To Be or Not to Be a Feminist in India

Abstract

The study reported here was situated in the context of a postcolonial understanding of feminism by women in social action work. It analyzed how urban middle- and upper-class women in Kolkata, India, constructed a feminist praxis in terms of their everyday lived experiences as volunteers and social activists and as urban Indian women working in the social work sector of Indian society. The critical issue was the women’s conception of feminism. Testimonies from 21 women form the crux of the data that were collected via semistructured bilingual interviews and participant observation, inspired by feminist standpoint analysis as a theoretical interest.

The Unsettling Feminism(s) Unconference

“…I affirm Mitra's (2011) contention that the voices of marginalized individuals and communities are often excluded in academic knowledge. For example, in my preparation for teaching my first social work course in fall 2011, I found it paradoxical that although I could locate literature on clinical and community practice with immigrants and refugees, it appears that social work education has largely failed to incorporate this subject into its curriculum.…”

“…'For Whom ' and 'For What reason''' (p. 15). Mitra's (2011) interviews with female social workers in India illustrate the points that Mayuzumi made in relation to diverse worldviews on the same theory and how that understanding and a person's particular location politically, socially, culturally, and geographically shapes her or his identity. Inspired by feminist standpoint theory's attention to marginalized social locations, Mitra used this perspective to explore middle-and upper-class Indian women's perspectives on feminism.…”

“…It is through listening to her heart and integrating her mind, body, and soul that she hopes to decolonize aspects of herself that were colonized and claim her cultural identity, so that she can heal and produce embodied knowledge that integrates these three facets of herself. I argue with Mitra (2011), that women in non-Western countries must be given space to ''develop feminist theory on their own terms befitting their immediate realities without feeling the pressure of Western theoretical hegemony' ' (p. 197).…”

“…Growing up, I listened to horror stories of the British rule in India and the resulting domination of white men and women on Indian citizens in their own homes. In postcolonial India, feminism “takes on a different flavor”; it is linked to the nationalist struggle against the British colonizers (Mitra, 2011, p. 196). On the basis of Mitra’s findings and my own observations in India, the political activist image of feminists is incongruent with women’s gendered roles of caretakers.…”

“…Ironically, despite my resistance to feminism, I applied to attend the Unsettling Feminism(s) unconference. It is critical that scholarship aimed at understanding the lived experiences of Indian women must take into consideration how the intersections of various factors, such as colonial history, globalization, class, caste, religion, education, gender, and sex, intersect and influence their lives (Mitra, 2011).…”