Fairy Tales and Feminism: Refashioning Mother India

This article is written by Smriti Patel.

“Men have sight, women insight.”

-Victor Hugo

INTRODUCTION: Diversity, Difference and Feminism.

In the early 1960’s, the Suffrage movement was formed to help women become equal to men by campaigning against a series of issues such as abortion, glass ceilings, equal pay, and sexual harassment[1].

Virginia Woolf

““Does your mother work?” “No, she’s a housewife.”” This statement is just an example of what was heard in and before the feminist movement and in the 1960’s. Since then, women’s roles have changed dramatically, instead of being “just a wife”, or “just a mother”, now women can be both and have jobs outside the house[2]. However, women are still considered a subordinate group because not only do women have different physical characteristics than men, but they experience all of the other signs of a subordinate group as well such as receiving unequal treatment, and having to struggle for equality.