Mapping Indian Feminisms 14 7

In Pursuit of an Intersectional Dalit Standpoint

Abstract

This paper aims to engage with the multiple constructions of ‘women’ through history, specifically with an intent to amplify the ideas pertaining to gender and sexualities in the Indian context. It postulates arguments around areas like the construction of Indian womanhood and how it is problematised with intersecting structures of gender, caste, class, religion, and sexuality. The paper evaluates notions like the body and violence meted out based on gender; the evolution of ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ through history and contemporary ruminations. While tracing the trajectory of Indian feminisms through a multitude of books such as those by Maitreyee Chaudhari, Susie Tharu and K. Lalita, Radha Kumar, Sharmila Rege, Anandita Pan, to name a few, it seeks to identify the term Indian feminism not as a monolithic, homogeneous narrative, but as one rooted in different epistemic practices. The paper analyses how the notions of patriarchy, as constituted of gender binarism, has come to be challenged through the intersectional lenses of caste, class, religion, sexuality and so on. he paper will endeavour to incorporate a variety of references ranging from fiction , theoretical tets films and real-life cases etc.