FEMINISM IN INDIA

RUSHIKESH SURESH DUDHKAWADE

Copyright © Rushikesh Suresh Dudhkawade All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-64919-147-2 This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

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Contents Acknowledgements

vii

1. Feminism In India

1

2. 1947

10

3. Hindu Feminism

19

4. Employment

23

5. Education

25

INDIAN FEMINIST

•v•

Acknowledgements Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards my advisor Shital Mekale for the continuous support of my study and My Book completion, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the time when I under goes in research or while writing book. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my book. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my suppoters: Dr. Suresh Dudhkawade, and also Anita Dudhkawade for their encouragement, insightful comments, they motivates me while writing the book My sincere thanks also goes to Prathmesh Dhasade for helping in writting contents of Theories and leading me working on diverse exciting projects. I thank my grandparents who always support me in my field and gives there right opinion and suggestion to me I would like to thanks my aunties and my sisters that gives necessary things that I want, So because of you all, I could complete my book Last but not the least; I would like to thank my mother for giving birth to me at the first place and supporting me spiritually throughout my life

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CHAPTER ONE

Feminism in India Feminism in India is a group of movements aimed at establishing and defending the same political, economic definition. Women in India. There is a search for women’s rights in Indian society. Like their feminist parts around the world, feminists in India seek gender equality: the right to work for equal pay, the right to equal access to health and education, and the same political right. Indian feminists have also struggled against culture-specific issues in India’s totalitarian society, such as inheritance law. The history of feminism in India can be divided into three phases: the first, beginning in the mid-19thcentury, when men began to speak out against the social evils of European colonial sati; The second phase from "1915" to Indian independence was when Gandhi incorporated the women’s movement into the Quit India movement and independent women’s organizations began to emerge; And finally, the third phase, post-independence, which has focused on proper treatment, work force and political equality for women at home after marriage. Despite the progress made by Indian feminist movements, women living in modern India still face many issues of discrimination. India’s patriarchal culture has made the process of gaining land-ownership and access to •1•

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education challenging. In the last two decades, the trend of sex-selective abortion has also come to the fore. To Indian feminists, this is seen as an injustice to fight against. In India, as in the West, there has been little criticism of feminist movements. They have previously been criticized for focusing too much on privileged women and neglecting the needs of poor or lower class women. This has led to the formation of caste-specific feminist organizations and movements. The role of women in pre-colonial social structure suggests that feminism was theorized differently than in the West. The first to address women’s issues in India was when a group of male and female researchers and activists reported on the status of women. The report highlights the fact that women were being oppressed in India under a system of constructive hierarchy and injustice. During this period, Western feminists were influenced by Western debates on violence against women. However, due to differences in India’s historical and social culture, discussions on the side of Indian women had to be creatively carried out and some Western ideas had to be rejected. "Women’s issues gained international importance in the decade 1975–1985 when the United Nations declared women decades." Indian socialists have to face certain obstacles in Indian society which do not exist or are not prevalent in Western society. Although the ultimate goal of Indian feminists is the same as in the West, their feminism can be different in many ways in addressing the kind of issues and situations that have to be faced in modern patriarchal society. Indian feminists try to challenge the patriarchal structure of their society in various ways. Sampat Pal Devi is a former government employee and mother of five children who, •2•

RUSHIKESH SURESH DUDHKAWADE

when she grew up in India, witnessed domestic violence in her own community. As a result, she decided to start a vigilante group known as the ‘Pink Gang’, which would track down the perpetrators and beat them with bamboo sticks until they believed they had repented and took full revenge on their victims. In the field of religion, Indian feminists draw attention to the powerful image of the female goddess in Hinduism. He also draws attention to the pre-marital history of Indian society and says that there are many periods in Indian history which were not patriarchal and the society did not have a male-female and matriarchal society. Indian women discuss existence through oppressive patriarchal family structures: age, general status, origin, relationship with men through marriage and procreation, as well as patriarchal traits. Examples of patriarchal traits: dowry, son of rape, etc., relationship, caste, community, village, market and state. However, it should be noted that Nairs of Kerala, Shetis of Mangalore, some Marathi clans and Bengali families display marital tendencies. In this society, the head of the family is not the oldest person but the oldest woman. Sikh culture is also considered relatively gender-neutral. In a society recognized in the national constitution as a Scheduled Tribe, "some ... [there are" in motherhood and motherhood ") and therefore they are known as more egalitarian." According to interviewer Anuj Kumar, Manipur, “there is a matriarchal society”, but this cannot be a scholarly assessment. Manipur had strong dynasties and border expansion was needed, intimidating anyone from outside etc. kept those men engaged. So, women had to accept responsibility for the home-front.

