The present paper aims at critically studying the status of modern women’s predicament and suffering under the hegemony of men. Obviously, Vijay Tendulkar, one of the able torchbearers of feministic voices portrays two different characters i.e. sarita and kamala in a realistic and contrasting way. The purpose of this paper is to exhibit the realities of modern Indian women at its grassroots level. In Vijay Tendulkar’s play kamala, a modern, educated, “high-society” woman i.e. sarita is presented in contrast to a poor uneducated slave woman i.e. kamala. Tendulkar only raises social issues through his female characters. He never gives solutions for social problems. Through this paper, I make an attempt to show that Feminism flourishes under Vijay …show more content…
Even though, he does not call himself a feminist (2), many of his plays present the precarious position of women in the contemporary modern society. Plays like Kamala (1981), Silence! The Court is in Session (1967), The Vultures (1961), Sakharam Binder (1972), Kanyadaan (1983), Encounter in Umbugland, Mitrachi Goshta (2001) and Fifth Women (2004) bitterly critiques the patriarchal values and institutions. He exposes the hypocrisy of the male chauvinists. He ruthlessly, attacks the shameful moralistic standards of the so-called civilized urban middle class Indian society of post-Independence era. Feminism in India is a set of movements which focuses on defining, establishing, and defending the equal opportunities for Indian women. In India, there is no gender equality. Indian women are always deprived of their rights. So, like their feminist counterparts all over the world, feminists in India also seek gender equality: the right to work for equal wages, the right to obtain equal access to health and education, and the right to get equal political rights. Indian feminists also have fought against culture-specific issues within India’s patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws and the practice of widow immolation known as Sati. Feminism is the recognition of ‘wholeness’ of existence that encompasses all three – body, mind and soul. And for this recognition it also …show more content…
This is a necessary first step, if one wants to stand outside the layers of imposed systems of thought and to comprehend the nature of stereotypes and to stand outside them. The relationship between women and social structures is far more intricate and more deeply embedded in society than any other. Education, marriage, family, morality, linguistic constructs, custom, law – all these are important elements of self-construction. According to her, Feminist theory has several different theoretical approaches and positions but whether it is social-economic, psychological or literary, its two primary concerns are power and freedom. Both have been traditionally denied to women, placing them on the margins. It is these margins which are being redefined or shifted through a shift to post-feminism in literary aesthetics (IndianFeminisms82).She considers the first stage of feminist struggle as mainly as the right to equality in obtaining political rights and the second with emphasis on alternative perspectives and epistemological structures. Both of these had failed to destroy the binary oppositions. The first still held ‘man’ as central, with woman being a ‘no-man’ with aspirations to become one., the second goes for privileged differences, motherhood and the self. The third stage which is the post-feminist stage attempts to demolish these binary
Thus the text analysis will give instances where the portrayal of women is a reflection of the modern society which will be researched from a feminist point of view. To sum up, feminism plays an important role to uphold women’s right, and their status in a society. Furthermore, it is use to bid for human equality based on gender context. We can conclude that women now have the chance to decide on their
The word “feminist” has caused turmoil wherever it is uttered. It has gained a negative connotation, and is often mistaken with misandry. While these claims may be true for a minimal number of feminists, the truth is that in order to get an accurate representation on what feminists actually believe one would have to go to the source. The two main problems with that, are that first of all, it is “not rigidly structured or led by a single figure or group”, and most importantly there is not just one kind of feminism, there are hundreds in each aspect of our life (Tavaana, 2014). The most under represented group within feminism is the kind that is in the government. Not all have the same theories, and therefore, do not have the same beliefs. However what we do know is that, whatever theory they have, or agenda they follow, they are all fierce promoters of gender equality.
In Nehru’s India, women were victims of a “passive revolution” that subtly advanced bourgeoisie men of higher castes under a guise of parliamentary democracy. Though women have presided over the Indian National Congress, served as a prime minister, and represent a large part of India’s la...
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
Without the feminist ideology present in culture, many people have suffered and continue to suffer. Over a century ago, the suffragette movement started and boys are still raised to believe that they are superior (“Society” 3). This is evident in the ways females are stereotyped, treated, and thought of. Many women get accused of being hysterical when trying to discuss issues relating to the unfairness (“Society” 2). Women live in a society where they are not “allowed” to do many things. The culture today silences the narrations and experiences of women and using the term that the worst thing a man could be would to be female (Lang 3). A lack of feminism prevents women from being able to speak out and feel free. They suffer from being silenced. However, feminism is the solution to freeing the oppressed and empo...
explores not only the way in which patriarchal society, through its concepts of gender , its objectification of women in gender roles, and its institutionalization of marriage, constrains and oppresses women, but also the way in which it, ultimately, erases women and feminine desires. Because women are only secondary and other, they become the invisible counterparts to their husbands, with no desires, no voice, no identity. (Wohlpart 3).
