From old-school to social media: How these Indian women are discussing feminism offline and online

Hairy underarms Karva Chauth trad wives mdash women have something to say and social media is the medium At first glance online feminism might feel skindeep But a closer look will tell you that maybe for the woman who has no access to the ldquoprivilegedrdquo concept that men and women are equal yes thatrsquos feminism in a nutshell and not one better than the otherTanushree Dutta accusation against excolleague Nana Patekar was the spark that ignited the MeToo movement in India PICSGETTY IMAGESWe spoke to women who said that many times the symbolism of feminism trumped the understanding of it and ground issues like womenrsquos autonomy education rape and abuse were missing in the conversation On the other hand feminists with a heavy social media presence told us that women and girls living in small towns and villages often DM them asking for help needing advice and sometimes just to vent But they all agreed Not being a feminist was not an option Instead of quibbling over it why not choose your feminist and go all the wayMalala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban in 2012 while going to school She has become a symbol of womenrsquos right to educationlsquoI talk about issues that affect me dailyrsquoPujarini Pradhan lifeofpujaa Homemaker 26People think I am poorrdquo says Pujarini Pradhan a 26yearold young mother whose content on Instagram has garnered her over 23 lakh followers in barely a month and a half ldquoThey think we donrsquot have food or we donrsquot have clothes but this is how middleclass rural India looksrdquo she saysPujarini Pradhanrsquos raw explanation on her experience as a woman in a village in West Bengal is unique garnering her over 23 lakh followersPradhan is a housewife from East Midnapore in West Bengal but has become a social media influencer as a result of her raw unapologetic and grounded take on womenrsquos rights and issues The reason is probably because this sareeclad housewife living in the village speaks English a tactic that she deployed so that the people around her village wouldnrsquot understand what she was saying ldquoI canrsquot believe that people are listening to what I have to say I just wanted to talk about issues that were affecting my daytoday liferdquo she saysPradhan talks about everything that affects her and women at large One of her most interesting Reels is one in which she speaks of completing her education that she had given up during the COVID19 pandemic ldquoIn 2018 I moved to the city and was pursuing my BA honours in English when the pandemic hit I got married after sitting at home for oneandahalf years But I am lucky because my husband wants me to complete my studiesrdquo she says Soon after her marriage her husband registered her at college to complete her BA and she moved to the city alone again but she moved closer back home soon due to some unforeseen circumstances ldquoOn the insistence of my husband I began to prepare for UPSC exams but I got pregnant So that didnrsquot happenrdquo she addsGisele Pelicot has become a feminist icon after she took on her husband and 51 other men on charges of rapePradhanrsquos feminism is grounded in reality She made a Reel about how she enjoyed wearing jeans in college even though she has replaced them with sarees now ldquoI do wear churidar when at my parents home Itrsquos easy for someone who doesnrsquot understand the society I live in to tell me to wear jeans and keep my hair open I have to be cognisant of the place where I live about my family and thatrsquos okay because my freedom doesnrsquot depend on what I wearrdquo she says She feels her freedom lies in completing her education ldquoI hope one day I will be able to finish that degree and move closer to the city If I can earn a bit from Instagram it will helprdquo she addsPradhan has constantly praised her husband who shares responsibilities with her around the house as well as her motherinlaw be it in cooking or raising their oneandahalfyearold son Shreyan ldquoMy husband is very aware that I have these hopes and dreams and he has always been my rock I just want people to understand that just because I donrsquot dress like them or look like them doesnrsquot mean that I am unhappyrdquo she says ldquoRealities of women in rural India are different and it takes time to build a life anywhere be it a city or villagerdquo she addslsquoSocial media feminism makes women feel less alonersquoDivija Bhasin awkwardgoat3 Social media feminist 28For Divija Bhasin who is better known on Instagram as Awkward Goat awkwardgoat3 feminism has quite controversially led her to reclaim the rslur for women But thatrsquos not how it started Change always begins at home Her parents taught her to be a free thinker and fight for