BOOK REVIEW Indigenous Roots of Feminism: Culture, Subjectivity and Agency by Jasbir Jain

 

    BOOK REVIEW
Indigenous Roots of Feminism: Culture, Subjectivity and Agency
 by Jasbir Jain

Feminism has, since its very beginning, been in the eye of a storm. It has also been movement, a concept of belief that can be described in the singular, there always have been claims and counter-claims and it is essentially plural in its stratifications, stratifications which have constantly intersected with social, cultural, and political histories. Feminism has sought support from revolutionary agendas while simultaneously attempting to separate itself from them in order to gain more visibility.

Feminism is not entirely of the West. It has its indigenous roots. The idea of self does not exist in abstractions. It is deeply rooted in one’s body and is molded by social-cultural patterns. Each individual and each generation works anew for the definition of the self. True, education and leisure may be conductive to a large awareness, true, that poverty and deprivation ordinarily lead to helplessness. But these propositions are not always applicable. Affluence is a conductive to passivity, perhaps more as poverty. The greatest rebels have been born of oppression.

Feminism and feminist movements in India have had to constantly respond to allegations of being “Westernized’ and ‘middle-class’, even ‘rootless. Basically, it is believed that the concern of feminism, indeed feminists themselves, is peripheral to the social realities of the region.  The academician, activist, and general public have for various reasons rejected or not agreed with the Western concept of feminism. It is many times contended that such a proclivity makes feminist projects in India a facile copy of the feminism in the West, and they do not in fact represent Indian women.

Jasbir Jain’s Indigenous Roots of Feminism is an attempt to rescue feminism in India from such accusations of mimicry and foreignness.

In the preface to her book Jasbin Jain says –

Since women in India view their bodies, their roles, and their social structures differently, there is no way the origins of the movement in two different cultures could have been the same.

The text is divided into seven chapters -

1.     A People Without a History?

2.    The Body and The Soul: Epics – The Living Traditions

3.    Working Through Space: Patriarchy And Resistance 

4.    Getting Back At Men Through God

5.    The Nineteenth Century and After

6.    Tracing The Difference

The book addresses various principal texts that are significant in the establishment or deconstruction of patriarchal values, including the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, the transgressive and rebellious poetry of the women Bhakti poets, the nineteenth-century resistance writings in the form of autobiography and fiction, and the key films of Indian cinema that highlight the modern representation of femininity and agency in India.

Her approach is to locate traces of feminist ideas in a range of literary /religious/cultural texts – from Indic space, up to the present movement- and thereby identify the ‘roots’ of feminist consciousness in Indian social history.

She makes it apparent that we cannot interpret feminism in India in monolithic universal terms ignoring cultural differences. Women folk living in different countries have different needs and interests as they are conditioned by numerous factors including familial, social, racial and individual consciousness.

She says -

“feminism is more than a voice of protest or questioning. It is moral self-reflection, a conquering of inner fears, and realisation of self-worth... It does not abandon values or relationships, but goes on to create newness"

She says that the feminist movement is a sociopolitical reality that has grown and developed over some time in various ways; protest against oppression, legal reforms, nationalist concerns, education, social change, etc.

Time and again it is heard that the concept of feminism is a Western concept and this means that we are ignoring cultural differences and seek to read history in universal terms. This is like trying to tell the same story about everyone, even though their experiences are different. People from different cultures have vastly different lived experiences, particularly women.

Trying to fit all of those diverse experiences into a single narrative (in this case, Western feminism) can ignore or erase important differences in how women experience the world. As such, what works for liberation in one part of the world might not make sense in another - a Western idea of feminism shouldn't be forced onto everyone.

Culture includes all facets and aspects of life – behavior, relationships, identities, responses, and epistemologies. how we ‘know’ and respond to our outside world is governed largely by our cultural constructs. With reference to this, the Indian woman’s attitude toward her body is different, this too will affect her self-image. The emphasis on family and community still continues to persist, as does the belief in marriage as sacred. No doubt changes have occurred, nuclear families and reversal of traditional hierarchy have taken place due to urbanization employment compulsion, divorce is increasing and live-in relation is becoming acceptable. But the values with which one grows up are still rooted in traditional culture wherein myths and concepts are reflective mainly of ideas and aspirations not prevalent in actual practice.