In order for us to deal with how a consideration of femininity can effect our understanding of a literary text, we must also be able to grasp the notion of `feminism' and `Feminist Literary Theory'. A dictionary definition of `feminism' is: `the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes.' Although this leans towards feminism in the historical sense of the word, it still provides the grounds, or foundations, from which feminist literary theories were created. Feminists argue against the stereotyping and social construction of female norms, seeing them as created by men in order to establish their own sense of power. It is thought that while males suggest that gender is sex and not actually a construct, the female role will become much more passive, stereotyped and controlled.
...eneurs; from being an astronaut to the queen of television industry, Indian women have done it all. She has to play a spectrum of roles like the homemaker, a wife, a daughter in law, a mother, a sister, a lover, a daughter, a friend and an “individual”.Indian society still has conservative ideals when it comes to women. The women in lower strata of society are still considered subservient to men and face abuse(Wolpert, 2009).
In this chapter Mahasweta Devi’s anthology of short stories entitled Breast Stories to analyze representations of violence and oppression against women in name of gender. In her Breast Stories, Devi twice evokes female characters from ancient Hindu mythology, envisions them as subalterns in the imagined historical context and, creates a link with the female protagonists of her short stories. As the title suggests, Breast Stories is a trilogy of short stories; it has been translated and analyzed by Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak and, in Spivak’s view, the ‘breast’ of a woman in these stories becomes the instrument of a brutal condemnation of patriarchy. Indeed, breast can be construed as the motif for violence in the three short stories “Draupadi,” “Breast-Giver,” and “Behind the Bodice,”
Ramamoorthy, P. “My Life is My Own: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women” Feminism and Recent Fiction in English Ed. Sushila Singh. New Delhi: Prestige, 1991.
What is within the boundaries of the feminine is always considered to have less status and power and is always subordinate and marginal—women always remain ‘other’. I perceive feminism as a part of the process of challenging the boundaries of the socially constructed role for women in our society—a process which through struggle will create for women a different notion of the normal and natural and a different tradition of being female. (Goodman, Harrop 4)
Today, for the most part, women are seen as equal to men. Women are given the same opportunities as men and an equal chance at getting a job as men. In today’s society, women do not just have one role and that role and that being to have kids, but they can pursue any career they wish. However, it was not always this way. According to feminist theorists, western civilizations were patriarchal which means that the society is dominated by males. The society is set up so that the male is above the female in all cultural aspects including family, religion, politics, economics, art, and the social and legal realms. The patriarchal biases of gender between male and female say that a male must be active, dominating, adventurous, rational, and creative. In the novel, A Passage to India, Forster expresses this male dominance by writing, “He took no notice of them, and with this, which would have passed without comment in feminist England, did harm in a community where the male is expected to be lively and helpful” (Forster 52). They say that to be female is to be passive, agreeable, timid, emotional, and conventional. The feminist theorists’ argument of a male centered society is definitely present in the novel A Passage to India. E.M. Forster reveals cultural, economic, and educational factors within the patriarchal society of India that limit women. In E.M. Forster’s novel A Passage to India, Forster exposes derogatory stereotypes of women and portrays women as inferior to men to uphold the view of women during the time period.
In contemporary society, feminism is emerging as a theory of social construct. In literature it is often challenging to discover female characters that go beyond the limits of marginalized female stereotypes and roles as a means to transgress beyond societal norms. Women are characterized as subordinate objects, amid the dominant patriarchal nature entrenched amid the epic. In The Ramayana, women are portrayed as powerless objects that succumb to the manipulation of men as the text portrays a false empowerment of women, which ultimately succumb to common archetypes accustomed to women in literature; implementing a hierarchy of gender that institutionalizes male dominance amid female inferiority. The women of The Ramayana struggle to oppose the systemic patriarchy and pursue a pathway towards attaining dynamic elements of power, that enable their ability to embody autonomous authority. In Valmiki’s The Ramayana, while women appear to be empowered, ultimately they are feeble instruments utilized to fulfill the desires of men.
However, partly due to their biological sexual difference and the socio-cultural surroundings to which they belong, the consequences of these above mentioned social evils are much more on women, especially subaltern women. Giving voice to such oppressed subalterns, the gendered subaltern (women of the deprived sections) and Indian women in general, Gayatri Chakvarty Spivak says: “For if, in the context of colonial production, the subaltern has no history and cannot speak, the subaltern as female is even more deeply in shadow.” During her analysis of Sati she concludes her essay “can the subaltern” with her declaration that “the subaltern cannot speak” (Ashcroft, Griffths, and Tiffins 218-219).
Feminism can be roughly described as a movement that seeks to enhance the quality of women’s lives by impacting the norms and moves of a society based on male dominance and subsequent female subordination. Although feminist literary writings began to gain popularity in the 20th century, feminist characters have been around for ages. “Feminist criticism’s self transformations over the past several decades as it engages with both critiques from within and encounters from without- encounters with psychoanalysis, Marxism, Post-Structuralisms, ethnic studies, post-colonial theory, and lesbian and gay studies- have produced a complex proliferation of work not easily subsumed to a single description. (Rivkin 527)”. According to Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan in their essay “Feminist Paradigms”, feminist criticism includes several other ideas. Gayle Rubin, author of “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex”, also adds: The literature on women- both feminist and anti-feminist- is a long rumination on the question of the nature and genesis of women’s oppression and social subordination.”