what I write here are my personal experiences and my commentary on life as I see it - various events, issues, my own reflections and views on anything that seem relevant for that point of time
guess it depends on how one defines feminism.Having grown up amongst women who defied a lot of societal norms I find it faintly hilarious ! What say you ?
@ eve's lungs: actually this statement is a part of a TED.com video - a talk by Isabel Alande, author and activist. Here she talks about women,creativity, the definition of feminism and passion. in that context she said, her daughter thought "feminism" in the traditional sense was out of fashion for the privileged women and that is what she was contesting in this talk. Have you watched the video, the link was there along with the post.
i agree with you about defining feminism and i have been especially curious about women of my age group from Bengal and elsewhere in India. I believe we have grown up with (i know i have) with partly sharatchandriyo values of home, of caring, of balance and of being considerate. at the same time we have seen and also been rebellious, have broken rules, been adventurous and sometimes gone into uncharted territories. and i do see some of us also at times being torn between rules laid down by patriarchy and our own values. what do you think?
I believe that feminism is defined by how we negotiate the spaces available to us as women everyday. and in an ideal world it would be redundant, but as the world is veering further away from ideal everyday, i think those who believe that feminism is 'out of fashion' are a little out of sync with much of women's lives today. Living a life of privilege should not blind one to the pre-modern strictures that still rule so many women's lives.
however, i also believe that negotiating the space is a two way process as well for both men and women - specially in urban middle and upper middle class section. men are renegotiating their roles and space - albeit in a minuscule way, but they are.
as for feminism, i think the question Isabel was raising, was that it should be all the more relevant to the more privileged section of society so that they act for affirmative action with the power and privileges that they have for those who don't.
Jean, an old time friend, once (many years ago) lamented that her 11 year old daughter is hardly ever excited by her mother's passionate for feminism. I felt that it was perfectly understandable - because Janica (her daughter) never really had to fight restrictions imposed onto her for her gender to get what she wants. She wears (at that time) her hair short, plays football and the guitar (a relatively male instrument compared to the piano). I think the face of feminist struggles evolve over time. Bra burning and such may seem ridiculous to many and meaningful to some, and I am curious about the reasons before coming to conclusions of the ludicrity of it all.
I think the fundamental struggle is that patriarchy defines women's primary role in society to be that of the nurturer, in roles of mothers, chaste wives and all associated roles (daughters in law, aunts, blah di blah). And for those who transgress these, to be chastised as fallen women, whores, witches, bad, selfish, cold women, etc. Life choices are still about it. Women, across classes, still struggle to break out of these roles, and if they do, with a great deal of guilt.
The day marriage wont be necessarily based on chastity, feminism will probably be dead.
guess it depends on how one defines feminism.Having grown up amongst women who defied a lot of societal norms I find it faintly hilarious ! What say you ?
ReplyDelete@ eve's lungs: actually this statement is a part of a TED.com video - a talk by Isabel
ReplyDeleteAlande, author and activist. Here she talks about women,creativity, the definition of feminism and passion. in that context she said, her daughter thought "feminism" in the traditional sense was out of fashion for the privileged women and that is what she was contesting in this talk. Have you watched the video, the link was there along with the post.
i agree with you about defining feminism and i have been especially curious about women of my age group from Bengal and elsewhere in India. I believe we have grown up with (i know i have) with partly sharatchandriyo values of home, of caring, of balance and of being considerate. at the same time we have seen and also been rebellious, have broken rules, been adventurous and sometimes gone into uncharted territories.
and i do see some of us also at times being torn between rules laid down by patriarchy and our own values. what do you think?
I believe that feminism is defined by how we negotiate the spaces available to us as women everyday. and in an ideal world it would be redundant, but as the world is veering further away from ideal everyday, i think those who believe that feminism is 'out of fashion' are a little out of sync with much of women's lives today. Living a life of privilege should not blind one to the pre-modern strictures that still rule so many women's lives.
ReplyDelete@heh? ok - thanks. I totally agree.
ReplyDeletehowever, i also believe that negotiating the space is a two way process as well for both men and women - specially in urban middle and upper middle class section. men are renegotiating their roles and space - albeit in a minuscule way, but they are.
as for feminism, i think the question Isabel was raising, was that it should be all the more relevant to the more privileged section of society so that they act for affirmative action with the power and privileges that they have for those who don't.
Jean, an old time friend, once (many years ago) lamented that her 11 year old daughter is hardly ever excited by her mother's passionate for feminism. I felt that it was perfectly understandable - because Janica (her daughter) never really had to fight restrictions imposed onto her for her gender to get what she wants. She wears (at that time) her hair short, plays football and the guitar (a relatively male instrument compared to the piano). I think the face of feminist struggles evolve over time. Bra burning and such may seem ridiculous to many and meaningful to some, and I am curious about the reasons before coming to conclusions of the ludicrity of it all.
ReplyDeleteI think the fundamental struggle is that patriarchy defines women's primary role in society to be that of the nurturer, in roles of mothers, chaste wives and all associated roles (daughters in law, aunts, blah di blah). And for those who transgress these, to be chastised as fallen women, whores, witches, bad, selfish, cold women, etc. Life choices are still about it. Women, across classes, still struggle to break out of these roles, and if they do, with a great deal of guilt.
The day marriage wont be necessarily based on chastity, feminism will probably be dead.