian women. They have seen their mothers sacrifice everything for family and are not able to digest the fact that the educated and career oriented women are a different breed altogether. Very few men in India share domestic and child rearing responsibilities. This imbalance in expectations has caused havoc in the social circles. Divorce rates are at an abnormal high. Its like women have leaped hundred years ahead and men are trying their best to catch up.
Most Indians still enjoy a nurturing family support which is absent in the western family setup. Even though our society is patriarchal, many women are protected and nurtured in the family. This is probably one of the reasons for most Indian women’s softened approach to feminism. Our country is entrenched in traditions, myths and philosophies. No change happens across the country at the same time. The nation as a whole has to be sensitised to the necessity of equal status among the men and women in our country. To expect the western standards of feminism to work in a country as diverse as India is unreasonable and impossible. Feminism is not just doing the same things as men do.
Transnational NGOs working for female empowerment should use the virtual space to discuss issues faced by women in their country. The internet is the driving force behind globalisation. This virtual space can be used to discuss global feminism. Feminist groups can address issues that are relevant and meaningful to them by discussing with feminists across the globe. This space can help the third wave feminists discuss with western feminists about their shared problems and establish support groups based on their issues without imposing one single brand of feminism on any particular group.
The voices of women across the world should be heard to reduce the gap between women of all colours and races. This is probably the only way to achieve the ever eluding equal space for women. Having said that, Indian women need not embrace the western brand of misandry feminism blindly. It will not help us in any way. Our culture is revered for its rich philosophy. We can create our own brand of
feminism to suit the socio-cultural climate in our country. Indians are a perfect blend of traditional values and modernity. Forsaking our traditions for more recent western concepts will not work for us. Hopefully we are able to achieve this balance with collective efforts of women and men.
(The writer is a blogger and writes on
gender & environmental issues)
Leave a Comment