With the advent of the national movement and the rising feeling of nationhood among common people le, the feminist movement also started gaining people’s attention. Before the 1900s also there were many instances where fights were fought for women’s rights but they didn’t have a wider reach.
In 1915, various feminists raised their voices for the equal treatment of women and also, and they waged a non-violent war against the ill practices committed against women, for instance, sati, denying access to education, child marriage etc. Mahatma Gandhi also played a crucial role in this movement. He encouraged women’s participation in national movements like the civil disobedience movement against the British raj.
Formation of All India Women’s Conference (AIWC)
it was formed in 1927, in Poona, Maharashtra by Margaret Cousin who was inspired by an article written by Mrs A.L. Huidekoper in Stri Dharma, a monthly magazine published by the women’s Indian association of Chennai. She called for holding constituent conferences where women could showcase their perceptions about women’s education. Apart from education, various issues like child marriage, divorce, inheritance etc. were also dealt with.
Some of the women who argued and worked for women’s equality and paved a way for a better future for Indian women in a time when achieving gender equality was only a dream, are as follows:
Savitri Bai Phule
She was born on 3rd January 1831 in Maigaon, a small village in Maharashtra. She was a child bride, married at a very young age to Jyotirao Phule. Her husband played a major role in her education and she became the first female teacher in India. Along with her husband, she opened a school which focused on or emphasize women’s education. Along with working for women’s education, she and her husband also worked for destitute women ‘Satyashodhak Samaj’. They also worked together for the abolishment of dowry.
Sarala Devi Chaudhrani
Sarala Devi Chaudhrani was born in a Bengali family in Kolkata, West Bengal on 9th September 1872. She was not only a feminist but also a political activist, writer and singer. She was among a few women who graduated with a bachelor’s degree. For her excellence in academics, she received the Padmavati gold medal.
She is known as the founder of Bharat Stree Mahamandal, India’s first women's organization and established its branches in Delhi, Calcutta, Hyderabad, and Amritsar. It was a time when people were not only discriminated against based on gender existed but lower caste people were also exploited brutally. She opened a school for women’s education and made an initiative to bring women belonging to all castes together.
Tara Bai Shinde
she was born in Berar, province of Buldhana. Because of the existence of patriarchy, she became a child bride. She learned Sanskrit, English and Marathi from her father at a very young age. She worked with Savitri Bai Phule and her husband Jyotirao Phule and became an active member of ‘Satyashodhak Samaj’.
She fought for widow remarriage, abortion rights, women’s education etc. through her writings. When a widow was given a death sentence for aborting her child, this inspired her to write her first book ‘Stri Purush Tula’ (a comparison between men and women). She has been a controversial figure for questioning the representation of patriarchal society in Hindu scriptures.
Dr Rukhmabai Raut
She is the first female physician to practice medicine in India when women were married off early and were not allowed to gain an education. She was also a child bride but she opposed living with her husband. The court asked her to either chose 6 months imprisonment or to live with her husband. She chose imprisonment over her husband. This episode brought into existence the Age of Consent Act, 1891, raising the age of consent for sexual intercourse from ten to twelve years.
There have been many women who constantly and rigorously for equal representation of women in society. These were just a few examples of some greatest feminists who broke the shackles of patriarchy.
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