FEMINIST MOVEMENT IN SOUTH ASIA

Introduction:
There were vibrant women’s movements in India, which demonstrate a range of varied
experience and trajectories. Culturally influential and politically powerful. On its liberal side
these movements campaigns for reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal
pay, women’s suffrage and sexual violence. On its radical side it includes women’s liberation as
well as cultural and grassroots projects. The movements brought about major changes in the lives
of women, and also everyday life in the India. Furthermore, the women’s movement changed the
ways and thinking regarding women subordination in India.

The women’s movements and the various challenges they faced:

As mention above, There were several women’s movement, that generally, raise questions of
gender and its consequences. Different ideologies, modes of action, complexity and disputes are
raising some issues. The argument raise is about the representation of women participation in
politics, their contribution and concern in term of gender inequality. There is no doubt women’s
status in Vedic period was very high but after coming of invaders, especially Muslims?
Women’s safety comes under a threat. This may show the patriarchal features of Hindu society.
According to some female critiques, Indian code is seen as a culture that dominates women and
denies , the freedom and empowerment. If we talk about the social reform movement of the
nineteenth century the state of women condition was effected by the constituted bourgeoisie. The
movements raised the issue of Widows oppression, purdha, sati, female infanticide, growing
gender gap in education as some outcomes of fears for women’s safety. For instance it has been
argued by some historians that the struggle over the abolition of sati partha was largely carried
out by colonial rule. The nineteenth century initiated this process of transformation in the social,
religious, political and in cultural sphere. Some revolutionary movements were dominated
conventionally by bourgeois. Feminist joined these movements for women’s emancipation and
defended women’s right. This shows the tremendous growth of protest against patriarchal social
structure. If we talk about the women’s significance and their role in nationalist movement. They
have received insufficient attention. It is important to note that, the large majority of women,
seeking for response to change the historical forces because they are the one who have been
unexplored and thus marginalized in history. The most common thing between the women’s
movement that they all were fighting for change There are so many questions that we need some
satisfactory answers and some answers for that we need relevant questions?

1) How does women’s participation affect their position in their family?

2) What changes that is brought by them in terms of equality?

3) What factors are common among all women participants?

4) What was the relationship between nationalist ideology and women’s issue?

5) What was the pattern of women’s participation in movements?

6) What was the role of media during this period?

