Aunty, Didi, Bhabhi, Tai: How Indian women politicians are ‘domesticated’ so they fit in
The Suffrage, one of the most important milestones for the feminist movement, marked the beginning of women’s struggle to win the right to vote. Generations later, not only do women exercise voting rights, they have also contested and won elections. Given how politics was seen as largely a patriarchal domain, this was a feat in itself. But the trend as we see is, the Indian political space has time and again attempted to ‘domesticate’ many women politicians, so they fit into the political and social narratives, on patriarchal terms.
The Suffrage, one of the most important milestones for the feminist movement, marked the beginning of women’s struggle to win the right to vote. Generations later, not only do women exercise voting rights, they have also contested and won elections. Given how politics was seen as largely a patriarchal domain, this was a feat in itself. But the trend as we see is, the Indian political space has time and again attempted to ‘domesticate’ many women politicians, so they fit into the political and social narratives, on patriarchal terms.