equality At 28 this has translated into a social media presence of over five lakh followers on Instagram She educates them about how patriarchy cages women in smaller ways like wearing a mangalsutra or bigger ways like violence against womenDivija Bhasin has controversially reclaimed the slur lsquordirsquo on InstagramThough she has garnered a loyal fanbase of women who credit her with teaching them the ways of feminism therersquos just as much hate Repeatedly she has been called the rslur ldquoFor them haters rdi means an independent woman who isnrsquot scared So yes I am that I guess I am rdirdquo she says Bhasin is a Delhibased professional psychologist In her content she also speaks of feminism Being recently married she talks about how to bridge the gaps of equality in marriage and religion The reclaiming of rdi has garnered a lot of hatred from those who call her the slur but also from staunch feminists Critics say that Bhasin is not a sex worker She is no one to reclaim this word Bhasin says ldquoIrsquom not a sex worker yes but theyrsquore haters not using it in that context They call me that because they donrsquot agree with what Irsquom saying and want me to be quietrdquoldquoIrsquom trying to say that being called a sex worker is not an insult Itrsquos literally someonersquos job and while therersquos exploitation in that industry putting that aside wersquore not being called rdi in its literal senserdquo she says Bhasinrsquos audience of young girls often confides in her ldquoI started getting DMs from girls saying their parents call them a rdi to control or punish them That shocked merdquo she says ldquoI got messages from girls mdash literally 15yearolds mdash saying it made them feel betterrdquoBhasin feels that social media can help because while we usually talk about broad issues like crimes against women in the mainstream we skip the everyday things that are equally detrimental ldquoOf course it wonrsquot lead to complete change mdash that takes time mdash but itrsquos a way to disseminate information Also feminism on social media helps women feel less alone For example a lot of my followers tell me about how I put into words what theyrsquove always felt but couldnrsquot articulate Thatrsquos powerfulrdquolsquoI donrsquot want to label anyonersquos feminismrsquoTrisha Shetty Founder of SheSays 35Trisha Shetty is an Indian feminist lawyer and social activist best known as the founder of SheSays a youthled nonprofit that works towards gender equality and ending sexual violence Shersquos one of the first feminists who has been able to optimise digital advocacy to sharpen her grassroots activism Currently she lives between Paris and MumbaiTrisha Shetty optimised social media by launching viral campaigns like LahuKaLagaan to bring reallife changeBut what made the transition to social media so smooth ldquoBecause before starting my online advocacy I did my onground work firstrdquo she says ldquoEverything that I speak for is grounded in the fact that I have worked for years within communities Irsquove gone to police stations Irsquove gone to hospitals Irsquove gone to courtrooms I know what the system looks like which is why Irsquom able to advocate for a better systemrdquoAs a lawyer by training Shetty spent extensive time visiting police stations and hospitals to understand how laws around sexual assault function in practice Despite the Criminal Procedure Code clearly stating that rape survivors are entitled to immediate medical care without first filing a police complaint nearly every hospital she approached mdash government and private alike mdash refused to treat survivors without one Private hospitals in particular cited the ldquoheadacherdquo of legal paperwork and courtroom testimonies as reasons to turn survivors away ldquoMy online advocacy is shaped by knowing what actually happens on the groundrdquo she saysShetty has found social media to be an excellent way to amplify her cause SheSays launched the viral LahuKaLagaan campaign in 2017 calling for the removal of the ldquotax on bloodrdquo mdash the 1237 GST on sanitary pads and tampons when they were categorised as luxury products Its widespread public support ultimately led to the government scrapping the tax in 2018 ldquoBefore we used social media to launch the campaign we filed petitions with all government agencies We went to the Bombay High Court but no one paid attention to usrdquo she says ldquoIt took going on social media leveraging Twitter back then to become this huge viral campaignrdquoAs all other feminists Shetty too is no stranger to haters on the internet ldquoI call them popcorneating bystanders Working on ground means getting abused having seen people you know get arrested yourself getting threatened to get arrested You getting systematic death threats you witness people firsthand