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FEMINISM IN INDIA

In a Muslim family, women and men are considered equal, but not in the Western sense. The Qur‘an teaches that the female mind is half male and that they are usually biologically different. So Islam gives different rights to husband and wife. In this sense, the husband can play a leading role in the household. The controversy of the Indian experience shows that there are many patriarchal, multiple feminists contributing to existence. Therefore, feminism in India is not a single theoretical orientation; This has changed over time in terms of historical and cultural realities, levels of consciousness, perceptions and actions about women and women as individuals. "Awareness of the oppression and exploitation of women in society, at work and in the family, and the conscious action taken by women and men to change this situation" is a widely used definition. Acknowledging sexuality in daily life and challenging and trying to overcome it by violating the mutually exclusive notions of femininity and masculinity as a biologically determined category paves the way for both men and women towards an equal society. The male-female dualism of the oppressive polar opposites of earlier times is rejected in the Indian context as it was the men who initiated the social reform movement against various social evils. Registrar is just a hierarchy. Relationship hierarchy between women in the same family is more unfavorable. Here the women are standing against each other. Not all women are always powerless. The relationship between Western and Indian feminism is hotly debated in the Indian women’s movement. Many Indian feminists simultaneously claim specific "Indian" sensitivities as well as international feminist solidarity with groups and individuals around the world. The rise of liberal •4•

RUSHIKESH SURESH DUDHKAWADE

feminism in the West in the 1970s focused on the demand for equal opportunities for education and employment, as well as on the elimination of violence against women. To a large extent, the emerging feminist movement in India had an impact on Western ideology. It demanded education and equal rights, but it appealed to local issues and their concerns, such as dowry-related violence against women, sati, sexual choice-abortion, and protective rape. Some Indian feminists have suggested that these issues are not specifically "Indian" but a reflection of the widespread trend of patriarchal oppression of women. According to Maitrayi Chaudhary, unlike the Western feminist movement, the Indian movement was started by men, and was later joined by women. But feminism was soon established by women’s advocates for women’s rights and education in Maharashtra: Savitribai Phule, who started the first school for girls in India (1818); Tarabai Shinde, who wrote India’s first feminist text in 1882, Stree Purush Purush (Comparison between Men and Men); And Pandita Ramabai, who criticized patriarchy and the caste system in Hinduism, married outside her caste and converted to Christianity (1880). The efforts of the Bengali reformers included the annihilation of sati, the burning of a widow at her husband’s funeral, the abolition of child marriage, the abolition of widowhood, the marriage of all Hindu widows, the promotion of women’s education, and the legalization of women. The law complied with what was required to give women the status of women by giving them fundamental rights in matters such as the right to property and adoption. It was during the 19thcentury that most women’s issues came up and began to improve. Many of the early improvements for Indian women were taken by men. •5•

FEMINISM IN INDIA

However, in the late 19thcentury, he joined the efforts of his wife, sisters, daughters, others and others who were directly affected by the campaign for women’s education. In the late 20thcentury, women gained more autonomy by establishing their own independent women’s organizations. In the latter, "about women’s activism" is a no New research was done to build a logical and organic link between feminism and Marxism, as well as to fight against racism and anti-racism, etc. The Indian Constitution guaranteed ’equality between the sexes‘. . In the early years of the women’s rights movement, the differences between the sexes were more or less taken into account because their roles, functions, goals and desires were different. As a result, they were not only treated differently, but also treated differently. Over time, this difference in itself became a major reason for women to start movements. The early 19thcentury reformers argued that the difference between men and women was not a reason for women to be subject to society. However, later reformers argued that it was indeed the specific difference that subdued women in their role in society, for example, as mothers. Proper care was needed to establish women’s organizations And her participation in her own campaign put pressure on her to regain her role as a mother, but in a different light: this time, women’s rights to speech, education, and liberation were argued. However, the image of women as symbols with the mother changed over time - until family was created. Deep, often believers create images. The concepts of democracy, equality and individual rights came into the colonial work of modernity. The concept of nationalism and the introspection of discriminatory practices led to social reform movements •6•

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related to caste and gender relations. This first phase of feminism in India was done by men to eradicate the social evils of sati (widow burning), to allow widow remarriage, to prevent child marriage and to reduce illiteracy, as well as to regulate and protect the age of consent. Property rights through legal intervention. In addition, some upper caste Hindu women rejected the constraints imposed on them under the Brahmanical tradition. However, in the late nineteenth century, efforts to improve the status of women in Indian society were somewhat rejected, as nationalist movements emerged in India. Especially in the field of family relations, these movements resisted ‘colonial interference in gender relations’. In the second half of the nineteenth century, there was national resistance to any colonial attempt to ’modernize' the Hindu family. This included the age of consent dispute that arose when women tried to increase the age of marriage. Women ruled in many Indian states during the British colonial period, namely Jhashi (Rani Lakshmibai), Kittur (Rani Chennama), Bhopal (Quidisa Begum) and Punjab (Jind Kaur). During this period the struggle against the colonial rule intensified. Nationalism became the main reason. Claiming Indian supremacy became a means of cultural revival which resulted in the same essential model of Indian femininity as Victorian men and women: in particular the separation from the public sphere. Gandhi legalized and expanded the public enterprise of Indian women by launching a non-violent civil disobedience movement against the British Raj. She explained her feminine roles of caring, self-sacrifice, sacrifice and tolerance; And carved a niche for people in the public sector. Peasant women played an important role in the rural satyagraha of Borsad •7•