Women’s movement ( Sociology Optional)

The base of the Women's Movement, since its inception, has been grounded in the injustice of inequality between men and women.
Throughout history, the role between men and women has been one of a patriarchal society, citing the law of nature as the justification, which was interpreted to mean women are deemed as inferior to men.
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history
Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions and their subordination continued into India's early modern
During the British Rule measures aiming at amelioration were enacted, including Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, and Age of Consent Act, 1891.
The Indian constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex and empowers the government to undertake special measures for them.
Women's rights under the Constitution of India mainly include equality, dignity, and freedom from discrimination; additionally, India has various statutes governing the rights of women.

Definition

The feminist movement also known as the women's movement, or feminism refers to a series of Social movements and Political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women.
The movement's priorities have expanded since its beginning in the 1800s and vary among nations and communities. Priorities range from opposition to female genital mutilation in one country, to opposition to the glass ceiling in another.

Thinkers Perspective

According to Maitrayee Chaudhuri, unlike the Western feminist movement, India's movement was initiated by men, and later joined by women. But feminism as an initiative started independently a little later in Maharashtra by pioneering sex of women's rights and education: Savitribai Phule, who started the first school for girls in India (1848)
According to Allan Johnson, a sociologist who studies masculinity, wrote of patriarchy: "Patriarchy encourages men to seek security, status, and other rewards through control; to fear other men's ability to control and harm them; and to identify being in control as both their best defense against loss and humiliation and the surest route to what they need and desire”
The first feminist philosopher, Christine de Pisan, challenged prevailing attitudes toward women with a bold call for female education
Tarabai Shinde, who wrote India's first feminist text Stri Purush Tulana (A Comparison Between Women and Men) in 1882; and Pandita Ramabai, who criticized patriarchy and caste-system in Hinduism, married outside her caste and converted to Christianity

Stages – West and India

Feminism in Western World

During its inception, feminism has gone through a series of four high moments termed Waves:

The First-wave feminism

The First-wave feminism was oriented around the station of middle- or upper-class white women and involved suffrage and political equality, education, right to property, organizational leadership, and marital freedoms.
In India during first wave of feminism they also opposed India’s deep rooted patriarchal society.
Nationalist movement was intertwined with feminist movements.

The Second-wave feminism

The Second-wave feminism attempted to further combat social and cultural inequalities. The second wave brought in women of different social classes, women of color, and women from other developing nations that were seeking solidarity.
The second-wave feminism of the women’s rights movement touched on every area of women’s experience—including politics, work, the family, and sexuality.
In 1980, the Five-Year Plan decided to focus on the health, employment and education of women, marking the beginning of the third wave of Indian feminism.
Women-led non-government organisations proliferated in a bid to provide support to other women.
The movement also took up the rights of Dalit and marginalised women.
The developmental programmes and women’s groups largely directed their effort to raise the economic and social status of women.
Principally, women’s groups sought the empowerment of women to integrate them into the mainstream.
It was a movement that was focused on critiquing the patriarchal, or male-dominated, institutions and cultural practices throughout society.
Second-wave feminism also drew attention to the issues of domestic violenceand marital rape
It helped in creation of rape crises centreand women’s shelter and brought about changes in custody laws and divorce law.

The Third-wave feminism

The Third-wave feminism continued to address the financial, social, and cultural inequalities of women in business and in their home lives, and included renewed campaigning for greater influence of women in politics and media.
In reaction to political activism, feminists have also had to maintain focus on women's reproductive rights, such as the right to abortion.
The third wave witnessed many new feminists like Riot girl, Anita hill, Jennifer Baumgardner.
Third wave saw the emergence of many new Feminism theory such as intersectionality, sex positivity, vegetarian ecofeminism, transfeminism and postmodern Feminism.
The third wave Feminism faced a lot of criticism as it was concluded that it has a lack of cohesion it should be termed as the second wave part 2.

The Fourth-wave feminism

The Fourth-wave feminism examines the interlocking systems of power that contribute to the social stratification of traditionally marginalized groups, as well as the world around them.

Indian Scenerio

Women’s Movements in the Colonial Period

Social Reform Movements:

