Challenges to Feminism in 21st Century: A South Asian Perspective, with Special Focus on India

Resumo

The present paper looks at the challenges to feminism in the 21st century and gives a south Asian perspective. All over the world there has been a close link between the women’s movement and feminism, each inspiring and enriching the other. While the women’s movement is a much earlier phenomenon, the term Feminism is a modern one. Feminism comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. The present paper looks at the challenges to feminism in the South Asian region, with a special focus on India. These can be referred to as the three G’s - the attitude towards, Girl child, Gender violence and Globalization. South Asia is home to around a fifth of world population. Though today this region is characterized by high economic growth for the past 10-15 years yet poverty is also a reality along with illiteracy, backwardness and a large population. In the absence of a State support structure, the family plays a major role in this culture and this affects women more than men. All South Asian cultures are patriarchal. There is a lot of value placed on the birth of a son and one of the major problems facing the family today is the declining sex ratio. Gender-based violence is a universal reality of the South Asian region regardless of income, class and culture. The liberalization of the economy in the wake of Globalization in many South Asian countries has vastly diminished traditional livelihood means for the poor. The dominance of rich nations, multinational corporations and international capital over markets, resources and labour in the developing countries through trade, aid and technology transfer has greatly weakened the capacity of nation states and governments to promote human development and offer protection to the poor people. The paper concludes by stating that feminism is as relevant as ever before and the biggest challenge of 21st century feminism as to how do we integrate difference with an interdependent world.