It is a notion that Indian feminism in totality is a borrowed philosophy but Indians, however, did not have to borrow from the West feminism. Most scholars attribute the development of feminism to Western impact in India, disregarding the multicultural element of feminism–the demands and issues of females living in distinct nations are distinct. Indian women have asserted themselves in many ways throughout history and have broken free from oppressive social norms.
Although patriarchy is deeply entrenched in modern-day India, the country has a long tradition of women who resisted conformity, even under severe societal pressure.
Indian feminist writings, especially those by Toru Dutt, Lalithambika Antharajanam, Ismat Chugtai, and Mahashweta Devi, also made their presence felt globally.
In 1974, the Committee on Status of Women presented its findings in the form of a watershed report Towards Equality that laid the foundation of women’s movement in independent India, highlighting discriminatory socio-cultural practices, political and economic processes. Its authors included Vina Mazumdar and Lotika Sarkar, the duo who later founded the Centre for Women’s Development Studies in Delhi. In 1980, an anti-rape campaign was launched that led to emergence of autonomous women’s organisation in several cities of India. Special Interest Groups that focused on legal aid for women also came into existence and several legal reforms took place.
Disparity between the rural and urban feminism – Relevance of #MeToo
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Throughout the history of feminism the movement has changed the lives of many but it has been rather unequal in its approach and impact in India especially in the context of urban and rural india . where the realities of women are inherently different from each other
“Indian feminism has tended to represent the interests and concerns of upper-caste women rather than reflect the experiences of Indian women en masse. By recognising this fact, Indian feminism can more effectively challenge historically entrenched and varied systems of oppression.”
The #MeToo movement have often been ultimately the voices of middle class and metropolitan women, journalists, actors, and other professionals that constitute the «me» in India’s #MeToo. When, they ask, will the struggle be an intersectional one rooted in the multiple vulnerabilities faced by most Indian women
It is understandable why #MeToo is an urban movement , because its inception is on social media , while currently it is calling out the urban man garbed with attitude of modernisation yet practising the very patriarchy feminist have tried to root out of modern India.
For the rural women who are killed in the name of honour killing for marrying their love , where female foeticide is still prevalent is hashtag a real solution
The movement has brought out so many women out and tell their ordeal without any hesitation, the movement is important necessary and important but the only issue observed is it has a very selective outreach , mainly that of a few institutions and workplace in urban area.
It needs to take more time and steps towards being the inclusive ‘ the women’s movement’ in India.
MeToo has been substantial in reforming working spaces that ran under a toxic and oppressive social/work environment and a dream of having a safe working place but only to fall right into the laps of urban sexual predators, who are often hailed as titleholders of modern sensibilities
MeToo has created an awareness about work space misbehaviour and compelled lot of men to follow a code of conduct and treat all the fellow colleague professionally.
But the realities of sexual harassment and discomfort is dime a dozen in the villages of India. For them specially the ones from scheduled class, other backward classes, and tribal communities are easy targets , their workplaces are usually fields, their work sector are unorganised . The levels of patriarchal insensitivity , discrimination and vulnerability to sexual assault is far more ubiquitious and abhorrent than reported in the current #MeToo movement.
A Feminism in present-day India has been showing some encouraging trends. Second, what women want is changing – from economic rights to social and sexual rights. Third, women are not vacating their spaces – they are negotiating harder to expand them. Fourth, there is genuine partnership and collaboration among men and women, particularly youngsters, to embrace meaningful gender equality.
In conclusion , this shows the multi-spectrum of Feminism , as it has been rightly said Feminism is about fighting many fights on many fronts .it is ongoing whether it fight it out on rural front , some fight it out against caste or religion based sexual violence , and there are some fighting in office or digital space against modern patriarchy and misogyny all of them are equally imperative and relevant and as we grow in our understanding of the power dynamics in our society, I realise that the fight as a feminist isn’t just against the patriarchy; it’s against all systems of oppression and even my own privilege. It’s about dismantling the Kyriarchy (n): the social system that keeps all intersecting oppressions in place.
What I believe is we need to make this movement of feminism more intersectional (First coined within the context of feminism, it examines social hierarchies that privilege and oppress people based on overlapping aspects of their identity such as: race, gender, class, caste, sexual orientation, (dis)ability and so on) and celebrate the broad spectrum of womanhood identity we have in our country and make or create a movement which carter to the different needs of the women from different background , so no voice goes unheard. And with broadened concept of gender , I believe every gender should come together for equality of all the gender which is what feminism is about.