She believes that feminism has a deeper root in the individual consciousness than the basic fact of being a woman.  Both self-image and social image come together in this. The perception of the outer reality is guided by this, the two terms – woman and feminine – feed on each other.

• Self-image: This represents how you see yourself and your identity as a woman.
• Social image: This reflects how society perceives and defines "woman" and "femininity."

These two images are connected and influence each other. Your personal understanding of womanhood (self-image) shapes how you interpret societal expectations (social image).

Jasbir Jain believes that being a feminist goes beyond just being a woman. It's about having a deep-seated sense of what it means to be a woman, which is influenced by both your personal perspective and societal expectations. These two aspects constantly interact and shape each other.

Projection of women’s image, both by men and women, has unfortunately polarized female identity between Devi's image and the public women – both exclusionary images. As such these polarized images fail to authentically represent the complexity of women's lives and experiences. Neither the Devi nor the public woman image fully encompasses the multidimensionality of womanhood. Women are neither entirely virtuous nor inherently immoral. They are complex beings with desires, flaws, ambitions, and a vast range of experiences. These rigid categories put tremendous pressure on women to conform and Failure to live up to either extreme can result in social ostracization, guilt, and shame.

Understanding Jain's critique helps us realize that embracing the true nature of womanhood requires moving beyond these destructive and negative exclusionary projections.

The introductory essay is followed by six chapters, the first two essays focus on texts from ‘Ancient India’ the third and fourth chapter explores the Bhakti movement and the colonial period, respectively, while the last two chapters bring us to the contemporary moment.

‘The body and the soul; Epics- the living tradition’ the second essay in the book, is a searching exploration of feminist attitudes in the Mahabharat and the Ramayana. Here she takes selected episodes from multiple versions of both texts to identify indigenous notions of masculinity and femininity, and the transformation in these ideas across time, with the objection of assessing them in terms of a key feminist problem, power relations between genders.

She discusses Draupadi’s position in the game of dice and argues that her questioning of traditional kinship structures which give proprietary rights to husbands over wives pushes femininity outside the prescribed model of pativrata.

A key concern for Jain in this chapter is the non-human birthing of Sita, Draupadi, Rama, the Kauravas, and Pandavas. Jasbir Jain, in her analysis of the Hindu epics, raises a critical point regarding the portrayal of non-human births of central characters like Sita, Draupadi, Rama, the Kauravas, and the Pandavas. She argues that this narrative choice has significant implications for understanding kinship structures and challenging patriarchal norms within the epic tradition.

By depicting these characters as born through divine intervention, fire sacrifices, or other non-human means, the epics remove the necessity of a biological father in their conception. This directly contradicts the prevalent emphasis on male lineage and paternity within patriarchal societies.

The absence of a biological father necessitates a different understanding of fatherhood. Jain suggests that the narratives emphasize the role of the adoptive or nurturing father figure who raises the child, highlighting the importance of care and responsibility over biological connection.

By prioritizing non-biological means of birth and emphasizing the role of the nurturing father, the epics challenge the rigid patriarchal focus on lineage and purity of bloodlines. This critique potentially disrupts the power structures that rely on the control and inheritance of property based solely on male lineage.

Here's an overview of the non-human births of the characters mentioned:

1. Sita:

• In the Ramayana, King Janaka finds Sita while plowing a field. She emerges from the earth, and he adopts her as his daughter.
• This birth narrative presents Sita as a divine being associated with fertility and the earth.

2. Draupadi:

• In the Mahabharata, King Drupada performs a fire sacrifice, and Draupadi emerges from the sacrificial flames fully grown.
• This birth is often interpreted as a divine intervention, suggesting Draupadi's extraordinary nature and potential connection to the gods.

3. Rama:

• Unlike Sita and Draupadi, Rama is portrayed as having a biological father, King Dasharatha. However, his birth is still considered significant.
• According to the Ramayana, celestial beings shower blessings upon Rama at his birth, foreshadowing his divine destiny.

