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Indian feminism
With the rise of a new wave of feminism across the world, a new
generation of Indian feminists emerged. Increasing numbers of highly-
educated and professional Indian women have entered the public arena
in fields such as politics, business and scientific research. Contemporary
Indian feminists are fighting for individual autonomy, political rights,
social freedom, economic independence, tolerance, co-operation,
nonviolence and diversity, abortion and reproductive rights, divorce,
equal pay, education, maternity leave, breast feeding; and an end to
domestic violence, gender stereotypes, discrimination, sexism,
objectification, and prostitution. Medha Patkar, Madhu Kishwar, and
Brinda Karat are some of the feminist social workers and politicians who
advocate women's rights in post-independent India. In literature, Amrita
Pritam, Sarojini Sahoo and Kusum Ansal are eminent Indian writers (in
Indian languages) who link sexuality with feminism, and advocate
women's rights. Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan, Leela Kasturi, Sharmila
Rege, Vidyut Bhagat are some of the essayists and social critics who
write in favor of feminism in English.
Arguments in favour
Less than one hundred years ago women did not have the right to
vote weren't able to have jobs and in the event that their husbands
died they were left with nothing and no way to care for there
children. Men were allowed to beat women and there are still
many, many more women than men being raped and kept as sex
slaves. The movements and protests are not needed because the
issues are not as serious as they were (in the U.S. Middle East is a
completely different story) but it still must be a part of education
because men, for as long as history has been recorded, have been
violent, domineering and controlling and any research will show
that men make up the majority of the prison system and commit
the majority of the crimes. I'm not saying men are all evil and I'm
not saying women are better. I'm saying that men obviously are
aggressive and controlling in nature and that we can't allow
ourselves to fall back into that kind of barbaric way of living.
When women are given equal power due to feminism, they develop a
self of belongingness which encourages them to contribute more to the
people around them both personally as well as professionally
Feminism carves the path of self- respect as well as admiration for
women when they are given equal social status in the society
Arguments against
Acknowledge that women cannot have it all because men cant either,
but ensure that both can take on fairly shared responsibilities for
essential paid and unpaid roles.
Important links
http://jezebel.com/time-apologizes-for-including-feminist-on-list-
of-wo-1659418745
http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-feminism-still-relevant
On 9 September 2005, the Hindu Succession (Amendment Act), 2005 (Amendment Act) came
into effect and daughters in a joint Hindu family, governed by Mitakshara law, were granted
statutory right in the coparcenary property (being property not partitioned or alienated) of their
fathers. Historically, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA), did not confer any rights on a
daughter to the ancestral property of her father.