EVER SINCE WE started Ultra Violet, we’ve had like-minded folks visiting us, identifying themselves as feminists, supporting the cause, sharing, questioning, and playing devil’s advocate. Which is when it occurred to me that there are so many of you out there who have a point of view but not necessarily the space to air it, who may, like the 11 of us contributing to this blog, say you’re a feminist but who in the world will hear it? Rant and they label you crazy, explain and you’re blue in the face, speak and you can see the shutters slam. But us, we’ll listen. Stand up and say it. UV wants to know your story. [Read More]
UPDATED! The Many Faces of an Indian Feminist
Feminism Remixed: An Article by Ammu Joseph
Ammu Joseph writes about contemporary feminism in India. Originally published in VERVE (http://www.verveonline.com/), Volume 16, Issue 6, June, 2008
“You wonder why I say I’m feminist
Don’t I know that’s out of style?
Don’t I see when people don’t challenge me
Just shake their heads and smile?
…
You wonder why I say I am feminist
And what it really means.
Don’t I get fed up all the time
Of having to defend my dreams?”
Gabrielle Jamela Hosein<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–>
‘Feminism Remixed’
AN UV UPDATE: Ammu Joseph challenges the notion that feminism is passé on Verve and talks about UV in her story…
The ongoing change is evident in India, too. Take, for example, Ultra Violet, a blog initiated last year by young feminists across the country wishing to express themselves on a wide range of ‘issues, challenges, and triumphs’ relating to women today. According to them, ‘Ultra Violet provides a place to explore and understand the ways in which young women in India are challenging, negotiating and transforming unequal power struc–tures. It is also a space to celebrate women’s histories, wisdom, creativity, laughter and love for life.’ (http://youngfeminists.word press.com for interested readers).
The feisty young women make it very clear that theirs is a feminist blog and not ‘just another space for women.’ ‘Feminism is a much misunderstood and maligned word,’ they explain. ‘Over the years, its true meaning — the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of sexual equality — has been distorted and defiled by many. This blog is both a reclaiming of the term and a clarification of what it means to us, today.’ The fact that women coming of age in the new millennium wish to reclaim feminism and make it their own is, I think, a fairly clear sign that it is alive, kicking and, more importantly, evolving. It certainly contradicts the common assumption that young women have no time or use for feminism.
