This is What a Feminist Looks Like

JUST POPPED IN to post this video from the Feminist Majority Foundation. The word ‘feminist’ comes with so much baggage and this is such a cool, smart way to dispel some ridiculous notions. It’s a simple concept but by visually representing the diverse kinds of people who are feminists, it busts some of the myths [...]

Points of Intersection: Gender and Other Identities

IT WAS DURING the anti-Mandal protests that many young, urban women from universities held up placards saying that an increase in reservation for the Dalit and OBC population would harm their chances of getting qualified men as husbands. During the riots in Mumbai after the Babri Masjid demolition and in the Gujarat pogrom, many Hindu [...]

Open House: History/Her story

MY FIRST BRUSH with feminist theory was at the ripe old age of 23, when, as a volunteer to a visually disabled PhD student, I read aloud portions of Black Feminist Thought and unabashedly displayed my ignorance. But way before that time of unknowing, began a journey of imbibing a belief system, questioning existing patriarchal [...]

Brown Woman Saving

THE YEAR WAS 2004. I don’t quite remember what part of it, but since I don’t recall more than one layer of clothing on me, it must have been summer. India was on small-town America’s radar with Nisha Sharma appearing on Oprah, a heroine after sending her almost-husband to jail practically at the altar/mandap. And [...]

Feminism is Not My Fight

TAKING OFF FROM Indhu’s post about young people declaring feminism dead, I want to explore why young women, specifically, feel this way. I’ve met a lot of women who are apolitical and even have friends who don’t exactly embrace the ‘feminist’ label whole-heartedly. Don’t they know about acid attacks, about dowry deaths, rape, domestic violence? [...]

Is It Post Feminism Yet?

A LOT OF MEN and women in Bangalore proclaim that it is the age of post feminism. One gets more of the same from the woman’s supplements and the women’s magazines which showcase women who are the movers and shakers of the corporate world, who balance home and careers so well, courting success like never [...]

The Naming of the Shrew

AT THE WEDDING of a friend recently, I stood among close friends, showering the newly-married couple with marigolds and rose petals, a lump forming in my throat as I prayed for the couple’s happiness. In the midst of this sentimental moment, I heard a familiar voice declare with great satisfaction, “At last, she is Mrs. [...]

Women Everywhere

IN CONVERSATION with friends, one often comes across differing views about the state (or status) of women in India vis-a-vis other countries. These range from the slightly disturbing optimism of “the west has won its battles” to the even more disturbing “why should we complain; we don’t have it as bad as some others”. This [...]

Why ‘Young Feminists’?

IN CONVERSATIONS among feminists, the unspoken question is usually palpable. The conversation seeks a defining moment like the Mathura rape or similar such rallying points of the 70s and the early 80s. It assumes understanding. It demands history. It seeks common experiences and some long-ago but much cherished bonhomie and much remembered arguments. And [...]

The Other ‘F’ Word

FEMINISM n. Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.
Oh wait. That was the dictionary definition.
Let’s get real for a minute here.
Feminism n. Strong, (therefore threatening), militant, bordering-on-violent, man-hating, bra-burning females.
Which one do you think runs through the average person’s head when [...]