Different phases of women’s movements in India

Social reform movement: Social reform movement in India was a part of struggle that were
made by different social reformers. During this time, on one side, India was suffering from
stagnating traditional culture and society at very low ebb, while on the other hand, India
possessed a still traditional society in the throes and creative excitement of modernizing and of
emerging as a new nation. The nineteenth century initiated this process of transformation in the
religious, social, economic, political and cultural spheres. The impact of the British empire
influenced administration, legislation, trade, network of communication, industrialization and
urbanization in India, affecting not only society as a whole but also the traditional pattern of life.
British scholars, educators and missionaries also impacted the cultural filed. The reformers
consciously reacted to the new situation and advocated deliberate changes in social, religious and
customs. This social and religious reform movement arose among all communities of the Indian
people. Reformers, worked for abolition of castes and untouchablitiy, purdah system, sati, child
marriage, women education and social inequalities. Raja Rammohan Roy, abolished Sati in
1929. His campaign against sati aroused the opposition of the orthodox Hindus who bitterly
attacked women. For instance, the position of the nineteenth century high –caste women needs to
be understood within the context of the patriarchal social system. The caste hierarchy and gender
hierarchy are the organizing principles of the Brahmanical social order and are closely
interconnected. The Brahmanical patriarchy in early India reveals that the structure of social
relations which shaped gender was by achieving the compliance of women. There was the case
of Pandita Ramabai, whose father was an unconventional social reformer who began with social
transformation in his own house by educating his wife Lakshmi Bai even at the cost of being
exiled by his own community for this. Lakshmibai taught her daughter as is recorded in,
Pandita’s book (1886) The high caste Hindu women . The book argues on women oppression
and the treatment given to Hindu women throughout their life. She argues about the evil in child
marriage and the taboo associated with widowhood. She also talks about the money and
commercial nature of arrange marriages. She raised the issue of inhuman expectation from the
young girl .Marriage was like a central theme as for a women. According to her, marriage is like
hypocrisy of old times, women were not allowed to say a single word in the decision making or
in choice for her husband, and Women were not considered as capable of thinking about their
future or any chance to give her opinion. Also in early nineteenth century women were not
encouraged to get an education. Some people believed that if women were well educated it
would ruin their marriage prospects and to be harmful to their mind. Women’s career was very
limited so people didn’t think they needed the education in which men did. A lot of the focus
was to teach women how to run a household .The live of Indian women began to change
significantly in late 19th century when the colonial government critical of the treatment of both
Hindu and Muslims women, allies among Indian reformers these men agreed that women should
be educated and play some role in public life. Pundit Ishwarchandra vidyasagar consolidated the
way for the remarriage for socially forsaken widows through the widow’s remarriage act no XV
of 1856. He empathetically lamented the deep distress of Indian womanhood. The air of
reformation held high the urgency for castling the enlightenment of education on women. The
British government eager to prove their liberal, ethical and pro-modernity attitude resorted to the
women question. This is the fundamental feminist question concerned with the rights and
progress of women. British denounced the exciting insignificance of Indian womanhood and
tried to initiate some feminist welfare activities to show their social-cultural advancement. They
took help of the indigenous modern minds like Raja Rammohan Roy , Vidyasagar and other
prominent Indians. As mention above the early Vedic society, allowed girls to acquire
knowledge, but in the later society, the orthodox Brahmins introduced blind superstition, rituals
and rigid customs which forbade girls from learning . We recognize a severe disappointment of
the western educational entrepreneurs with the oppression of social norms. In Bengal the
overriding tension was that ‘knowledge of letter’ would teach female to oppress the meaningless
coercion. The terrible situation made women absolutely dependent on father in their childhood,
then on husband in marital life and then on the sons during their old age. As per the customs, her
life gets devoted in religious practices wishing for the long and safe life of the male members of
her family. Rassundari devi , the author of the autobiographical, “Amar Jiban” she poignantly
describes her in domitable struggle for reaching the gateways of education. She records her
childhood marriage, the daily task of household she explained the unspoken agony of a young
girl. She has desire to read, she stole pages from a book and kept them in kitchen at a hidden
place. She teaches herself domestically as she write, “Is this my destiny that I am a woman”?
Just because of I am a woman does it necessarily mean that trying to educate myself is a big
crime in a patriarchal society. Both Pandita Ramabai and Rassundari devi raised the issue related
to women education and child marriage. The Calcutta school society was built in 1816 to
improve the status of female education .The church missionary society tasted greater success in
south India. The importance of female education in India cannot be over rated. Women education
started spreading its wings. The outcome was the evolution of nineteenth century generation of
the “new woman” .The later half of this century started seeing the raise of Indian womanhood to
freedom and assertion. Kamini Roy, Pandita Ramabai, Rassundari Devi were the celebrated
examples of the “new woman” of this time. Do women movements will be strong enough to
counter the increasing hegemony of fundamentalist. How much longer will this women’s action
forum song hold true?

No longer helpless, no longer weak

It is only your fancy

That we sleep, yet unconscious.

However, women’s movement gives a new direction for women freedom from this so called
hegemonic society. It has been changing the socio-political context in India, change is slow and
painful but the large section of Indian women has been improved by this.

Pre-Independent India
As we know, women movement in India began as social reform movement in India in nineteenth
century. The western ideas of liberty and equality were being imbibed by the educated elite
through the study of English. In India, the tradition of women’s struggles and movement against ,
gender injustice have been weak, when compared to the women’s movements in the western
societies. In fact emergence of women against oppression of patriarchy is quite slow. Most of the
women’s writings of the eighteenth century reveal disenchantment with the prevalence of
patriarchy and gender inequalities rather than any kind of active resistance or revolt against
them. Women did try to go against the male –dominated society. The nineteenth century period
women found themselves totally suppressed by the male patriarch ideologies, though there was
some feminist awareness. However, this awareness did not get entertained into an open and
organized struggle for survival. Though there were feelings of deprivation and anger against the
injustice women was facing these remained mostly latent, in later nineteenth century feminist
movements have gained expression due to similar factors? The women’s movement in India can
be seen as forming three layers first during the national movement, when there was mass
mobilization of women for participation in the nationalist movement. The late 1960s saw
resurgence in women’s political activity and can be called the second layer. In the late 1970s the
third layer of the women’s movement emerged, which focused on women’s empowerment.
Women have worked and participated in different way in the movements and contributed their
efforts individually.

