History of of women’s political participation and its impact on their standing in the Indian Society
It has hardly been 200 hundred years since women started raising voices against the subjugation and violation they had been suffering at the hands of men, society and patriarchy. What started in the 1800s with a demand for equal voting rights in the West was coincided with the social reform movements, particularly aimed at the plights of women, being carried out in the Indian subcontinent. The reforms were initiated by Men, later on joined by women from upper castes and upper class families and backed by legal authority the British Government in India. And since then, women and men have time and again started movements against evils and inequalities of the society.
As put forward by Krishna Menon and Meenakshi Malhotra, Women’s politics involves two aspects- one that of their participation in what we call ‘political’ and the other refers to their understanding of the politics of their own oppression. Feminists scholars had made the public-private dichotomy very clear and had demonstrated how Patriarchy has ensured the division to maintain the status quo and the authority that Patriarchy has over the existing power structure and institutions in the society.
The political participation of women in India, or rather say Indian Feminism has been broadly divided into three phases by some scholars- the socio-religious reforms in mid 18th century; the Freedom struggle during the first half of 19th century; and the post independent struggle and movements for socio-economic political rights, opportunities and accessibilities.
During the first phase issues such as abolishing Sati Pratha, Widow Re-marriage, Women’s education, abolition of Purdah system and improving the dire situation of sex workers and their rehabilitation had taken the centre stage by activists such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, etc.
The second phase witnessed women fighting to reclaim the public spaces and recieve education and skill impartment to be more self reliant economically and activists like Swarnakumari Devi , Ramabai Saraswati had played major roles in these campaigns. Although the activists were solely from the privileged sections of the society – the upper caste and upper class women and so were the target recipients.
Coinciding with the Freedom struggle was the inter-war period during which the main focus of women activists, were on two main things- achieving political rights for women and reforming personal laws. Women’s participation was increasing not just in nationalist movements but they were also joining, and at times, like Anasuya Sarabhai and Maniben Kara, leading the strikes of working class, peasants’ struggles and Adivasi uprisings.
However, despite their active participation in the freedom struggle,their roles were limited to be that of caretakers and being support system of men, as their main front was still considered to be Homes and they were perceived as selfless caring creatures whose main job was to look after children and family. Cleverly put in a diplomatic way by Gandhi, Home was as essential as any other public space for revolution and so women were encouraged to take responsibility of the household proudly.
The third phase was marked with greater autonomy and freedom for women when it came to participation in pubic affair and politics on account of having equal fundamental right however the domestic sphere was still her responsibility. Though women remained hopeful till the mid sixties, the weakening of the Congress System due to economic failures led to the emergence of a new struggle in which women did not just focus on mobilizing themselves but also introspect and identify the reasons behind their continued subjugation.
Though the events of 1970s such as the Sahada Movement,Shramik Sangathan Movement, Anti Price Agitation , Nav Nirman were inspired by JP’s call for total revolution and joined and supported by women in great number, they witnessed that the techniques and methods adopted by the protesters reinfoced and perpetuated the prejudices about women they had internalized themselves.
By the time Emergency ended in 1977, the sexual division of labour and subjugation of women were being re-examined. Women spear headedly fought and put tremendous pressure to bring strict penalizing laws against Dowry during the 1970s and against rape during the 1980s. This led to the emergence of a new phase in feminist movement in India which was highly focused on curbing violence against women in all spaces.
Though women have the access to education, their enrollment rate still remains low, their dropout rate still remains high. The onus of fulfilling their gendered domestic role is still on them and very much prevalent. When one takes into consideration their caste and class identity, and looks through the lenses of intersectionality at the condition of women, one realizes that even today, hardly the bare minimum has been achieved in terms of their well being and welfare.
When it comes to presence of women in electoral politics, though as voters, they have increased in number, one must understand that in most cases, they don't have an opinion of their own , as their preferences lies in what their family deems to be fit. Moreover in recent years, the number of women candidates being nominated has also reduced along with the number of women representatives in the legislative assemblies.
