Feminist Movements through the Ages in India: An Empowering Voyage from Prehistoric Age to the Period of Nationalism

Abstract

The paper makes an effort to trace the status of women from the prehistoric period to the contemporary period to explore how the status of women changed in Indian society over the ages and patriarchy evolved to assume a complex structure. Indian women experienced a severe form of subordination as religious tradition and caste hierarchy shaped social practices. It not only unearths the history but also makes textual analysis of the prominent feminist texts and theories to show how women writers penned down their experiences and resisted the ideology and structure of patriarchal society. The period of the colonial period has been dealt with extra emphasis as in that phase history witnessed the rise of women’s movement and nationalism, and these two movements somehow expressed contradictory core values. In order to comprehend the struggle of women to liberate themselves from the bondage of patriarchy, the pieces of literary works written by female writers are indispensable. It is often blamed that in the Indian feminist movement there is a theoretical paucity. The attempt has been initiated to present the principal ideas of Indian feminist scholars and connect the missing links.