The women’s movements began as a social reform movement in the 19th century.
The colonial intervention in the 19th century intruded into the areas of our culture and society and this affected transformation in our social fabric.
Women were seen as passive recipients of a more humanitarian treatment to be given by Western educated elite men.
There was thus an attempt to reform women rather than reform the social conditions which opposed them.
There were no attempts to alter the power structure and the men-women relation in the society.
Thus, education for girls was not meant to equip them to be self-sufficient, independent and emancipated and train them to follow some profession but to be good housewives (Pande and Kameshwari, )
Also, very few women were allowed to join the front ranks with men, and the ones that did, spoke of the isolation they felt at times (Kumar)
Social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshab Chandra Sen, Iswarachandra Vidya Sagar, Veeresalingam Panthulu, M. G. Ranade, Karve, Swami Vivekanantia, Swami Dayanand Saraswathi and others provided leadership to the women’s movement by frankly acknowledging the degraded position of Indian women.
The social reformers concentrated their attention on important aspects of women like sati, age of marriage the sad plight of widows and their right to remarry.
The social reformers established a number of societies like Bramho Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission and others for the cause of Indian women.
The best exponent of liberalism was Raja Ram Mohan Roy who was the first Indian to initiate a social reform movement and campaign for the cause of women. He advocated equality between the two sexes and declared that women were not inferior to men morally and intellectually. Roy’s attention was drawn towards the inhuman practice of sati, after female infanticide.
East India Company declared the sati practice illegal and a punishable offence in 1829.
Ishwara Chandra Vidya Sagar also helped women. He did so by propagating widow remarriage. The child marriage evil resulted in large numbers of young girls ending up as widows whose lives were miserable due to the severe restrictions imposed on them. The efforts of Vidya Sagar, Keshub Chandra Sen and D. K. Karve resulted in the enactment of widow remarriage act of 1856. In the South Kandukuri Veeresalingam led the widow remarriage movement.
Arya Samaj was established by Dayanand Saraswathi in 1875. Dayanand Saraswathi emphasised compulsory education of both boys and girls.
A series of schools for women- Arya Kanya Patasalas - were the first concerted effort of the Samaj to promote women’s education in a systematic way. Prarthana Samaj founded by some Maharashtra Brahmins in 1867 had leaders like M. G. Ranade, N. G. Chandrasarkar and R. G. Bhandarkar. It concentrated more on sponsoring education for women.
Another important aspect of the social reform movement phase of women in India was that of property rights for Hindu women (Mukharjee).
The existing practice was particularly harsh on the Hindu widow who had no claim on her husband’s property except the right at maintenance as a result of which she was at the mercy of her husband’s relatives.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy suggested that the government should enact and enforce laws to remove these disabilities and bring economic freedom and self reliance.
As a result of such efforts, special marriage act of 1872 with its provision for divorce and succession to property to women was passed widows by providing them houses and other benefits.

Nationalist Movements :

The women of Bengal and Punjab took active part in the Swadeshi movement.
The women workers of the Arya Samaj were also responsible for arousing national spirit among the people.
Swarna Kumari, sister of Rabindranath Tagore and her daughter Sarala Devi were strong supporters of the Swadeshi movement.
Important women who participated in the revolutionary activities were Mrs. Shyamji Krishna Varma, Ms. P. Nauroji, Ms. M. Chettopadhya, and Madam Bhikaji Rustum, K. R. Kame.
Also raised issues of women’s equality at international socialist circles reflecting the Indian reality.
Pandita Rama Bai’s Sharda Sadan (1892) in Poona, Shri Mahipatram Rupram Anathashram in Ahmedabad (1892), Shri Zorastrian Mandal in Bombay (1903), Maternity and Child Welfare League in Baroda (1914) , Bhagini Samaj in Poona (1916) all were established and worked with the particular objective of improving women’s lives.
These regional organisations were followed by national organisations like Women’s Indian Association (1917) and The National Council of Women in India (1920), All India Women’s Conference (1926) went on to organise 12 women’s conferences till 1937 and Federation of University Women in India (1920) stimulated the interests of women in civic and public life and concentrated on the removal of disabilities of women and promoted social, civil, moral and educational welfare of women and children
The entry of Mahatma Gandhi with his experience altered the national politics dramatically. He realised the importance of mass base to Indian nationalism, and subsequently an ideology which suited the same was introduced.
Gandhian style of mass mobilisation had implications for the Indian women’s movement in as much as increasing number of women were sought to be mobilised for participation in the independent movement.
Even though Gandhi recognised the existence of a set of problems unique to women, he saw no conflict between a women’s movement and a national movement

Women’s Movements in the Post Colonial Period

Telangana Movement :

The Telangana Movement began in 1946 and continued till 1951.
The Telangana Movement was a protest of the people who wanted both food and freedom from the oppressive regime of the Nizam, the Patils and the Jagirdars in Hyderabad State.
Large number of women who were desperate because of extreme poverty, slavery and sexual exploitation by the feudal lords fought courageously in this movement.
In order to mobilise and develop political acumen among women, the communist party formed a women’s organisation which published a woman’s Journal Andhra Vanitha.
Through this they campaigned against child marriage, widow remarriage, increased wages etc.
Some of the women who took active part in the movement were Dubala Salamma, Ch. Kamalamma, Regulla Achamma, Chityala Ailamma, Pesaru Satbamma, Malla Swarajyam, Dayani Kausalya, Pramila Tail, Chakilam Lalithamma, Bullemma, Narasamma, Vajramma, Saidamma, Suganamma, etc.

Chipko Movement :

Chipko Movement was born in a small hilly village, Advani in Tehri Garhwal district of Utter Pradesh.
The illiterate adivasi women led this movement in December 1972.
It challenged the old belief that forests mean only timber and emphasised their roles in making soil, water and pure air as the basis of human life.
This philosophy popularised the movement in many countries. The women symbolically tied sacred threads around the trees, faced police firing in 1978 and later courted arrest.
This movement continued under the leadership of Sri Sunderlal Bahuguna in various villages.
The movement’s plan is a slogan to plant five F’s- food, fodder, fuel, fiber and fertiliser to make communities self sufficient in all their basic needs.