whorsquove been raped and yoursquove been walking by their side and seeing whether theyrsquore provided justice or notrdquo she says ldquoIf yoursquove done this work I will take all your criticism all your feedbackrdquoShetty is especially frustrated with the infighting that happens among people of the same ideology ldquoWe can become a circular firing squadrdquo she says ldquoIs it a lifestyle feminist social media feminist I donrsquot know what these labels even are I donrsquot want to label your feminism Because the more I judge people the more I will get judged And if Irsquom asking for compassion I want to lean on the same I always say lsquoIf yoursquore not old enough to know yoursquore young enough to learnrsquordquolsquoWomen today stand on the shoulders of older feministsrsquoAmol Kerkar Vice President of Stree Mukti Sanghatana SMS 58Back in 1985 the United Nations UN declared it to be the International Womenrsquos Year Amol Kerkar was 18 years old at the time and after attending the UN programme for the same Kerkar and a group of older and young women decided to form the Stree Mukti Sanghatna in Mumbai ldquoWe told ourselves that we need to do something for womenrdquo she saysAmol Kerkar of the Stree Mukti Sanghatana is celebrating its golden jubilee this year PICSAYYED SAMEER ABEDIIt was difficult to build awareness because many women were uneducated and so the message was delivered through skits and catchy songs ldquoAs a result we had to give them the information about their rights the idea of equality and much more through street plays that we staged at farms and industrial estatesrdquo says the exRBI employee Kerkar has been crowdfunding a lot of campaigns through donations from her colleagues and friends ldquoThe campaigns addressed domestic violence and told women that they were not second to anyonerdquo she addsAsk her about social media feminism and Kerkar draws back to 1990 when Foreign Direct Investment entered the country ldquoI am glad that there is discourse about feminism on social media But I feel that we are unable to go deep I donrsquot blame the young women for it thoughrdquo she says ldquoFinancial markets political symbolism as well as consumerism have created an atmosphere where women are competing against each other For example we might applaud Gudi Padwa rallies where women ride motorbikes in navvaris nineyard saree phetas turban and goggles But this might distract us from actual feminismrdquo she addslsquoForget the optics the right to say anything is nonnegotiablersquoShobhaa De Journalist and writer 77Shobhaa De feels that social media is a weapon and a platform that feminists should and must wield ldquoSocial media provided a loud and clear voice to women mdash sans filters They could express themselves openly and fearlessly mdash a basic right which had been denied to them for centuriesrdquo she says While admitting that the medium might have some pitfalls she feels it offers more good than bad ldquoItrsquos social media a mixed bag for sure but with more upsides than downs Women finally got the chance to be seen and heard on their own termsrdquo she addsJournalist Shobhaa De feels that women have right to say their piece PICGETTY IMAGESDe feels that social media is a great equaliser and cuts across social strata and status ldquoIt is not reserved for the elite In fact some of the most radical and thoughtprovoking content is being shared by women in small towns and villages across Indiardquo she says Regarding the accusation that social media is often more frivolous De feels every woman has a right to present the way she wants ldquoWhat a woman chooses to project is entirely up to her Forget the optics If the conversation is about flashing underarmpubic hair or wearing thongs or bikinis it may seem like a cosmetic symbol But maybe itrsquos a way of defying old rules andnormsrdquo she addsShe had started writing at the age of 16 and her experiences have informed her own theory on feminism ldquoFeminism is instinctive and nonnegotiable I have always taken my personal feminism for granted The wonderful part is how many of todayrsquos young girls feel the same internal strength to be themselvesrdquo she adds1848The year pioneers like Savitribai Phule founded Indiarsquos first school for girls1882Tarabhai Shinde wrote one of the countryrsquos first feminist texts Stri Purush Tulana A Comparison Between Women and Men2012Malala Yousafazai was shot for demanding education She became an icon for Gen Z who studied about her in school and realised that she not only survived but is thriving2018Actor Tanushree Dutta brought the American MeToo movement to India2024Gisegravele Pelicot won the case against her husband and 51 other men who raped her Refusing to cover her face during the trial she stated ldquoThe shame isnrsquot ours to feelrdquo