Discuss the role of women in bringing about social changes and awareness.

The role of women in bringing about social changes and awareness.

1. During days of freedom struggle due to efforts of M. K. Gandhi a large number of women came out of their homes and joined the freedom struggle.

2. Women who joined the Indian national movement recognised the importance of self-reliance, swadeshi and women's education. Such a political consciousness among women expanded the space available to women in public sphere.

3. During the period of the Indian freedom struggle several women's organisations emerged which paved their way for increasing role of women in socio-political activities. Prominent among these organisations were All

India Women's Association and the Indian Women's Association. These organisations had branches in different parts of India. Their activities centred mainly on issues like women's education, improvements in health and sanitation, right to suffrage for women and the maternity benefits for women workers.

4. In this manner, these organisations got success in initiating a discourage on gender equality and women's rights.

5. The nationalist phase of women's movement ended after independence with an assurance to remove all forms of gender inequalities.

6. The task of social reconstruction undertaken subsequently further confirmed the goal. Consequently, the women's movements were subdued for almost two decades till 1970s. However, during this period women participated large numbers in several local level struggles in different parts of the country.

7. The role and participation of women in the Shahada movement in Maharashtra, and anit-price rise movements in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and the Bihar movement led by Jaya Prakash Narayan are still fresh in our memory. The twin objectives of struggle and development were adopted by organisation like SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Assoication) who fought against all forms of injustice.

8. Sociologists of women's movements in our country show the phase of autonomous women's movement began after 1970s. It coincided with the publication of the Status of Women Report. The report-highlighted the gender disparities in the sex ratios, life expectancy, literacy and opportunities.

9. The government initiated steps to implement special programmes for women. Simultaneously, several autonomous women's groups were formed as the local and regional levels to fight against the prevalent patriarchal culture and against division of labour based on gender.

10. Apart from these basic issues, the autonomous women's organisations took-up several immediate issue such as violence against women dowry death, rape and domestic violence.

11. The organised protest marches and developed support services like fighting legal battles on behalf of the oppressed women.

Conclusion: (a) It is significant to note that in course of autonomous women's movements in India, a serious debate cropped up about the idea of feminism.

(b) Feminism is a complex set of political ideologies used by the women's movement to advance the cause of women's equality.

(c) Feminism is also defined as a variety of interrelated frameworks used to observe and analyse the ways in which the social reality of gender inequality is constructed and enforced.

(d) Given this perspective of feminsim, some activitists questioned the applicability of the western nation of feminism to the India's reality. They argued that the nature of male dominance in India is different from that in western society.

(e) Therefore, the demands and resistance of women against males are also different. Madhu Kishwar, activist and the editor of Manushi, has stressed the need to look into our traditions in this respect. She argues that we should try to separate the devastating aspects from the points of strength within the cultural traditions and start using the strength to transform the traditions. Thus, feminism in the Indian context is not only taken as an issue of theoretical debate for analysis but an approach to bring about social change.

Conclusion: In brief, we can say that women's movements in India have played an important role in bringing and driving the wome’s issues to the national agenda.