A few days ago, some friends sent private messages saying that they felt it was okay after watching Japanese, Korean, European and American rights content. But when I think about the doctor’s daily curiosity about India, he doesn’t talk about Indian feminism?

Please see the link below for the video:

Several women broke through the blockade and jumped into the fire to bury Gandhi!

That’s right, self-immolation! Ancient India had a system called "sati". It originated from one of the three major Hindu gods Shiva and his wife Sati. Legend has it that Sati's father looked down on his son-in-law and scolded him for being old and not taking a bath. He held a sacrificial ceremony at home and invited all his seven aunts and eight aunts. Just don’t invite Shiva.

In Indian mythology, this is a big problem, so panic! But it was not Shiva who was panicking, but his wife Sati. Sadie felt that her father had insulted her husband, and she was so angry that she set herself on fire. After death, she was reincarnated as the snow-capped mountain goddess Parvati, and renewed her relationship with Shiva.

Originally this myth was just a wave, or a teardrop, but it just happened to be holding the banner of Hinduism and it evolved into a custom. Beginning in the 4th century AD, countless widows in India were tricked into setting themselves on fire after their husbands died, so that they could rekindle their relationship in the so-called afterlife.

1600 years later, the tragedy of self-immolation was staged again at Gandhi's funeral. Of course, these women were not Gandhi's wives, but they regarded Gandhi as the "true god" and wanted to sacrifice their lives! ?

I guess Gandhi himself did not realize that during his lifetime he advocated treating women well and called on women to participate in the national independence movement. However, after his death, some women expressed their respect by "self-immolation"! I have to say it's ironic.

Before the independence of the Indian nation, women burned themselves and were buried. After the Indian nation became independent, women still burned themselves and were buried! Then isn’t my independence in vain?

That’s right, congratulations! Everyone will answer!

Unlike Japanese and Korean feminism, Indian feminism is deeply bound to the national liberation movement . As a result, Indian feminism has become a pioneer in Asia, and it has also been bound by restrictions, showing obvious limitations and exclusivity .

Being an obedient and stoic mother

is not a revolutionary, but is only worthy of being a subsidiary of the revolutionaries

In the mid-19th century, India became a British colony, and Indian intellectuals began to use the image of "mother" to refer to the colonized motherland.

During this period, upper-class women in India began to open their eyes to the world, while women at the bottom became tea-picking workers in Assam tea gardens. They found their own value outside of the traditional family. The first generation of women in India began to awaken!

As we all know, individuals in India are divided into three, six or nine levels, but no matter which level, men are superior to women. As long as there is a possibility of respect, the most likely role is the role of "mother". Others such as daughters? sisters? All can be beaten, killed and sold!

So Indian Feminism 1.0 chose to embrace the definition of "mother" and within the framework of patriarchal regulations, devoted itself to the national independence movement and fought for greater space.

But there are advantages and disadvantages. "Mother" means retaining more of the "traditional" values ​​of women, such as purity, obedience, fertility, and dedicating the entire life to pots and pans.

In one sentence, do you want women’s rights? Then we must first accept the unfairness to women in traditional social rules.

And what about Indian patriarchy? Not only are they happy to see the results, but they also regard the injustice against women as part of “native culture” to fight against the invasion of “Western colonial culture”. How would you describe

? To put it simply, mainstream Indian society (men) realize that they are not capable of confronting the British colonists in a war, but! There is also a spiritual victory method! That is to turn back to 3,000 years of "civilized tradition" and fight against the colonizers culturally!

So some very strange phenomena appeared. Sometimes, the British colonists were the promoters of women's liberation, while Indian men held them back.

In 1891, when the British colonial authorities proposed to raise the legal age for women from 10 to 12 years old, the nationalist leader Tilak expressed opposition.

Don't ask, just ask, our country has its own national conditions! Others, such as widow self-immolation, child marriage, etc., are also ancestral laws. How can they be abolished?

Indian child marriage

In this case, the role of the first generation of women's rights in the national independence movement was just an accessory to men's rights, being exploited and disliked at the same time.

For example, after his wife was arrested, a nationalist at that time wrote an angry unilateral letter informing her of the divorce: "Don't go home after you are released from prison... Although I am proud of you..., you have not passed I approve..."

But even so, not everyone is qualified to participate in the restricted feminism 1.0.

In 1925, the Congress Party organized low-level prostitutes to participate in non-cooperation movement rallies in Bengal. It is said that this event made Gandhi so angry that he doubted his life. Although these prostitutes were also oppressed poor people at the bottom, in Gandhi's view, prostitutes were impure, and impure women were not worthy of participating in the struggle.

Hey, that’s outrageous! As the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison. During the Republic of China, war, poverty and human trafficking caused the proliferation of prostitutes.

1920sBritish sociologist Gumball once conducted a survey on the number of prostitutes and the total urban population in eight major cities in the world. Among them, Shanghai (810,000 people) and Beijing (2.55 million people) ranked first and second.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, these women received intensive assistance, including but not limited to literacy, drug control, and medical treatment. Penicillin alone received more than 13,000 injections, and all 4 billion units were purchased from abroad with foreign exchange.

According to the prices at that time, saving a woman was equivalent to spending one tael of gold. Huge amounts of human and financial resources have been invested to help them become members of the new society.

This situation makes me wonder, why is the gap between so big even though they are both big countries in the East?

2.0——Fourfold Shackles

Comrade Lao Ma once said that social progress can be accurately measured by the status of women. From Europe and the United States to Japan and South Korea, the rise of women's rights is predicated on social development and economic rise.

This is the we have discussed. The economic base determines the superstructure and affects social trends.

However, why does this not work well in India? Countries all over the world have been around for thousands of years, but it just "jumps out of the three realms and is not in the five elements", and it has become a wonderful flower! In fact, this is both true and false:

is right because after 1940, India has indeed moved towards modernization;

Correspondingly, Indian feminism has also evolved to the 2.0 stage, breaking out of the traditional Indian "mother" role and joining the world Like other feminist trends, they pursue equality between men and women, and women can hold up half the sky.

As a former "ally", Indian women's rights expressed that I have contributed to the great seal and I have shed blood for independence. Elites represented by the National Congress Party also followed suit and promoted gender equality through laws and policies. For example:

The National Women's Federation was established in 1945.

The 1946 Congress Party Constituent Assembly gave each province two women representatives.

The Hindu Marriage Recognition Act of 1949 allows inter-caste marriages.

Under the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, those who accept dowry and other forms of property are subject to a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison.

Everything looks so good, but can it be realized?

This has to be said about the "wrong" part. Because of the bulk system since ancient times, although India has entered modernization after independence, the economic foundation that affects social trends unfortunately remains mostly in the traditional farming stage.

Empowering women from a superstructure perspective cannot eliminate the economic basis on which women are oppressed. No matter how nice it is, what's the point? Government orders do not leave New Delhi!

So outside the capital, Indian Feminism 2.0 is wearing these four shackles, making it difficult to let go. These are:

Religion, caste, patriarchy, and extreme nationalism.

First of all, 80% of India's population believes in Hinduism.

doctrine stipulates that men are inherently nobler than women, and wives must obey their husbands unconditionally. The existence of women is the source of evil and leads to the degradation of men.After reading this, you should understand why the rapist in the black bus case in India deserved to blame the female victim. Because when she goes out at night, she is tempting men to commit crimes. By analogy, if a woman wears less clothes, smiles a little, etc., these may be the reasons for being sexually assaulted or subjected to domestic violence...

For example, the woman in " Mysterious Superstar " The Lord’s mother was beaten for not adding enough salt to the meal, and for not boiling the water. She was also beaten for selling her necklace to buy a computer for her daughter...

! What kind of hellish logic is this? However, Hinduism is the biggest common denominator of India's 1.4 billion people, and it is the hope to build consensus and unify the country. "Talkers" including Modi will not only not give up, but also tweet.

Then there is the caste system derived from religion. The caste system stipulates that if a woman marries a man of higher caste, her status will be improved, but if she marries a man of lower caste, she will be expelled from the higher caste. In a word, men marry at a lower age and women get married at a higher age . Over time, girls must prepare high dowries in order to get married. If the man is not satisfied, he will domestically assault the woman or even burn her to death. This is the so-called dowry murder.

For this reason, some poor families will drown their newborn girls. Although it sounds unpleasant to say, girls are "losers" to them...

There is a way to reduce the dowry, child marriage! Just like the heroine's classmates in "Dangal", they dropped out of school and got married.

Because the " Manu Code " stipulates that a 30-year-old man must marry a 12-year-old girl. A 24-year-old man wants to marry an 8-year-old girl. If a girl gets married before puberty, she can continue her pure bloodline and her father can ascend to heaven after his death.

Well, it saves money and is consistent with faith, but no one thinks about it, is this really a disease?

Then there is male dominance. Among the countries where women’s rights have been reviewed in the past, men’s rights have a considerable presence. However, in India, male supremacy seems to be no longer enough. Religion, caste, and other systemic oppressions on women from the so-called moral and traditional levels are already strong enough. Indian patriarchy is more like the carrier of the first two, using the name of God and secular laws to fulfill its natural privileges.

Finally, it is ultra-nationalism. Yes, they are the people who have their own national conditions here. This wave of voices, dominated by Indian men, defines feminist thought as the invasion of "Western culture". This was the case before India's independence, and it is still like this after India's independence. It seems that India has become independent again.

Under the fourfold shackles, you will find that all the strange phenomena about Indian women you have seen in the past are all caused by wrongs and debts:

Infanticide, child marriage, dowry, murder, legal domestic violence, power rape, Honor killings, widow immolations.

I can only say that it is difficult to be a woman, and it is even more difficult to be an Indian woman. Being an ordinary woman in India is simply as difficult as hell. All roads lead to Rome, and Indian feminism is a trap if you are not careful...

But you It would be a big mistake to think that the opposite of feminism in India is only men. In 1980, Indira Gandhi, the only female Prime Minister in Indian history, said in a speech: "I am not a feminist... The so-called women's liberation in the West is to make women become men... I think this is just One bondage becomes another." "There are few countries in which women occupy a higher position in politics and public life than women in India."

? Where are the girls, help girls, that we promised? As the female prime minister who is the light of women, why doesn’t she speak up for women? Because it is , you have not opened the format!

Indira was able to become Prime Minister not because she is a woman, but because her father is Nehru! Apart from the identity label of being a woman, she is still a Brahmin, a returnee elite, and a landlord! Of course, we don't mean to deny other people's personal abilities. But don’t you think it’s funny to think that someone as powerful as her would have to change her husband’s surname after getting married?

And this has to be said, the 3.0 stage of Indian feminism, the great division under heavy pressure, violence, abuse, and escape.

3.0——Counterattack under the Great Schism

When we discuss the feminist movements in various countries, we often focus on one question: What is the core goal? Who is the enemy? Who are friends?

Under the fourfold shackles, Indian women's rights broke out in bulk in the form of a great split:

Overseas elites - fled like crazy

Urban middle class - kept to themselves

Farming economy - used violence to fight violence

Previously on In the Indian Population issue, I talked with you about the Indian movie "The White Tiger".

Screenshot of "The White Tiger"

In the film, the girlfriend of the young master who returned from overseas is a typical Indian elite woman. If you do well in PPT, you can use curry-flavored English to chat and laugh in Silicon Valley , and realize the American dream like Indian men. However, when she returned to India, she encountered obstacles because she was from a lower caste and could not stay in her homeland. In the end, she had no choice but to escape back to the lighthouse.

The urban middle class similar to her chose to stay behind. For example, the stay-at-home mother in " Indian English " was laughed at by her family because she couldn't order food in English, but she finally learned English and won respect. How inspiring for a stay-at-home mother to regain her confidence through learning. But in the final analysis, these two people are only the 200 million out of 1.4 billion, and they may fall into the clouds at any time and lose everything.

In the recently popular Indian movie "Mumbai Empress", the heroine comes from a middle-class lawyer family and received a good education, but was deceived and sold into the red light district of Mumbai by a scumbag.

There is no way to go back home. If you go back, you may be killed in honor. The law is even more ridiculous! She was forced to become a prostitute, beaten, raped and assassinated. Finally, she became the "boss" of Mumbai prostitutes by virtue of her ability to write. She started doing business with gangsters and even participated in local elections.

The heroine seems to be very rebellious, but the irony is that as a former victim, she eventually became a member of the human trafficking and prostitution industry. She even hoped that the authorities would legislate to legalize prostitution, euphemistically called prostitution. Have dignity. Isn’t this a typical example of how we can’t make evil disappear, so why should we make evil legal? Who can read it without saying a word of irony, and who can remember that she could have become a lawyer.

Of course, they are only a minority. In India, where 70% of the population is still in rural areas, the more women are the three heroines in " Hot ", one is a widow whose husband has died, one is a wandering busking prostitute, and one is because she has no money. Housewives whose children are subjected to domestic violence on a daily basis.

Let alone learning English, they may not even be able to write their own names. Faced with the pressure exerted by theocracy and patriarchy, they either die or respond to violence with violence.

Wearing girly pink, holding long wooden sticks, walking through the streets, hitting domestic violence men with big sticks...

This is the daily style of the anti-domestic violence group "Pink Gang". The talk of this gang is Sampat, a rural woman from Uttar Pradesh, India, got married at the age of 12 and was abused by her husband's family because she gave birth to girls. In the end, she chose to pick up a stick to defend her dignity.

Now the Pink Gang has grown to 400,000 people. It once besieged the police station and persuaded parents in neighboring villages to allow their children to love freely. In the interview, she said frankly that she knew that the other party did not approve of her and was just afraid of the stick in her hand, but so what? When the law is blank, fighting violence with violence is the only option...

Overall, Indian women's rights were born out of the national liberation movement and face an unusually large number of "enemies". Because women from all walks of life have different demands, there is also internal contempt. chain, it is difficult to build consensus.

Because social reforms are incomplete, giving women rights in laws and policies cannot eliminate the economic basis for women's oppression.

Official survey data released by Indian media show that India’s female labor force participation rate (LFPR) has continued to decline in recent years, hitting a record low in 2018, which is lower than that of countries such as Syria and Iraq.

in 2004-2005, 42.7%,

in 2011-2012, 31.2%.

2017-2018, 23.3%.

Indian women account for 49% of the total population, but their contribution to economic output is only 18%, only half of the global average. It’s not that Indian women don’t work hard, it’s that they simply don’t have the chance. It seems that no country’s women’s rights are closer to human rights than India, involving the most basic survival, security, and development.

And such urgent development needs are facing unprecedented development difficulties.

Looking at women's rights in various countries, the post-war prosperity brought about women's rights in Japan, The Miracle on the Han River laid the foundation for women's rights in South Korea, but women's rights in India cannot be achieved overnight by an economic miracle or "Westernization".

With a history of thousands of years and a land of millions of miles, there are enough accumulations and heavy shackles. Only by not destroying or erecting can this ancient memorial ceremony be transformed into momentum for progress.

But then again, not every country has the courage to smash the old world and the ability to create a new world.

True dragons are not afraid of fire, only true dragons can be reborn in flames. As for white elephant , why not give it a try?

That’s it for this issue. If you want to see what you want to see, you can leave a private message and comment to tell the doctor. We’ll see you in the next issue!

Reference:

1. The Indian census showed for the first time that “more women than men”, officials: We have entered the ranks of developed countries Li Li

2. The golden student of the prostitute reform movement in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China

3. The employment situation of women in India is 90% worse with each passing day The new positions belong to men The Paper News

4. More than half of India’s labor force is unwilling to work, and only 9% of the female population is qualified for employment The Paper News

5. Research on the dispersed characteristics of Indian civilization Jiang Jing

6. Research on the liberation struggle of Indian women during the Gandhi period Wang Yaping

7. A brief discussion on the influence of Hinduism on Indian women Li Min

8. "Wrestle!" Behind "Dad": Indian women's difficult history of equal rights over the past century has been left unchecked

9. Indian Women: History·Reality·New Awakening Li Ling

10. An analysis of the changes in the status of Indian women after independence Tang Huijuan

11. Research on women's movements in India Gu Qingzi

12. The impact of colonial rule on women’s education in India Chen Lijun