A Different Feminist View
Let’s Celebrate Our Differences on This Special Day!
I recently read the book Seeing Like a Feminist by Nivedita Menon. And I found it highly thoughtful and provocative. As the name suggests, the book offers multiple feminist perspectives to see the things before us. I was especially impressed by the idea when Menon says there is no “feminist” stance on anything. In other words, considerable differences underlie the different feminist positions and understanding(Dalit, Black, Bourgeois, etc.). Like any other group of people, feminists also have disagreements on issues ranging from sex work to reservation policies. In her book, Menon provides some deep wisdom on such topics. For example, she writes that one strand of feminists sees sex work as a form of exploitation and degradation of non-cis men genders. Whilst the opposition and many sex-work organisations consider sex work as a way to earn a living like teaching and driving, they also demand decriminalisation and regularisation of sex work to ensure robust labour rights for sex workers.
Menon also provides some powerful insights into the changing stereotypes. For example, she says that contrary to the popular notion, pink used to be identified with boys a few decades ago, and similarly, blue was the colour of girls. But over the years, the order changed, and pink became girls’ colour and blue boys’. In another instance, she talks about an earlier tradition followed in South India, which prohibited lower-caste (Dalit) women from using blouses to cover their breasts, and wearing a blouse was the prerogative of only the upper-caste women. However, once when a young girl tried to wear a blouse sneakily and was caught by her mother covering her breasts, her mother loathed her actions and called her characterless and shameless.
One more thing that fascinated me the most in the book was Gloria Steinem’s idea, where she talks about an interesting scenario where men could menstruate instead of women! Steinem imagines what would happen if men could menstruate;
What would happen,.., if men could menstruate,… The answer is clear — menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.
The parliament would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts. Sanitary supplies would be centrally funded and free…, Military men, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite “menstruation” as proof that only men could serve in the Army (you have to give blood to take blood!), occupy political office (can women be aggressive without that steadfast cycle governed by the planet Mars?!), be priests and ministers (how could a woman give her blood for our sins?!) or rabbis (without the monthly loss of impurities, women remain unclean!).
Male radicals, left-wing politicians, and mystics, however, would insist that women are equal, just different and that any woman could enter their ranks if she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month (you must give blood for the revolution!), recognise the preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in their Cycle of Enlightenment.
Steinem, through this idea, points out that the practices and characteristics of the powerful become the template for the powerless to follow irrespective of its legitimacy. The hegemonic attitudes become common sense. For example, people often try to emulate the superficial “ideal” of a powerful North American country, even if it implies consumerism and exploitation. It also means using foreign terminologies (e.g., brown parents) instead of native ones in their writings to impress the audience of specific countries.
Although Nivedita Menon puts forth different feminists’ views in her book; however, she makes a particular reference to Indian feminism. And when we talk about Indian feminism, we see that caste is a crucial dimension of this feminism. Similarly, when we bring caste into the picture, any discussion on caste is incomplete without Savitribai Phule, Jyotirao Phule and Ambedkar. Savitribai Phule was the first Indian teacher, and she set up the first school for girls in India with the help of her husband, Jyotirao Phule. On the other hand, Ambedkar was a strong advocate of women’s rights. However, his contribution to Indian feminism is yet to be adequately recognised. Ambedkar’s works, like ‘Castes in India,’ ‘The Riddle of Rama and Krishna,’ and ‘Madness of Manu,’ highlight Ambedkar’s firm opposition against the graded inequality and violence against women.
Ambedkar’s radical take on Rama and Krishna is unprecedented. While talking about the role of Rama in Sita’s life, Ambedkar calls Rama cruel and apathetic. The intense feelings against Rama stem from the fact that Rama tries to reestablish himself morally at the cost of Sita on every occasion. For example, after the Lanka victory, Rama sends Hanuman to see Sita instead of going by himself as he busies himself with other activities like the coronation of Vibhishana. Many fundamentalists opposed this stance of Ambedkar on Hindu deities, and even his work could not be published publicly.
Apart from Hindu deities, Ambedkar also intensely wrote about the lower-caste women’s second-degree treatment. And, he was frantic about the upper-caste customs, which required Dalit women to provide sexual favours to the upper-caste men. Therefore, he was against sex work, which he believed mainly involved the lower-caste women. Ambedkar reasoned that sex work was not a free choice, and the marginality of lower-caste women circumscribed their choice and opinions around sex work. Ambedkar even insisted sex workers leave this occupation and employ themselves in other economic activities.
Ambedkar’s vigorous contestation against those Hindu scriptures, which degraded the position of women, put him on a high pedestal of early Indian feminist thought.