Feminism stands for “A doctrine that advocates equal rights for women”. It is a movement that aims at equal rights for women. For centuries, women were the subject of oppression and discrimination. Women were excluded from political participation, social participation, for a very long time they were denied education. Education and politics were male-centric, something which only the males had access to. Women were denied property and wealth rights; they were not seen as heirs.

The first phase of feminism in India began in the mid-nineteenth century when British colonizers interfered in the age-old practice of ‘sati’. They were against ‘sati pratha’, ‘sati’ is the practice of burning a widow alive on her husband’s pyre, against her will or willingly. But women did not have the liberty to choose, so I am assuming that women agreed under family pressure or societal pressure.

Why were the British Colonizers against ‘Sati’?

Suttee or “widow-burning,” as the British called it, became a subject of much concern to the new administrators. As time went by, it acquired a peculiar resonance for them, and for those in the home country as well. As well as raising uncomfortable and challenging issues about the role and duties of the British in India, it called into question the self-abnegation expected of women in Britain itself, prompting some reflections on the very nature of service and self-sacrifice, especially in the colonial context. Today, thanks largely to the Kolkata-born cultural theorist Gayatri Spivak, it has again become a hot topic among postcolonial and feminist critics. Source: Victorianweb

The second phase of feminism in India began around 1915 when Mahatma Gandhi incorporated women in Quit India Movement and after this, women started their own independent women organisations. Women’s contribution to Freedom of India started gaining appreciation. Women-only organisations like ‘All India Women Conference’ and ‘National Federation of Indian Women’ were formed and was legitimised by Mahatma Gandhi.

The national awakening in the 19th century gave rise to many new faces in the freedom movement. The rising tide of nationalism engulfed not only men but women too. The history of freedom struggle is replete with the saga of sacrifice, bravery, selflessness and political sagacity of women. Source: Shethepeople

Some of the Incredible Women are as follows:

Sarojini Naidu: she is also known as the “Nightingale of India”. She was the first women governor of a state. She played a key role in the Civil Disobedience Movement. She was also a great poet.

Annie Besant: she was a women’s rights activist. Home Rule Movement of 1917 was launched by her.

Bhikaji Cama: she was sent to Europe and was allowed to come back to India if she agreed not to participate in any freedom movements. However, she unfurled the Indian flag in Germany, when she attended the International Socialist Conference on 22nd August 1907. She worked for freedom of India throughout her life.

Also Read: Gender Equality – A Misunderstood Concept of Our Society

Kamala Nehru: she was the vanguard of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921. The British Colonizers saw her as a threat, she has been jailed twice along with Sarojini Naidu for involvement in freedom fighting.

Begum Hazrat Ali: she reclaimed Awadh from the British and re-established her son to the throne. She made people aware that British colonizers were breaking down mosques and temples for the construction of roads, which was creating cultural disparity.

The third phase started post-independence. It mainly focused on the treatment of women after marriage, in the workforce and right to a political party.

Post-independence feminists began to redefine the extent to which women were allowed to engage in the workforce. Prior to independence, most feminists accepted the sexual divide within the labour force. However, feminists in the 1970s challenged the inequalities that had been established and fought to reverse them. These inequalities included unequal wages for women, the relegation of women to ‘unskilled’ spheres of work, and restricting women as a reserve army for labour. In other words, the feminists’ aim was to abolish the free service of women who were essentially being used as cheap capital. Feminist class-consciousness also came into focus in the 1970s, with feminists recognising the inequalities not just between men and women but also within power structures such as caste, tribe, language, religion, region, class etc. This also posed as a challenge for feminists while shaping their overreaching campaigns as there had to be a focus within efforts to ensure that fulfilling the demands of one group would not create further inequalities for another. Now, in the early twenty-first century, the focus of the Indian feminist movement has gone beyond treating women as useful members of society and a right to parity, but also have the power to decide the course of their personal lives and the right of self-determination. Source: Feminism in India

Women of all age groups can now enter and offer prayers in Sabarimala temple. In 1991, the Kerala High Court denied women of age group 11-50, basically premenopausal women, entry to Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. In September 2018, the Supreme Court of India lifted this ban and now women’s entry is not restricted. It said that discrimination of women on any religious grounds is unconstitutional.

Various laws and acts have been established for women who face discrimination and violence. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence 2005 is an Act of Parliament for women who suffer through domestic violence. This law includes physical, emotional and economic abuse. It was brought into action on 26th October 2006.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act 2013. It’s a legislative act providing women who face sexual harassment at the workplace with protection

In 2014, an Indian family court in Mumbai ruled that a husband objecting to his wife wearing a kurta and jeans and forcing her to wear a sari amounts to cruelty inflicted by the husband and can be a ground to seek divorce. The wife was thus granted a divorce on the ground of cruelty as defined under section 27(1)(d) of Special Marriage Act, 1954. In 2016 a judgment of the Delhi high court was made public in which it was ruled that the eldest female member of a Hindu Undivided Family can be its “Karta”. In 2018 the Supreme Court of India struck down a law making it a crime for a man to have sex with a married woman without the permission of her husband. Prior to November 2018, women were forbidden to climb Agasthyarkoodam. A court ruling removed the prohibition. Source: Women in India

Indian society is slowly changing for good. We are still in the clutches of patriarchy. Still, women have to fight through a lot to be in a certain position. Earlier, the patriarchy was more prominent, still, for some women, it did not stop them. Even in a patriarchal society, they made their mark and gave a voice to women’s rights. Some of them are as follows:

Bibi Dalbir Kaur: In the seventeenth century, she formed an all women’s army to fight against the Mughals.

Rani Rudrama Devi: she succeeded in her father’s Katakiya throne at the age of 14. She fought nobles of her own kingdom because the latter thought her to be weak because of her sex.

A lot of men were also seen taking a feminist stand. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, he was against sati, child marriage and polygamy. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, he encouraged widow remarriage. DD Karve, he worked for the betterment of widows in Indian Society.