Tracing the Indian Feminist Movement

The Feminist Movement in India

The role of women in pre-colonial social structures shows that unlike in the West, Feminism was theorized rather differently in India. In fact, women’s issues were only addressed once the state commissioned reports on the status of women to a group of researchers and feminist activists. What this report highlighted was the fact that there was a system of gender-based hierarchy and various systemic injustices that caused suffering amongst Indian women. This was precisely the period in which Indian feminists came to be influenced by the Western debates of violence against women. However, due to the vast margins of historical and socio- cultural disparity between India and the West, the cause of Indian women had to be advocated creatively, and certain Western ideas had to be rejected.

It was the rise of the concept of nationalism and scrutinising discriminatory practices that brought about the social reform movements related to caste and gender in the late 19th century. At the turn of the century, as the struggle against colonialism intensified, claiming Indian superiority became the tool of cultural revivalism. This resulted in an image of Indian womanhood which was similar to that of the Victorian Age – special yet separated from the public space.

However, Indian women started participating in public activities, such as the non-violent civil disobedience movement against the British. In rural satyagrahas, peasant women played a crucial role, carving out a niche for those in the public arena. Issues related to women’s franchise and scope of women’s participation in politics now took the front seat and feminist organisations like All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) emerged. However, the feminist discourse lost impetus after India’s independence in 1947, as the agenda of nation building took precedence over feminist issues.

Women’s participation in the struggle for freedom developed their critical consciousness about their role and rights in independent India. This resulted in the introduction of the franchise and civic rights of women in the Indian constitution. There was provision for women’s upliftment through affirmative action, maternal health and child care provision, equal pay for equal work, etc. The utopia ended soon when prejudiced cultural ideologies failed to honor the newly acquired concepts of fundamental rights and democracy.

Feminists in the 1970s did not accept the inequalities that were present and fought to remove them with renewed force. These inequalities included unequal wages for women, relegation of women to ‘unskilled’ spheres of work, and restricting women as a reserve army for labour. Feminist class-consciousness also came into focus in the 1970s, with feminists recognizing the inequalities within power structures such as caste, language, religion, class etc.

The focus of the Indian feminist movement has now gone beyond a demand for treating women as rightful and deserving members of society and their right to equality, to also include having the power to decide the course of their personal lives and the right of self-determination.

By Misba Sabu.