The Question of Gender Equality: A Feminist Perspective

Introduction

Back in the 90’s, Naomi Wolf had called upon to see the present times as an era of ‘Gender Quake’ in which the meaning of ‘being a woman’ is changed forever. Recently, a peculiar news item that many may have come across was a press release issued on 22^nd September 2019 by an Organization ‘Save Indian Family’, about an upcoming event titled ‘Nationwide Pishachinimukti Puja for ending feminism’. It claimed to be a nationwide initiative to end feminism and what they call ‘digital mob lynching of men’ through the ‘Me Too Campaign’. Not much has changed in the societal attitude from the times when it was told by Pythagoras, “there is a good principle which created order, light and man, and an evil principle which created chaos, darkness and woman” (Beauvoir, 1949, Foreword).

Traditionally Indian culture places women in an exalted position, almost glorify them as the very embodiment of maternal care, virtue and selflessness. When Hinduism resort to idolizing women by assigning the status of Mother Goddess, Muslims forward rigid rules and regulations along with dress code, restricting the freedom of women in every possible form. In Christianity, woman is treated subordinate to men. Irrespective of different spiritual parameters, all religions are bending upon restricting the role of women in religious denominations and in social visibility. In the Indian scenario, women’s groups and collectives are always looked down with suspicion or sarcasm. The more benevolent critics point out that gender based ideology will confine women within the borders of ‘femininity’; so what is required is the attempt to come within the realistic realm of ‘human beings’. Of course, this is the idealistic situation where no one will demarcate themselves from others as ‘men’ or ‘women’, but just ‘human beings’. Unfortunately, in the present society, all civic spaces, natural, social and financial resources, assets, means of production and even value systems are rooted in gender. The usage such as ‘Gender Sensitization’ and ‘Women Empowerment’ itself is a pointer to the structural injustice rampant in the society.

Beneath all these outward expressions, lies the reality – exploitation, oppression and violence to which the marginalized sections, to be more gender specific, women or sexual minorities, are being subjected to, by legitimizing it through customs, traditions and religion with the sole purpose of sustaining foundations of patriarchy. Linguistic connotation of certain words which disturbed patriarchy has either been eliminated or re-interpreted as a part of the ‘politics of convenience’, that too in a concealed manner in the course of time. In India, Feminism is one such word which is being cornered as western concept and is being replaced with more acceptable term ‘Women Empowerment’. In the present day society, the civic spaces, natural, social and financial resources, assets, means of production and even value systems are rooted in gender. The institutionalized gender roles which are being customarily practiced in our society by which domestic chores and maternal care are assigned to women and policy making and decision making capacity to men ensures the privileges of patriarchy. In fact, ‘feminism’ is a term to be read with ‘empowerment’. Empowerment is possible only when those who are to be empowered have their representation in political and social structures.

Nivedita Menon in ‘Seeing like a Feminist’, rightly points out that:

Contemporary feminism employs deconstructive strategies so as to destabilize binary model such as masculine/feminine. Replying to the question “Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in her work ‘We should all be Feminists’ says: