Feminist Churning in Contemporary India

Arya, Sunaina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7479-7399 (2026) Feminist Churning in Contemporary India. In: Building Bridges Between Indian Philosophy and Latin American Philosophy. Routledge, London, pp. 64-81. ISBN 9781003601173 Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003601173-5

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Abstract

Sunaina Arya's chapter, entitled “Feminist Churning in Contemporary India,” surveys the recent history of feminism in India, especially with reference to three important events that pertain to identity, religion and freedom in public space. She begins with a brief remark on the historical origins of gender discrimination in India and further problematizes it by embedding it in a claim about the hegemony of caste. In the first section entitled “Right to Love,” Arya dwells upon the history of the struggle of the LGBTQIA++ community in India. She describes the general social perception of LGBTQIA++ individuals in Indian society across time and its portrayal in popular art forms, including cinema. Same-sex love was criminalized under Section 377 of the IPC by British colonizers, but it was later decriminalized after a long struggle through India's Supreme Court judgement, following its decriminalization in Britain. She also points out later in this context that one of the most influential religious texts, which still influences social perceptions in India, puts the transgender community in the category of untouchables. In the next section entitled “Right to Worship,” Arya presents an account of the Sabarimala controversy, where women of menstruating age are barred from worshipping at the temple since ancient times. Lastly, Arya presents interesting snippets from the #MeToo movement in India. Overall, Arya makes an attempt in her chapter to articulate the origin of the schism between two different sections of feminists in India based mainly along caste and class divides. In her concluding remarks, she points out that the voices of Dalit women against their oppressors generally fail to draw attention from mainstream feminists. Arya makes an important point in the chapter, namely that the mainstream feminist movement has, by far, failed to be inclusive along class and caste divides, which makes for a major deficiency in the Indian feminist struggle and desperately requires Indian women to unify to form a spearhead of sorts while keeping the diversity in positions engaged in a dialogue.

Item Type: Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords: Across time | Britain | Court judgement | Embeddings | Gender discrimination | Public space | Social perception | Supreme Court
Subjects: Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Gender Studies
Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Law and Legal Studies
Depositing User: Mr. Syed Anas Ali
Date Deposited: 28 Jul 2026 04:57
Last Modified: 28 Jul 2026 04:57
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003601173-5
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/12109

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