Feminism in Literature: International Journal of Advanced Educational Research
Feminism in Literature: International Journal of Advanced Educational Research
Feminism in Literature: International Journal of Advanced Educational Research
Feminism in literature
Neeraj Rana
Ph.D, Research Scholar, OPJS University, Rajasthan, India
Abstract
The word feminism comes from French word féminisme and according to the Cambridge online dictionary feminism is “the belief
that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of
activities intended to achieve this state.” The term ‘feminism’ itself is used to describe a cultural, political or economic movement
aiming for equal rights for both women and men. Nonetheless, the terms ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ did not gain widespread
meaning use until the 1970s when they started to be used in the public parlance more frequently.
One is not born, but rather Who and what, then do we mean by
Becomes a woman. No biological ‘feminist’? That word….poses some
Psychological or economic fate serious problems. Not that we would
Determines the that the human want to end up demanding a
Female presents in society; it is definition of what feminism is
Civilization as a whole that and therefore of what one must
Produces this creature, intermediate do, say and be, if one is to
Between male and eunch, which acquire the epithet dictionary meanings
Is described as feminine. are suffocating to say the least.
..Simone de Beauvoir
Jawarharlal Nehru once said; “You can tell the condition of a
God created human beings and divided them into man and nation by looking at the status of its women.” Women of any
women, with a few basic differences in body and mind. It was nation is the mirror to its civilizations. The chabge in the
only civilization who brought this difference to such a level status of women in India is a slow, steady and continuing
that the principles of feminism have been articulated. The process. It began a century and half ago when Raja Ram
term ‘feminism’ was first used with regard to the issues of Mohan Roy and his followers focused attention on the social
equality and Women’s Rights Movement. evils. He started the first school for the girls in Calcutta in
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International Journal of Advanced Educational Research
References
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3. Cited by Shantha Kriishnaswamy. The Woman in Indian
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A Hundred Sons - A Journey Among The Women of
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10. Alice Jardine, Gynesis. Configurations of Women and
Modernity 86 Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986, 20.
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