4. Kauravas and Pandavas:

• Both sets of brothers are born through a single biological father, Pandu. However, the means of conception differ for each set.
• Due to a curse, Pandu cannot father children directly. He relies on his wives, Kunti and Madri, to summon gods through a ritual and conceive the Pandavas and Kauravas.
• This method of birth again suggests the intervention of divine forces and emphasizes the extraordinary qualities of the brothers.

It's important to note that these are just summaries, and the specific accounts of these births can vary depending on the source and interpretation. However, the common theme of non-human births highlights the significance of divine intervention and sets these characters apart from ordinary mortals in the epics.

It is important to acknowledge that this interpretation is not universally accepted. Some scholars argue that these non-human births can be seen as symbolic representations of the characters' divine nature or exceptional qualities, without necessarily undermining the importance of biological fathers. Additionally, the epics also contain narratives that reaffirm patriarchal norms.

Therefore, Jain's perspective offers a critical lens through which to analyze the portrayal of birth and kinship in the Hindu epics, highlighting a potential challenge to patriarchal structures. However, it is crucial to consider the diverse interpretations and the broader context of the epics while engaging with this critique.

Third chapter, titled "Working through Space", is on the spatial aspect of gendered social regulation and how women subvert these framings.

Jain draws upon existing research on ancient texts like Manusmriti and Natyasastra, which are often seen as establishing patriarchal norms. She also incorporates personal accounts: the autobiographies of actresses like Binodini Dasi, Zohra Sehgal, and Malka Pukhraj, presumably to illustrate how real women navigate these spatial constraints

• Acknowledging the existence of patriarchal control over women's movement and location.
• Highlighting how women resist these restrictions through various methods.
• Using both historical and contemporary sources to build a comprehensive understanding of this dynamic.

The chapter talks about how women are often limited in where they can go and what they can do in society (spatial restrictions), but also how they fight back against these limitations (resistance).

In the next chapter, "Getting Back at Men through God", the locus of inquiry is the Bhakti movement. This chapter asks: How can we consider women in the Bhakti movement as part of the fight for women's rights (feminism)? Jasbir Jain studied many songs and poems from the Bhakti movement. These works show that women still faced challenges even though the movement itself questioned traditional rules set by higher castes.

She explains how women in the movement struggled to balance their religious devotion (Bhakti) with their family responsibilities (household duties). Despite the movement's overall challenge to the established order, gender inequalities still existed within different forms of the Bhakti movement.

Jasbir Jain believes that the struggles of female devotees (Bhaktas) in the Bhakti movement raise a crucial question for feminism: Does spirituality have a gender? In other words, she asks if there's a difference in how men and women experience spirituality. This question is important for feminism because it challenges the idea that everyone experiences things like religion and spirituality in the same way.

By questioning traditional norms and struggling despite societal limitations, these women challenged the idea that spirituality might be solely defined by men or their interpretations. This paved the way for a more inclusive understanding of spirituality that acknowledges the diverse experiences of women.

In the fifth chapter, Jasbir Jain continues her exploration of local expressions of feminism, this time focusing on the 19th century. The 19th century was different from the Bhakti movement in many ways, but the issues related to women's rights remained similar.

This sets the stage for her discussion, but it's important to remember that seemingly contradictory statements can be used to spark further analysis and discussion. Jain then mentions existing research on colonialism and feminism. This research argues that:

• European colonialism: Used the "woman question" (issues related to women's rights and roles) as a justification for their expansionist policies. They claimed their rule would improve women's lives.
• Colonized people: Responded by creating the image of the "new woman" - a woman who challenged traditional norms and embraced education and social change. This image served as a form of resistance to colonial rule.

Jain's reference to Bandyopadhyay (1994) provides further details on this specific argument. She uses this context to explore how feminism manifested in the 19th century within the specific context of India and its colonial experience.

In this chapter, Jain works primarily with women's writings in the form of novels, short stories, diaries, and autobiographies. Through a close reading of selected texts, she concludes that women like Rasheed Jahan, Lalithambika Antherjanam, and Ismat Chughtai succeeded in opposing patriarchal definitions of appropriate femininity and widening the range of roles available to women in society.

