Feminism in India

     

          Feminism in India is a set of movements aimed at defining establishing and defining equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for Indian women. It is the pursuit of women’s rights within the society of India. 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.  India feminists also have fought against –culture specific issues within India’s patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws and the practice of widow immolation known as sati.

             The history of feminism in India can be divided into three phases the first phase beginning in the mid- nineteenth century, initiated when male. European colonists began to speak out against the social evils of sati; the second phase from 1915 to Indian independence, when Gandhi incorporated women’s movements into the quit India movement and independent women’s organisations began to emerge and finally, the third phase, post – independence, which has focused on fair treatment of women at home after marriage, in the work force and right to political party.

          Despite the progress made by Indian. Feminist movement’s women livening in modern India still face many issues of discrimination. India’s patriarchal culture has made the process of gaining land-ownership rights and access to education challenging. in the past two decades, there has also emerged 9 trend of sen-selective abortion.  To India feminists, these are seen as injustice worth struggling against.

       As in the west, there has been some criticism of feminist movements in India. They have especially been criticised for focusing too much on women  already privileged and neglecting the needs and representation of poorer or lower caste women. This has led to the creation of caste- specific. Feminist organisations and movements.

        Women’s role in pre-colonial social structures reveals that feminism was theorised differently in India than in the west. In India, women’s issues first began to be addressed when the state commissioned a report on the status of women to a group of feminist researchers and activist. The report recognised the fact that in India, women were oppressed under a system of structural hierarchies and injustices. During this period, Indian feminists were influenced by the western debates being conducted about violence against women. However, due to the difference in the historical and social culture of India, the debate in favour of Indian women had to be conducted creatively and certain western ideas had to be rejected.