DISCUSSION
Struggles around Gender
Some Clarifications
Meena Gopal
T
his is a brief critique of some of the
positions put forth in Nivedita
Menon’s article “Is Feminism about
‘Women’? A Critical View on Intersectional-
ity from India” (25 April 2015). The paper
covered diverse and complex grounds,
delving into each through layers of connec-
tions. In the first part of the essay, Menon
goes over the terrain she has made us all
familiar with—the instability of the catego-
ry “woman.” She explores the terrain in the
context of discussions around the contra-
diction between the rights of the individual
and the religious community. She also tries
to understand the category “woman” in the
context of tension between individual
political representation and group identity.
76
The question of relevance of univer-
sality of concepts and, their hegemony,
has been addressed through a series of
engagements by feminists across the
globe. Such interventions have broad-
ened the scope of postcolonial feminism,
especially when “significant women’s
movements and gender issues in many
postcolonial nations…are linked with
feminist studies in the academy there, as
well as works originating in the First
World…relate to women and women’s
movements in the Third World” (Sunder
Rajan and Park 2005: 53). Such inter-
ventions have also broadened the scope
of postcolonial feminism within cultural
studies or transnational feminism. This
AUGUST 15, 2015
would be an interesting path to pursue
the relevance of conceptual categories.
While questioning the universal rele-
vance of intersectionality, Menon flags
several points as problematic, but does not
clarify them adequately. I will choose to
offer a few here for the uninitiated. It was
urged that “the subject of feminist politics
has to be brought into being by political
practice” (p 43). But this has been inte-
gral to feminist scholarship in India
that has addressed intersections. These
include interventions as varied as those on
Brahminical patriarchy (Chakravarti 1993)
and ones that discuss the disappearance
of women at the margins of multiple
oppressions, especially in the context of
domestic and public labour (John 2013).
Voices from Within
Although its arguments draw from di-
verse politics, the article offers a not-so-
nuanced representation of the women’s
movement. It is nobody’s case that wom-
en’s movement is a contested terrain.
vol l no 33 EPW Economic & Political Weekly

This, however, has been an indicator of
its organic resilience. Even when voices
have challenged dominant conceptuali-
sations, they have been mostly from
within (Namala 2008; Manorama 2008;
Moon and Pawar 2008). But in Menon’s
accounts such voices from within femi-
nism are made to appear extraneous—
especially with constant pointers such
as, “Thus, feminist politics must always
be sensitive to the significance of differ-
ent locations, different in terms of both
time period and geographical location”
(p 39). They make one wonder whose
feminist politics is being referred to.
Further Menon’s account suggests
there is a binary opposition between
caste politics and feminist politics. An
instance of this presupposition is the
statement: “The challenges to feminist
politics from caste politics erupt also in
other contexts. A revealing moment of
tension was manifested at the National
Conference of Autonomous Women’s
Groups in Kolkata (2006), between the
newly politicised bar dancers of Mumbai
and Dalit feminist groups” (p 39). Some
of Menon’s assertions as “the opposition
between them is not easily amenable to
an elite/subaltern division since often
both identities, as in this case (Dalit/bar
dancer), are equally subaltern” (p 39)
misrepresent an issue that was much
debated in western India and makes it
appear like an elites-versus-subalterns
issue. This journal itself carried discus-
sions on the issue from caste, sexuality
and labour perspectives (Rege et al
2013). Similarly, the “homogeneity” ver-
sus “heterogeneity” dichotomy simpli-
fies the complex debates around the
need for a civil code or the continuing
pleas for gender-just laws that encom-
pass not just relational arrangements
and entitlements, but social security as
well. Such simplification dehistoricises
the trajectory of the women’s movement
and the sociopolitical context that
shaped it and continues to do so.
Slippages
There are also some slippages, especial-
ly in the discussion of queer politics and
its terminology, and in complex existen-
tial matters such as identity and body.