The next chapter in Jasbir Jain's book tackles a fascinating question: what happens when women who don't usually think of themselves as separate from their communities decide to write about their lives? This might seem unusual because traditionally, women in some cultures define themselves through their relationships with family, friends, and their community.

To understand this better, Jain examines stories, both spoken and written, told by women who are part of SPARROW, a women's organization in Mumbai, India, established in 1988. By studying these stories, Jain hopes to learn how writing about their lives might impact these women and their sense of self.

Jasbir Jain points out that many of the women in her study struggle to express themselves because there aren't many existing writings or stories that reflect their specific experiences of oppression due to their caste and gender.

In simpler terms, these women do not have many examples to follow when it comes to writing about their lives, especially the hardships they faced because of their social background and gender. This makes it challenging for them to find the right words to express themselves and their experiences. Jain suggests that these women are still searching for a way to tell their stories in a way that accurately reflects their unique experiences.

In the final chapter titled "Tracing the Difference," Jasbir Jain argues that feminism in different regions and periods will naturally develop differently. She compares narratives by two contemporary Indian women, Mary Roy, and Nabaneeta Dev Sen, to illustrate this point. Both women write about their experiences across three generations, including marriage, family life, and relationships with their children. However, despite living in similar times, their experiences and perspectives on feminism differ significantly.

Jain uses this comparison to emphasize the fact that Indian feminism cannot be understood as a single, unified movement. Instead, it has multiple "vectors of growth", meaning it has developed in diverse ways and been influenced by various factors depending on the specific context, experiences, and perspectives of individuals and groups.

Jain looks at ancient Indian history in a new way. Instead of saying the Vedas were great and everything went downhill after, she considers how men and women were treated differently back then. This helps us see that gender differences play a big role in society. Understanding this is important for feminist movements and politics.

In Chapter 3, Jain talks about how women were restricted to the home while men had more freedom in public spaces. She shows that even in areas like performance arts, women faced discrimination. Jain warns against assuming that public spaces always mean freedom and private spaces always mean restriction. However, some parts of the book have some problems with staying consistent in its theories.

As such the project Indigenous Roots wants to be feminist, but sometimes it does not seem to rely enough on feminist theories. This means some of its arguments don't have enough support from existing research. For example, in Chapter 2, it talks about the Mahabharata and says it breaks many norms, like in marriages and customs, especially pointing out Draupadi's polyandrous marriage. However, there's a lot of existing research about the roles of women in the Mahabharata, especially Draupadi. Some experts think she could have challenged norms, while others say her dependence on men makes it hard to see her as a feminist. If the author had looked more at this existing research, they might have realized the limits of making big claims.

Jain tries to cover a lot of time in her exploration, but because of that, she misses out on the detailed discussions found in feminist writings about various women-focused topics. For example, sections like "Women in the Bhakti Movement" and "Gender, Nation, and Citizenship" have a lot of research dedicated to them. Jain's way of looking at her project does not leave much space for digging deeply into these important issues she highlights. Throughout her book, she talks about important things for feminism, like the connection between spirituality and gender, men's role in feminism, and questions about space, personal experiences, and empowerment when it comes to pushing for gender equality. These are all topics that could lead to interesting discussions, and they are debated a lot in academic writing. But Jain's way of talking about them quickly and generally does not dive into the details of these debates. This means we do not get to talk about them in depth.

The Goal:

• Jasbir Jain is exploring the connection between feminism in India and Western ideas.

The Problem:

• Many Indians are hesitant or even opposed to the term "feminist" because they believe it's a Western concept, not something inherent to Indian culture.

Jain's Approach:

• She argues that even though the word "feminist" might be from the West, the idea of equality between genders has existed in India throughout history.
• She tries to find examples of this in various historical and literary sources.

The Criticism:

• While this idea is important, critics argue that focusing solely on finding "proof" of feminism in Indian history can be problematic.
• They say it might lead to stretching the definition of feminism to fit certain examples, just to claim they are "worthy" of the label.
• This approach can also unintentionally promote nationalistic pride, suggesting that only things within Indian culture are valuable.

The Conclusion:

• Even though Jasbir Jain raises a crucial topic and explores diverse historical and cultural aspects, the book's main idea might be limited by its focus on fitting historical examples into a specific definition of "feminism."