Antardrishti

  Abstract : Dalit women in India have had a long history of suppression and of leading lives of routine indignity and humiliation. The ‘Breast Tax’ (Mulakkaram or mula-karam in Malayalam), imposed on the lower caste, Dalit women by the Kingdom of Travancore (in present-day Kerala) if they wanted to cover their breasts in public, was one of the many ways of oppressing them. This indignity on the part of the dominant castes inculcated into one of the most significant Dalit as well as female revolts in history – The Channar Lahala or the Channar revolt (also called the Maru Marakkal Samaram) -   a relentless struggle of the Nadar climber women of Travancore for their right to wear upper-body garments. This historic revolt, made news a few years ago, in the CBSE’s infamous decision (2016) to remove the section titled ‘Caste, Conflict and Dress Change’ from its social science curriculum, by labeling it as “objectionable content”. This amounted to an attempt to erase the history ...

Joseph S. Alter, visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Pittsburg, examines in his work Celibacy, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Gender into Nationalism in North India - the use of Hindu concept of Brahmacharya (celibacy) in contemporary India. He relates the concept of Brahmacharya with gender and nationalism in North India. Celibacy can best be practiced as a form of political action targeting against the post-colonial idea of “freedom”, i.e. Westernization. The article focuses on biological as well as spiritual nature of semen and how semen is innately male which makes the concept of celibacy and nationalism a gendered phenomenon. The very first part of the article is- Celibacy, Semen, and the Science of Sex. In a nutshell, this section talks about how semen conservation is essential and provides with various works of people who believe in spillage of semen as a sin.      Because the youth of today are destroying their semen they ...

  *ding* *ding* (2 new notifications) “Hello beautiful! We at xyz wish you a very happy women’s day. Click here to avail exciting offers on beauty products. OFFER VALID ONLY FOR TODAY.” “You are unstoppable, you are fierce, and all about that sass. This Women’s day choose glam, choose style. Redeem code GIRLPOWR01 to win prizes.”   Some of us woke up to these notifications a few days ago. It was 8 th of March and International Women’s Day! In 1908, as many as 15,000 working women took to the streets of New York City, demanding less working hours, wage parity and voting rights. In the following year, the Socialist Party of America had declared February 28 th as America’s National Women’s Day. And inspired by the same, Clara Zetkin (member of Socialist Democratic Party of Germany) pitched in the proposal of observing International Women’s day, at International Conference of Working Women (Denmark). On March 9 th 1911, countries like Austria, Denmark, Germany and ...

Feminism, the word has always been a trigger to some people who believe it is an encroachment on men’s rights. The internet is full of people telling that feminism is not relevant anymore as the modern or the urban society has achieved basic equality and women are just using their “ feminism card” to get privileges. Often, feminism and misandry are used interchangeably thereby pinning feminism at par with something it seeks to destroy: the supremacy of any gender over others. In this article I shall not talk about the increasing number of rape cases, the number of heinous crimes against women of which the majority cases remain unreported, or the dismally low conviction rate of our country. There are already plenty of informative articles out there which talk about these things and educate about the history of feminism, the three waves of feminism and how it has evolved as a movement . I shall be very specific in my approach, talking strictly about feminism and women in the modern or ur...

While 12 th March, 2020’s order to extend the mid-sem break till 31 st March, 2020 was embraced by many, there was also a group of people who were hoping and praying that the University of Delhi will not agree to the Delhi Government’s order and colleges will remain open. Unfortunately, that was not the case. For many, the Lockdown begun with trying out new things, exploring personal interests, trying hands on things they like: cooking, painting, gardening, making dalgona Coffee, etc. while for many the Lockdown imposed unwanted duties and burden. For them cooking, gardening was not a choice, rather the mere duties which were imposed on them only because of their gender. Pandemic and Patriarchy. They go hand-in-hand. Patriarchy is a system that favours male, patriarchal lines over female and gender non-conforming groups. This piece is very close to my heart, as being a woman; I have been exposed to folds of patriarchy in this pandemic. I am certainly aware that there have been ...