For example, Menon notes, “Queer politics
Economic & Political Weekly EPW AUGUST 15, 2015
DISCUSSION
has produced a public discourse that in- anti-discrimination, for instance, in law
sists on the potential fluidity of sexual would seem an area to explore.
identifications” (p 39). “Sexual identifi-
cations” here actually refer to gender Meena Gopal (meena.gopal@tiss.edu) is with
the Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies,
identity and expression, in spite of the
School of Development Studies, Tata Institute
fact that gender and sexuality have been of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
now analysed to be distinct (LABIA 2013;
Mohan and Murthy 2013). References
Menon also exhibits a lack of clarity in Chakravarti, Uma (1993): “Conceptualising Brah-
minical Patriarchy in Early India: Gender,
speaking of the relationship between Caste, Class and State,” Economic & Political
body and gender expression, and her Weekly, 3 April, pp 579–85.
piece has some confusing allusions to John, Mary E (2013): “The Problem of Women’s
Labour: Some Autobiographical Perspectives,”
queer politics: “Queer politics in India Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Vol 20, No 2,
engages with the question of biology pp 177–212.
LABIA (2013): “Breaking the Binary: Understand-
critically, treating sexuality as fluid, not ing Concerns and Realities of Queer Persons
a biological or genetic given…(I)t does Assigned Gender Female at Birth across a Spec-
trum of Lived Gender Identities,” a Study by
not attempt to produce a new universal, LABIA: A Queer Feminist LBT Collective, https://
within which all sexual identities will be sites.google.com/site/labiacollective/we-do/
research/report-btb (accessed on 6 June 2015).
submerged” (p 40). When Menon says Manorama, Ruth (2008): “Dalit Women: The
“the politics of sexuality throws into dis- Downtrodden among the Downtrodden,”
Women’s Studies in India: A Reader, Mary E
array the certainty of recognisably gen- John (ed), New Delhi: Penguin, pp 445–52.
der coded bodies” (p 38), perhaps she Mohan, Sunil and Sumathi Murthy (2013): Towards
Gender Inclusivity: A Study on Contemporary
meant struggles around gender identity Concerns around Gender, Bangalore: Alterna-
that destabilise the binaries of male and tive Law Forum.
female—challenges from the experien- Moon, Meenakshi and Urmila Pawar (2008): We
Also Made History: Women in the Ambedkarite
ces of those who defy the gender norm. Movement (translated by W Sonalkar), New
Offering clarifications to the above Delhi: Zubaan.
Namala, Annie (2008): “Dalit Women: The Conflict
would mean an entirely new essay. In all and the Dilemma,” Women’s Studies in India:
of the above discussions, class is totally A Reader, Mary E John (ed), New Delhi:
Penguin, p 464.
absent. Despite the opening call to locate Rege, Sharmila, J Devika, Kalpana Kannabiran,
theory, there seems an urgency to theo- Mary E John, Padmini Swaminathan, and
Samita Sen (2013): “Intersections of Gender and
rise in response to global debates. This Caste,” Review of Women’s Studies, Economic
leaves us, even after going through the & Political Weekly, Vol 48, No 18, 4 May,
pp 35–36.
latter half of the essay, asking for more. Sunder Rajan, Rajeswari and You-me Park (2005):
The essay has opened up the possi- “Postcolonial Feminism/Postcolonialism and
Feminism,” A Companion to Postcolonial Studies,
bilities of claiming intersectionality H Schwarz and S Ray (eds), UK: Blackwell
for our own purposes. The sphere of Publishing.
REVIEW OF URBAN AFFAIRS
November 29, 2014
Rethinking Governance of Public Toilets: – Indivar Jonnalagadda, Sandeep Tanniru
Lessons for Swacch Bharat from Hyderabad
Mapping the Coastal Commons Fisherfolk and the Politics – Mukul Kumar, K Saravanan,
of Coastal Urbanisation in Chennai Nityanand Jayaraman
Analysing Urban Growth Boundary Effects on the City of Bengaluru – Madalasa Venkataraman
Delusory Transformations: Transportation Projects under JNNURM in Dehradun – Gaurav Mittal
Selective Inclusions and Exclusions: – Ratoola Kundu, Geetanjoy Sahu
Land-Use Planning and Development in Ratnagiri
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