HELL YES! I AM A FEMINIST

                            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 20^th century in western countries. It developed as a political movement to attain universal adult suffrage. Before 20^th 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.

Therefore, Hell yes I am a feminist!!!