 Participation in the Nationalist movement

 Resurgence in women’s political activity
 Women’s empowerment
 Role in Freedom struggle
Significant development

Emergence of women’s organization took place:

1) The women’s India association (WIA)

2) All India women’s conference (AIWC)

3) The Bharatstri Mahamandal

4) Indian association for women’s studies (IAWS)

Emergence of women’s organization in India was in keeping with the spread of education among
the women and the various reform movements. They were being carried out for women’s rights.
The educational experiments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s produced a
“new women”. For the very first time in India’s history women began to communicate with
women outside their families and local communities. It was the increased communication which
brought awareness among women regarding their rights and responsibilities. The women
organization was growing numbers of women literate in the dialect which enabled them to learn
about women’s issue. These groups of women segregated by traditional society were now getting
together as they sought the companionship of women like themselves. The lives and conditions
of women have been constantly marginalized in history. Apart from very few feminist and
women leaders were explored, mostly the mass of women was entered into the women
movement from the different region, but we know only about few among them. They do not
examine either the reasons on the implications of this spontaneous upsurge of political activity
by women of all classes. The dominance of elite perspectives is best demonstrated by the efforts
of most historians to link women’s participation in the struggles with women’s education or the
social reform movement ignoring the large number of women from the peasently and the
working class, including prostitute who took part in the various struggles directly or the thousand
of housewives mostly mothers and wives who provided in direct support by shouldering family
responsibilities when their men went to jail or got killed. It is surprising that the socioeconomic
impact of colonialism on women’s lives and belief, turning them into sources of radical
inspiration. Exiting research on women and Indian nationalism and Indian nationalism can
therefore be described as non-comprehensive and generally a “history from above” proper
reconstruction of this period of Indian history with a special focus on women’s political
participation and the women’s movement which was associated with a part of and yet separate
from national movement. The relevance of a study of women’s role in the national movement
cannot be overestimated for either the discipline of history or the study of women. It is
interesting to note that while early twentieth century historians and analyst were effusive in
acknowledging the contribution of the reform movements in improving women’s status. Some of
the contemporary analyst of the movement keeps silent on these issues, not even mentioning why
the status of women acquired such a centre stage focus in all reform debates. Especially when the
critiques are set within the context of the discourses on ‘modernization’ ‘nationalism’ or
‘revivalism’ this extraordinary omission appears to be doubtly curious. The political significance
of the women’s question. The nation building project however needed far more complex
understanding.

From the small associations and women’s auxiliaries of the Indian National congress and the
National social conference came a variety of organizations and associations that reflected
women’s concerns. Women associations, called by various titles spread up all over India in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They all shared the goal of bringing women together
to discuss women’s issues. The first women organizations for women were begun by men,
Keshab Chandra Sen , the charismatic leader of the Brahmo Samaj, developed educational
programs. Those men were closely involved with the Samaj from the beginning, especially the
famous prathana samaj trio- G.R Bandavarkar, Narayan Ganesh Chandavakar, and Mahadev
Govind Ranade were concerned with social reform, and principally improving the status of
women. These organizations became the medium for the expressions of women’s opinion. At the
same time these organizations were a training ground for women who would later take up
leadership roles in politics and social institutions. Those institutions later in turn and played an
important role in the construction of India nation very well. These associations was largely
western with its ideas and these were adapted to the Indian content and developed in harmony
with the concept of the “new women”- a companions to man an ideal mother and a credit to her
country.

Women in the Nationalist struggle

The period between the 1930s and 1947 marks Indian women’s entry in to the nationalist
struggle for freedom. The nationalist cause was gathering strength and women were called upon
to serve the nation with their abilities of caring and nurturing. Women have her own unique
contribution to make for the purpose of enriching life so that it may fulfill its own divine mission
to perfection. So in the struggle for freedom they are destined to play their legitimate part and
bear their share of the responsibility in breaking the chain that weight heavily on people.
Mahatma Gandhi had also discussed the importance of women in social revolution, in
reconstruction and in national struggle. He attended the logic of “feminism” modes of protest of
the whole .It is argued that Gandhi “ feminism” nationalist politics is elaborate by emphasizing
Satyagraha and creating a special space for a women. The Bengal women showed the way during
the non-cooperation protest of 1921. Basanti Devi, Urmila devi joined picketing lines courted
arrest and precipitated a broadening of the movement. Gandhi appreciated the value of female
picketeers. These efforts bore fruit in the civil disobedience movement of the 1930s. In various
parts of the country, from different region masses of women took to the streets and joined
picketing lines. Women’s participation legitimized the Indian national congress and Gandhian
politics. The role of women in the national movement has concentrated on the contribution made
by a handful of prominent women leaders such as Sarojni Naidu,Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Annie
Basent. It was also mention that recommendation made by the women’s sub-committee of the
National planning committee set up by Nehru in (1930-40) that few attempts were made up to
improve the status of women. All they wanted was the development of women based on the ideal
of equality. The reason behind the nationalist expressions for the participation of women in the
public sphere.

 Women should engage with nationalist politics despite constraints like the purdah system,
social backwardness and high rates of female illiteracy.

 To show how they used the symbolic repertoire of the national movement and the political
language of Gandhi to facilitate their own participation.

 To come out from the domestication by comprising their domestic values and learn how to
handle the politicization of the domestic sphere when nationalism entered household be
through the activities of their husbands and sons

 To come out from the gender inequalities.

Some of women also joined the revolutionary movement transgressed stereotypical gender
roles. Pritilata waddedar , the most celebrated female martyr of the freedom movement
asked an important question related to dominant gender ideology of nationalism:
“I wonder why there should be any distinction between males and females in a fight cause of
the country’s freedom. If our brothers can join a fight for the cause of the motherland then
why can’t the sisters’? The pages of history are replete with high admiration for the historic
exploits of distinguished ladies. Then why should we, the modern Indian women, be deprived
of joining this noble fight to redeem our country from foreign domination?”

Many of women questioned on social restrictions on women’s mobility, the values of

segregation and the discriminatory sexual morality imposed on women. Moreover later on
Gandhi exclaimed, views on women from the concept of women’s rights. The early seed of
patriarchal tradition still structurized the definition of women as subordinate to men. As we,
know that women had participated in different movement and raised their voice against the
dominant social structure. The role of women in the political sphere is very significant her
contribution in the nationalist movements and the problem and implications she faced. We
cannot fail to examine her significance in the national movement. In this area so far they
have received insufficient attention but after 1975 the women’s role in history began to
acknowledge again. There are some factual accounts most standard historians of the national
movement mention women’s entry into the civil disobedience movements. Women in
revolutionary terrorism have also been described and women have been occasionally
discussed as a political nuisance. Some accounts of contemporaries who participated in the
movement refer to the strength and broad base acquired by it as a whole through women
participation.

The contemporary women’s movement

The nineteen seventies saw a renewal of common for the status of women and the issue
became significant for a range of actors including the state policy makers, activists and
academics. It had already clear that the kind of feminist activity that had blossomed.
Consequently, many of the people ask: what was the present status of feminist? Our idea for
this is that, the term feminism had not died but it is giving a young form to feminism that will
look very different from earlier one. Here I would like to state about the earlier status of
feminism or women’s movement, it was very useful for some feminist to begin to describe
their movement of feminism. It is useful to turn the pages in history and reminded people that
the current women’s right and women’s liberation movement had a vulnerable past that all
these movements were not historical but part of long tradition of activism. The late
nineteenth century and early twentieth century feminist began to rewrite India’s history
involved rewriting the new understanding of the suffrage movement including that the
suffrage movement was a part of nineteenth century movement around women’s issue.
Somehow the in the history of century the feminist suggest the idea of the gender activism.
The movement obscures the differences in the ideas that have motivated the different group
of people. In early twentieth century, there were large numbers of people who supported
women’s suffrage and who were working to improve women’s situation in other ways like
supporting labor legislation for women. An important strand of the feminist vision of the
time that men and women were similar in fundamental ways and be treated as equal. With
the passage of time real changes in gender roles and relationship were taking place.

Fluctuating identities of women

The appropriate examples to categories women in different situation that how she still has to
cope up with some drastic belief of society .Kumud pawade is a writer and activist from the
Indian state of Maharashtra. She belonged to Mahar community which is one of the
untouchable’s communities of India. She has written her autobiography “The story of my
 Sanskrit”. She faced socio-cultural problems even after 20 years of independence, still
women has to face economic, social and political implications of untouchability. Her
autobiography traces the path of a Dalit woman in the public sphere of education and
employment. The economic aspect of a person exposes the level of bureaucracy and fake
constitutional measures. The penetrating depth and strength of untouchability becomes a
reality when Pawade explains how politicians remain mute when it comes for the right of the
Dalit. These social movements can be classified into women’s movements, Dalit movements,
Tribal movements, Farmers movements and Human rights movements. All these movements
are aimed at acquiring and fight for different sections and regions.

Another instance is the roots of the Andhra Pradesh women’s movements which were began
in 1946 and lasted till1951. Women played an important role in the Telangana struggle. They
had actively participated in the land movement, in the agricultural labor wage struggles etc.
They acted as couriers, as political agitators and new centre’s as organize of people’s
movements. They had faced drastic molestation and rape apart from severe beating. Their
heroic and stubborn resistance in defense of their personal dignity, against physical and
mental torture is inspiring one. Government had also taken some initiatives for women
empowerment. Government approach for some development in social, political and
economic ways.

 Gender equality
 Gender justice
 Social security
 Eliminate discrimination against women
 Economic development

After independence
The Gandhian Era and the decades after Independence have witnessed that there is tremendous
changes have done in the status of women in Indian society. The constitution has laid down as a
fundamental right the equality of sexes. But the change from a position of utter degradation and
subjugation of women in the late nineteenth century and the position of equality in the middle of
twentieth century. Some revolutionary changes have taken place in the position of women in
India after independence. The constitution of India provided for special kind of ways to be taken
by the government to improve the status of women. A quick and effective change in the status of
women was contemplated through social legislation. The constitution of India guarantees certain
fundamental rights and freedom for women such as protection of life and personal liberty. Indian
women are the beneficiaries of these rights in the same manner as the Indian men. There are
some judicial approach on women equality and some views on how women enshrined within
Indian law.
On women , equality and the constitution : through the looking glass of
feminism
In Ratna kapoor’s essay “On women equality and constitution” It discusses about the equality of
women enshrined within Indian law. It gives a view on evaluation of the two competing models
of equality formal verses substantive equality. It illustrates the extent to which Indian law
attempts are moving towards a more substantive understanding of equality. It also examines the
competing approaches to the question of the relevance of gender difference. Protectionist,
sameness and corrective and then attempt to contextualize as per count law on gender
discrimination with these issues.

Formal versus substantive family

Equality has been treated as ‘treating like alikes’ , since ancient times . Its constitutional
expression in America as well as in India constitution states it that those who similarly situated
be treated similarly. Equality is treated with sameness and it became the entitling criteria for
equality.

In contrast a substantive model of equality begins with the recognition that equality sometimes
treat individual differently. If the court defines the class as different then it justifies the
differential treatment. The focus of a substantive equality approach is actual impact of law rather
than just equal treatment. There are inequalities because of social , economic and educational
background the people and seeks the elimination of existing inequalities by positive measures,
substantive equality is eliminating individual , institutional and systemic discrimination against
disadvantages groups. According to this mode as disabled persons are different, they do not have
to be treated equally.

Judicial approaches to equality rights in India

The following section elaborates the equality rights as per articles of the Indian constitutions:

Article 14-It guarantees equality before the law and equal protection under the law. It allow the
states to make classifications on reasonable ground .The article embodies a guarantee against
arbitrariness.

Article 15- I t prohibits discrimination on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex and place of
birth. As per 15(3) , which allows states to make special provisions for women.

Article16- It guarantees equality of opportunity and prohibits discriminations in matters of

employment.

Judicial approaches to sex discrimination

The sex discrimination case law remains overly determined by a formal model of equality. There
are three major approaches in relevance of gender differences protectionist, sameness and
corrective. As per protectionist approach women are constituted as weak and subordinate and are
thus in need of protection. In this approach the courts understanding of women’s differences is
asserted as justification for differential treatment. This approach tends to essentialist the
difference i.e. to take the existence of the differences as natural.

As per sameness approach women are constructed as same as men and treated similarly in law.

As per corrective approach women are seen to require special treatment as a result of past
discrimination. Within this approach gender differences is seen as relevant and requiring
recognition in law

In the post-independent India we had series of laws passed for the upliftment of women status.
This legislations have been brought in orders to give equal rights and privileges with men, to
eliminate discriminations against women, remove inequality between sexes and remove external
barriers coming in the ways of their development. The important act passed for the upliftment of
women is:

1) The Hindu marriage Act of 1955

2) The Hindu adoption and maintenance Act of 1956

3) The Hindu succession Act of 1956: That woman has got equal rights in the inheritance of
family property.

4) The Dowry prohibition Act of 1961

5) The equal remuneration Act of 1976: This act does not permit wage discrimination between
male and female workers.

Conclusion
If we go through the whole concept of women movements and their struggle, we will notice that
no social change of much importance had been brought about among them most of the women in
villages are still illiterate and backward they do not participate in the political, any social and
economic life of the nation. Rural women remaining backward and orthodox, due to tradition ,
illiteracy, ignorance , social evils and many other factors. Hence, women emancipation in rural
India is still need some improvement and it is an essential notion for social progress of the
nation.
Bibliography:
“Writing the women’s movement”: A reader Mala khullar

“The story of my Sanskrit” : An autobiography Kumud Pawade

“Women in the Telangana people’s struggle” :Vasantha Kannabiran and K. Lalitha

“Women, Emancipation and Equality” :Pandita Ramabai’s contribution to women cause Meera
Kosambi

“Women’s movement and political fields” : Raka Ray