Though one can say that women have made their presence felt in the panchayati raj system, but again one must take into account the prevalent malpractice of pradhan pati. Thus, despite their presence and authority, women remain highly ineffective. There are two main reasons for it. First, most of these women have had no direct substantive ties with the movement or campaigns around women's issue. Second, women's access to power is more than often mediated through their family and kinship ties. Thus, having no agency of her own, women end up having only symbolic power on one hand and being in control of other's on the other, both of which results in little or no work done for women empowerment and emancipation on her account.
In the 20th century, women's political participation took the shape of interest groups and pressure groups and since then these units have expanded their reach, their concerns and their members exponentially. The efforts and contributions of these groups are numerous. The last two decades has witnessed women asserting themselves more and more for their own rights and freedom, and of other groups which have always suffered at the hands of patriarchy and it's ever present invisible tentacles.
They have forced governments to amend or create a new law which protect their autonomy over themselves and penalize Violence against them in any form. Having the characteristic feature of third wave feminism - of being inclusive and accommodating, Indian feminists in the past two decades have raised their voices for breaking the stereotype of gender role, for demanding justice and equality for LGBTQ+ communities, for saving environment and celebrating diversity and differences, for creating a space where every individual is treated equally, has opportunities and equal resources, and women aren’t burdened with double labour.
The cold and women-dismissing response of the society to the MeToo Movement, the character assassination of women protesting against the CAA, the #notallmen cries regarding the Boys Locker Room Incident, or the growing number of ‘reported’ domestic violence cases during the government imposed lockdown, the rising xenophobic & racial treatment of which women are easiest target, due to the Corona virus Crisis has shown us that we still have a long way to go when it comes to creating a truly safe secure and enabling positive space for women whether be it the public sphere of politics, outdoors and work spaces or the domestic setup.
It reflects the deeply entrenched biases and misogynistic mindset of people that still puts women at positions where their subjugation is not that difficult. Though it seems that we have achieved a lot in the past two hundred years but it has not been enough to dismantle patriarchy and its components. Whether be it the Capitalist economic system, jingoist nationalism, growing legitimacy of the patriarchal state which itself is gendered and reflects toxic masculine features, women and other minority groups will always be the easiest target. One must understand that unless and until the Society is not get rid of Patriarchy, emancipation of humans, irrespective of their sexual orientation and gender, in real sense would never be able to be realized.
Sanskriti
As put forward by Krishna Menon and Meenakshi Malhotra, Women’s politics involves two aspects- one that of their participation in what we call ‘political’ and the other refers to their understanding of the politics of their own oppression. Feminists scholars had made the public-private dichotomy very clear and had demonstrated how Patriarchy has ensured the division to maintain the status quo and the authority that Patriarchy has over the existing power structure and institutions in the society.
The political participation of women in India, or rather say Indian Feminism has been broadly divided into three phases by some scholars- the socio-religious reforms in mid 18th century; the Freedom struggle during the first half of 19th century; and the post independent struggle and movements for socio-economic political rights, opportunities and accessibilities.
During the first phase issues such as abolishing Sati Pratha, Widow Re-marriage, Women’s education, abolition of Purdah system and improving the dire situation of sex workers and their rehabilitation had taken the centre stage by activists such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, etc.
The second phase witnessed women fighting to reclaim the public spaces and recieve education and skill impartment to be more self reliant economically and activists like Swarnakumari Devi , Ramabai Saraswati had played major roles in these campaigns. Although the activists were solely from the privileged sections of the society – the upper caste and upper class women and so were the target recipients.
Coinciding with the Freedom struggle was the inter-war period during which the main focus of women activists, were on two main things- achieving political rights for women and reforming personal laws. Women’s participation was increasing not just in nationalist movements but they were also joining, and at times, like Anasuya Sarabhai and Maniben Kara, leading the strikes of working class, peasants’ struggles and Adivasi uprisings.
However, despite their active participation in the freedom struggle,their roles were limited to be that of caretakers and being support system of men, as their main front was still considered to be Homes and they were perceived as selfless caring creatures whose main job was to look after children and family. Cleverly put in a diplomatic way by Gandhi, Home was as essential as any other public space for revolution and so women were encouraged to take responsibility of the household proudly.
