SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Battling Patriarchy in India: Intersectional Women’s Movements?

Room 212, West Center

In a country plagued by the nuances of patriarchal culture, Indian women have risen to the challenge of fighting for and claiming their own rights. The increase in women’s activism is not only beneficial but also necessary, as the laws that have been written in order to help women have been largely ignored and are therefore often useless in the face of the difficulties that women suffer. It is very important to consider the differences among and between women in India, and the extent to which these differences have been incorporated into Indian women’s movements and Indian feminisms, including differences such as the caste system, class, the LGBTQIA+ community, and religion. In other words, I will examine the extent to which Indian women’s movements have been intersectional. Primarily, I will focus on the questions surrounding the practice of satī, violence against women, the strengths and weaknesses of women’s organizing, the history of feminism and women’s organizations in India, and the implications of western interpretations of Indian culture and feminisms. It is crucial to understand the Indian perspective on these issues as a western interpretation may be limited in its understanding of the matters at hand. It is also crucial to understand that feminism fights for more than just strategic interests for women; it also fights for a person’s right to basic survival needs, these issues will be properly addressed as well.