Anti Arrack Movement :

The anti-arrack movement of women in Andhra Pradesh was one of most historic and significant movements of the 1990s.
The women of Andhra Pradesh raise voice against the social evil of alcohol drinking.
Women have played a historic role in bringing about a ban on consumption and sale of distilled liquor.
The movement indeed for the protection and survival of their lives and culture.
The rural women in the villages raised their voices against the damage caused by their men to their children and themselves.

Women’s Movements in India since the 1970s

The post Independence period during the first few decades, the major concern was for overall economic growth.
This was immediately followed by another decade, which witnessed an increased concern for equity and poverty alleviation.
Gender issues were subsumed in poverty related concerns and there were no specific programs which aimed at women.
Also there are issues like Sexual Harassments for which recently issues raised not only in India but in Western World. Few agitations raised first in western world then came to India. Biggest Instance of this is #MeToo Movement across the globe.

The women’s organisations that emerged during the autonomous movement period could be divided into six categories:

Autonomous groups whose main propaganda is agitation and to raise consciousness.
Grass root or mass based organisations like trade unions, agricultural labourers’ organisations, democratic groups, tribal organisations in which women’s issues like wife beating, sexual harassment by the landlords, alcoholism of men have been taken up.
Groups that concentrate on providing services, shelter homes to needy women.
Professional women’s organisations such as doctors, lawyers that seek to agitate against discrimination and more often create alternate channels for professional activity.
Women’s wings or fronts of the political parties.
Groups involved in research and documentation on women’s issues.

Factors leading to Feminist movements

Employment

Their contributions to productivity are mostly invisible as their familial and domestic contributions are overlooked. Indian women were contributing nearly 36 percent of total employment in agriculture and related activities, nearly 19 percent in the service sector, and nearly 12.5 in the industry sector as of the year 2000.
High illiteracy rates among women confine them to lower paying, unskilled jobs with less job security than men.
Although the Government of India has tried to eliminate inequality in the workforce, women still receive unequal treatment. "Men are more likely to get promotions than women”.

Globalization

Some feminists argue that globalization has led to economic changes that have raised more social and economical challenges for women, particularly for working-class and lower-caste women.
Multinational companies in India have been seen to exploit the labour of 'young, underpaid and disadvantaged women' in free trade zones and sweat shops, and use "Young lower middle class, educated women", in call centres.
These women have few effective labour rights, or rights to collective action.
Also such developments have offered women greater sexual autonomy and more control over their bodies.
Globalisation argued to cause an increase in the commodification of women's bodies. For example #MeToo movement in India

Education

Some of the main reasons that girls are less likely to reach optimal levels of education include the fact that girls are needed to assist their mothers at home, have illiterate mothers who cannot educate their children, have an economic dependency on men, and are sometimes subject to child-marriage.

Crimes against women

Acid attacks, Child marriage, Domestic violence, Dowry, Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion, Honor killings, Accusations of witchcraft, Rape, Sexual harassment, Trafficking etc.

Impact of feminist movements

The feminist movement has effected change in Western society, including women's suffrage; greater access to education; more equitable pay with men; the right to initiate divorce proceedings; the right of women to make individual decisions regarding pregnancy (including access to contraceptives and abortion); and the right to own property.
Like their feminist counterparts all over the world, feminists in India seek gender equality:
the right to work for equal wages,
the right to equal access to health and education,
and equal political rights.
Indian feminists also have fought against culture-specific issues within India's patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws.

Impacts of #MeToo in India

Inspired by the worldwide movement against sexual assault and harassment, women across the range in India came and disclosed their stories about abuse by men holding.
It all started in October 2018 with actress Tanushree Dutta accusing actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment he positions of power.
Though the laws are in force that aims at curbing the increasing sexual harassment of women. In India Vishakha v State of Rajasthan, where a writ petition exposing an incident of brutal gang rape and the hazards that women are exposed to at work places.
India had ratified CEDAW, Convention on Elimination of All forms of discrimination against Women and further the Apex Court had directed the legislature to come up with the separate legislation and it took almost 13yrs to come up with such a legislation.
The POSH Act defines ‘sexual harassment’ in line with the Supreme Court’s definition of ‘sexual harassment’ in the Vishaka Judgment.
The introduction of SHe-Box is a positive step of the Indian government in its continuing efforts to provide a safe and fair working environment for women. With this initiative, female employees now have another channel to raise workplace sexual harassment complaints.

Conclusion

Unlike the women’s movements in America and Britain, in India, the concern for women’s freedom was first espoused by enlightened males during the Bristish era who had imbibed liberal ideas.
Upto the 1920s the struggle was carried on by men. It was only after Mahatma Gandhi’s entry into politics, that the nationalist movement under his leadership was transformed from a middle class movement into a mass movement where women for the first time raised their voices against the disabilities that they suffered.
It is the women’s movement in India that has been the force behind the long struggle of women’s advancement from subordination to gender equality and finally to women’s empowerment.
Though a lot needs to be achieved and there are various impediments in making this reality available to a large section of women, the women’s movement has brought women’s issues centre stage and made them more visible.

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