Feminist Concept of Right

Abstract:     
In this article, the effort was to understand the feminist concept of right. To accomplish the same, the history of the Women’s movements in India and West were discussed as they formed the first effort by women to define and demand the legal rights they deserved. The movements are important especially in the Indian context inasmuch that the feminists in India feature more prominently in women’s organization than in academia. Even as far as the western jurisprudence is concerned, it traces its roots into the suffrage movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Women have always had at some stage in life been made subordinate to the other sex, whether it is done knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly. Feminists try to question the presumption that this is the normal way of things. Unfortunately, feminism instead of finding support from educated women due to their own personal experiences whether it is in a household or the workplace finds ridicule. Feminists are branded as "aggressive, angry and bitchy women, who hate men and are against marriage". The question that seems to hang in the air is - what most young women - even those who have enjoyed the so-called fruits of feminism - understand feminism to be? Or do they believe in its principles and ideas of equality and advancement for women but fear the label itself?

Other than that, in order to understand the modern concept of rights of the feminist, different schools of feminist jurisprudence were discussed. This was done mostly with the intent to understand the variations in the feminist concept of equality between the two sexes. This then has a direct bearing on the concept of rights which are formulated and demanded by these feminists.

Keywords: Feminism, Rights, Schools of Feminist Jurisprudence

Working Paper Series