The third phase was marked with greater autonomy and freedom for women when it came to participation in pubic affair and politics on account of having equal fundamental right however the domestic sphere was still her responsibility. Though women remained hopeful till the mid sixties, the weakening of the Congress System due to economic failures led to the emergence of a new struggle in which women did not just focus on mobilizing themselves but also introspect and identify the reasons behind their continued subjugation.
Though the events of 1970s such as the Sahada Movement,Shramik Sangathan Movement, Anti Price Agitation , Nav Nirman were inspired by JP’s call for total revolution and joined and supported by women in great number, they witnessed that the techniques and methods adopted by the protesters reinfoced and perpetuated the prejudices about women they had internalized themselves.
By the time Emergency ended in 1977, the sexual division of labour and subjugation of women were being re-examined. Women spear headedly fought and put tremendous pressure to bring strict penalizing laws against Dowry during the 1970s and against rape during the 1980s. This led to the emergence of a new phase in feminist movement in India which was highly focused on curbing violence against women in all spaces.
Though women have the access to education, their enrollment rate still remains low, their dropout rate still remains high. The onus of fulfilling their gendered domestic role is still on them and very much prevalent. When one takes into consideration their caste and class identity, and looks through the lenses of intersectionality at the condition of women, one realizes that even today, hardly the bare minimum has been achieved in terms of their well being and welfare.
When it comes to presence of women in electoral politics, though as voters, they have increased in number, one must understand that in most cases, they don't have an opinion of their own , as their preferences lies in what their family deems to be fit. Moreover in recent years, the number of women candidates being nominated has also reduced along with the number of women representatives in the legislative assemblies.
Though one can say that women have made their presence felt in the panchayati raj system, but again one must take into account the prevalent malpractice of pradhan pati. Thus, despite their presence and authority, women remain highly ineffective. There are two main reasons for it. First, most of these women have had no direct substantive ties with the movement or campaigns around women's issue. Second, women's access to power is more than often mediated through their family and kinship ties. Thus, having no agency of her own, women end up having only symbolic power on one hand and being in control of other's on the other, both of which results in little or no work done for women empowerment and emancipation on her account.
In the 20th century, women's political participation took the shape of interest groups and pressure groups and since then these units have expanded their reach, their concerns and their members exponentially. The efforts and contributions of these groups are numerous. The last two decades has witnessed women asserting themselves more and more for their own rights and freedom, and of other groups which have always suffered at the hands of patriarchy and it's ever present invisible tentacles.
They have forced governments to amend or create a new law which protect their autonomy over themselves and penalize Violence against them in any form. Having the characteristic feature of third wave feminism - of being inclusive and accommodating, Indian feminists in the past two decades have raised their voices for breaking the stereotype of gender role, for demanding justice and equality for LGBTQ+ communities, for saving environment and celebrating diversity and differences, for creating a space where every individual is treated equally, has opportunities and equal resources, and women aren’t burdened with double labour.
The cold and women-dismissing response of the society to the MeToo Movement, the character assassination of women protesting against the CAA, the #notallmen cries regarding the Boys Locker Room Incident, or the growing number of ‘reported’ domestic violence cases during the government imposed lockdown, the rising xenophobic & racial treatment of which women are easiest target, due to the Corona virus Crisis has shown us that we still have a long way to go when it comes to creating a truly safe secure and enabling positive space for women whether be it the public sphere of politics, outdoors and work spaces or the domestic setup.
It reflects the deeply entrenched biases and misogynistic mindset of people that still puts women at positions where their subjugation is not that difficult. Though it seems that we have achieved a lot in the past two hundred years but it has not been enough to dismantle patriarchy and its components. Whether be it the Capitalist economic system, jingoist nationalism, growing legitimacy of the patriarchal state which itself is gendered and reflects toxic masculine features, women and other minority groups will always be the easiest target. One must understand that unless and until the Society is not get rid of Patriarchy, emancipation of humans, irrespective of their sexual orientation and gender, in real sense would never be able to be realized.
Sanskriti
Before accusing "Patriarchy", I would request an answer to a simple query: PLEASE GIVE ME THE HEADCOUNT FOR AN ALL WOMEN ARMY TO DEFEAT A 3,00,000 ARMY OF ROBUST TURK & MONGOL WARRIORS.
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