Famous Feminists And Their Works
Akansha Raj is a student at the University of Delhi pursuing honors in English literature. She is a literature enthusiast and loves reading and writing.
Famous Feminists And Their Works
India, the place where goddesses are worshipped by almost everyone, has a very heartbreaking history when it comes to its behavior with women. The patriarchy has grown its roots so deep down that despite various movements by Indian feminists, women living in modern India still face many issues of discrimination.
In a patriarchal world where women have been traditionally silenced, dominated, and brutally treated, many females raised their voices to end this torture. A few of such feminists were:
- Savitribai Phule (1831-1897): She was a brave Dalit woman who raised her voice against the cruelty of society towards women and lower castes. She started 17 schools for women and held many movements for women’s right to education and against female infanticide. She also set up “Balhatya Pratibandhatmak Griha” to prevent female infanticides and campaigned against the killing of widows and pregnant rape victims.
- Tarabai Shinde (1850-1910): She was a female activist who protested against the male patriarchy and caste discrimination. She wrote a famous book named “Stri Purush Tulana” (Disparities between men and women) wherein she defined the inherent patriarchy found in Hindu scriptures. Her views were concrete and controversial. She devoted her life to women empowerment and equality.
- Ramabai Ranade: She was a well educated and thoughtful woman. According to her, every woman should be independent. She set up “Sewa Sadan” in Mumbai and Pune ,an institution that trained thousands of women to have various skills. She dedicated her life to make women self-reliant and financially independent.
- Dr. Vina Mazumdar: She created a revolution when she started the most famous “twin movement”, the movement supporting women studies and women activism. Through her research, she and her colleagues realised that there wasn’t any widespread knowledge about lived experiences of unprivileged women, thus leading to the advent of the Centre for women’s Development Studies(CWDS), in 1980. In 1982 she became a founding member of the Indian Association of Women’s Studies(IAWS), which conducts national conferences to promote Women’s Studies, even to this day.
These great feminists have created a major difference comparatively, and yet there are many wars to be fought for the equality and respect of women not just in India but all around the world.
The views expressed are that of the writer.