Feminism in the Indian
The history of feminism in India is regarded as mainly a practical effort and very limited in scope. Compared to some other countries, there has been only sparse theoretical writing on feminism in India.
Contents [hide]
1 Defining Feminism in the Indian context
2 History
2.1 First phase: 1850–1915
2.2 Second Phase: 1915–1947
3 The Concepts of Feminism and Equality
4 Beginnings of the “Feminist” Movement in India
5 Obstacles
6 Hindu Women in India
7 Muslim Women in India
8 Women at Work
9 Women and Education
10 Modernization
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
[edit]Defining Feminism in the Indian context
Pre-colonial social structures and women’s role in them reveal that feminism was theorized differently in India than in the west. Colonial essentialization of "Indian culture" and reconstruction of Indian womanhood as the epitome of that culture through social reform movements resulted in political theorization in the form of nationalism rather than as feminism alone.[1]
Historical circumstances and values in India make women’s issues different from the western feminist rhetoric. The idea of women as "powerful" is accommodated into patriarchal culture through religion[2]. This has retained visibility in all sections of society; by providing women with traditional "cultural spaces". Another consideration is that whereas in the West the notion of "self" rests in competitive individualism where people are described as "born free yet everywhere in chains", by contrast in India the individual is usually considered to be just one part of the larger social collective, dependent for its survival upon cooperation and self-denial for the greater good
Indian feminist scholars and activists have to struggle to carve a separate identity for feminism in India. They define feminism in time and space in order to avoid the uncritically following Western ideas. Indian women negotiate survival through an array of oppressive patriarchal family structures:
Contents [hide]
1 Defining Feminism in the Indian context
2 History
2.1 First phase: 1850–1915
2.2 Second Phase: 1915–1947
3 The Concepts of Feminism and Equality
4 Beginnings of the “Feminist” Movement in India
5 Obstacles
6 Hindu Women in India
7 Muslim Women in India
8 Women at Work
9 Women and Education
10 Modernization
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
[edit]Defining Feminism in the Indian context
Pre-colonial social structures and women’s role in them reveal that feminism was theorized differently in India than in the west. Colonial essentialization of "Indian culture" and reconstruction of Indian womanhood as the epitome of that culture through social reform movements resulted in political theorization in the form of nationalism rather than as feminism alone.[1]
Historical circumstances and values in India make women’s issues different from the western feminist rhetoric. The idea of women as "powerful" is accommodated into patriarchal culture through religion[2]. This has retained visibility in all sections of society; by providing women with traditional "cultural spaces". Another consideration is that whereas in the West the notion of "self" rests in competitive individualism where people are described as "born free yet everywhere in chains", by contrast in India the individual is usually considered to be just one part of the larger social collective, dependent for its survival upon cooperation and self-denial for the greater good
Indian feminist scholars and activists have to struggle to carve a separate identity for feminism in India. They define feminism in time and space in order to avoid the uncritically following Western ideas. Indian women negotiate survival through an array of oppressive patriarchal family structures: