Feminism In India

Feminism and gender equality are one of the most important growing topics during the past half a century, where they are organizing and protesting against some stereotypes which are imposed upon them be both men and society. Several theories came out with the idea that the stereotypes and inequalities came from the chauvinistic nature already present in men. With the growth of capitalism, there is a growth of nuclear families in India, where men are more concerned about working in factories, earning income and making themselves employed; whereas the women have to stay at home and look after the domestic needs of the house. This effect of capitalism along with patriarchy in the society is what many argue to be one of the major reasons behind the stigmatization and stereotyping women as a weaker gender. After the Taliban, India ranks second as the victim of gender inequality all among Asia.

One of the major issues discussed among the feminists of India is violence against women which includes dowry death as well. We all are very familiar with the fact that a girl is killed or commits suicide because of the unfulfillment of the dowry demands from the groom’s side. If we look after the interviews of few social activists of our nation then Sarojini Sahoo has mentioned in one of her interviews that “an unmarried daughter- seen as a spinster even in her late twenties- brings shame upon her parents and is a burden. But once married is considered as the property in her in-laws.” As our Dharma Shastras says a son is more desirable than a daughter and that only a son can perform the last rites of his father/grandfather. This is one of the reasons which lead to female infanticides. This is one of the reasons why India has a decreased sex ratio of 914:100. Next is the physical women violence which is rated highest in India as compared to other countries. Sexual violence termed as rape is at its peak in India. Few people theorize that this can be considered as the backlash of a strongly patriarchal society which witnesses the westernization of women. This is the biggest issue that India needs to be solved along with the help of the government. This is why India needs feminism. The next issue to be discussed here is that marital rape is still not considered as a criminal offence in India. Our Indian Penal has no sanction against this act.

We have seen how the dawn of Dharma Shastras has deteriorated the status of women in our society and pushed them into the side role giving rise to traditions like dowry and sati. This tradition also affected literacy among girls drastically. We all know how gender inequality has all its unique points in India and how it is essential for our country to learn feminism and to bring change in our society.