HELL YES! I AM A
FEMINIST
“ आई पाहिजे , बहिन पहिजे , बाइको पाहिजे पण मुलगी नको "
(Directly translates as -want a mother, want a sister, want
a wife, but not a daughter).
This great rhetoric is painted as graffiti on the walls all
over Pune, years ago by Pune Municipal Corporation as its bid to save girl
child. These lines in Marathi are everywhere to see and are hardly to miss.
Like every citizen I commute through this government sponsored graffiti in my
own obliviousness, finding nothing wrong with it. However it was only last
week, on my way home from a tiring day at court, I realized something blatantly
wrong with it. It took me a moment to recover when the meaning of those lines,
seemingly urging people to save girl child, dawned upon me. My stomach ached
from an awful turmoil as I realized the grave fallacy in those lines. (yes,
I underwent such a dramatic moment as I
had attained enlightenment.!!) The loud and clear message the government
sponsored advertisement gave to the common folklore under the guise of saving
girl child was that, “You NEED to
save the girl child because WE NEED
them to fulfill the traditional patriarchal roles of mother, sister and a wife.”
As a woman I was petrified when it dawned upon me that I am
saved only to become a mother, a sister and a wife. It made me wonder if being
a woman in India is only about fulfilling these patriarchal roles. It simply
questioned my existence as an ‘individual’ sans my gender. After all, just like
religion and caste, gender too is a social construct. It is not divinely
ordained. It is simply constructed by society. It was at that moment the great
wise words of Simone De Beauvoir echoed, “one
is not born a woman, she is made into a woman.”
Later that evening, I narrated my divine “enlightenment” to
a friend of mine and she labeled me a ‘Feminist’. She used the term as if it
were a bad word. I mean, since when did ‘Feminism’ or ‘being a feminist’ become
such a bad word in India. Why does an average Indian (read men and women) look
down upon it? The reason for it may lie in the fact that in India, feminism is
merely a word. We are completely unaware that feminism is an independent
ideology. It is an ideology developed over the years by women and men who dared
to think, who dared question and change the set norms and practices of the
society. Yes, of course, like every other ideology it too is conditioned by
prevalent circumstances.
That particular day I was struck with dual enlightenment.
The first one was the unfolding of the true meaning of the seemingly subtle
advertisement which nevertheless, vehemently laid down the need to save girl
child. The second one was that being a feminist in India is as much as a bad
thing. To understand the anguish I felt for my first enlightenment, it is
necessary to understand Feminism not as a generic word but as an ideology. It
is my way of paying tribute to countless women who DARED. A result of which countless women from common households
like mine could step out of their homes. It is a result of such an ideology
that women managed to get the status of a being a political entity and could
therefore demand their rights not only politically but also in their domestic
sphere. Understanding the ideology of feminism is important given the social
condition and status of women in our society. It will help us understand how
much we owe to this ideology, instead of simply rubbishing it.
Feminism as a political term developed in 20th
century in western countries. It developed as a political movement to attain
universal adult suffrage. Before 20th century, the term was used as
a medical term to either define effimanization of men or masulanisation of
women. (pretty much how it is still used in India.) The ideology is based upon
two basic principles:
a. a. Women are disadvantaged because of their sex.
b. b.That this advantage can and should be overcome.
The West, seems to have moved forward with these principles,
but in India where patriarchy is still deeply rooted, seems like we have a long
way to go. The works and struggles of feminists like Mary Wollstonecraft and
the Seneca Falls convention, various women’s social and political movements
were instrumental in establishing universal adult suffrage thus, giving women
equal rights along with men. We might fail to understand the importance of the
struggle to achieve equal right to vote, as we received universal adult
suffrage by the virtue of our constitution. The provision of universal adult
suffrage in the constitution indirectly owes to this feminist movement.
 |
Seneca Falls convention |
1970’s saw the
resurgence of feminist movement in a more radical form wherein it challenged
all the traditional assumption. The feminists of this era were of the opinion
that ‘PERSONAL IS POLITCAL’. It thus challenged the basic understanding of
domestic roles of being a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife assigned to
women. It looks at politics of everyday life. Famous feminist of the era Simone
de beauvior in her book ‘The second sex’ stated that ‘women are made, not born.’
It thus challenged the basic presumption of sex and gender. (sex hitherto being
held as a biological entity and gender as a social entity.) Her statement
underlines that ‘being a woman’ is conditioned by society.
We are unfortunate that our society never saw any movement
even closer to the ideological feminist movement. There were individual efforts
e.g. the works of Phule couple, Ishwar Chandra vidyasagar, Raja Ram Mohun Roy
and few others. Interestingly these great souls were born in pre-indepenent
India. However their works never achieved the form of mass movement or an
ideology.
It is due to lack of such a feminist movement in India that
we as a society are gender insensitive. This insensitivity is not restricted to
any specific socio-economic or regional section. It is heart wrenching to see
educated women giving up on their hard earned social space in the name of
tradition and family under the garb of ‘my choice.’ My heart breaks every time
I see a woman fast on karwa chauth or go around the banyan tree wishing for the
same husband for next seven lives. It breaks my heart when women in Maharashtra
during this season organize ‘Haldi-kunku’ programs to wish for the longevity of
their husbands. It breaks my heart to see that in all these functions no widow
is ever invited. It is as if to deny the very existence of a widow. I recently
came across a news item wherein a “progressive” couple from Pune distributed
copies of the Constitution of India to women whom they invited for
‘haldi-kunku’ function. The seemingly proud progressive couple told the media
that constitution is a very important text and women should read it. It should
be noted that no widow is ever invited to this function. Distribution of copies
if the constitution or rather non-invitation and non- distribution of copies of
constitution to widows was as if to underline the fact the widows are not even
entitled access the constitution.
Glorification of such events by mass media in the name of ‘celebration
of woman hood’ only worsens the situation. It scares me to the core because knowingly
or unknowingly I am also a part of this popular culture. I do not want my womanhood
to be defined only by gender specific social roles of being a mother, a sister
and a wife. My womanhood and my existence should not be bound only by these
roles. It is under these circumstances that the ideology of feminism comes into
play. It is this feminism which assures and guarantees my existence in social
sphere.
