A different feminist

THIS seems to be the season for turning long-avowed ideology on its head. The original diva of feminism, Germaine Greer has come down considerably from her long-held rabid views and the direction in which she helped steer the women's movement, and certainly has no problems conceding that her ideas have changed over the years. The same, of course cannot be said of Kishwar, for she has not exactly done a Greer. It is well known that she has a horror of "isms", and that she does not call herself a feminist. What does she call herself? How does one describe Madhu Kishwar?

If you are looking for answers in Off the Beaten Track, you may be in for a disappointment. The collection of articles published between 1980-97, are retained in their original form, and Kishwar labours the point that most of them were written in the heat of the moment, reflecting the debates, Kishwar's own analysis and the extent of her comprehension of the issues at that particular point in time. Even if she does share with readers the reasons and the process through which she often revised or reviewed her opinion on issues and strategies over the years.

The three essays on dowry included in this volume illustrate Kishwar's mood for "self-audit". This, in her view, is very necessary for the women's movement at large. Having seen that the method of protest or legislating anti-dowry laws only led to "peculiarly extortionist" versions of dowry, Kishwar seeks to show why she gave up her initial conviction that abolition was the best solution, as it proved effete. Kishwar then concluded that the existing dowry practices in India were a consequence and not the cause of devaluation of women's lives.

After the essay, "Knocking at the portals of justice: The struggle for women's land rights", Kishwar, with the experience of legal aid work behind her, concludes that "a dysfunctional, corrupt and insensitive legal system insensitive to providing justice for women" could not be expected to provided a remedy for culture-sanctioned disinheritance.

In the group of articles on sati, (after the Roop Kunwar incident), and co-ownership for wives and on sex determination tests, she analyses the actual negative consequences of efforts by political groups and women's organisations. The essays on electoral politics look at the low rate of participation of women and the ineffective leverage of women in political institutions, going on to attempt identification of the essential preconditions to enhance women's participation. Kishwar herself concedes that her articles "Love and Marriage; Women Sex and Marriage; and Yes to Sita No to Ram", have sparked controversy arguing against the tendency among feminists to disparage the choices that ordinary women often make from the options open to them. She is also aware that her conclusions on all these issues have raised the hackles of most feminists and several political groups as well.

Hence in "Why I do not Call Myself a Feminist", (originally published as "A Horror of Isms") she explains why she doesn't want to be labelled a feminist, and why she spurns the version of feminist ideology professed by the dominant groups in India.

The object of her brand of "feminism" is clear, and well reiterated in this collection. Some essays raise questions, and most of them aim to provide "tentative " directions for future action. She admits that some well-meaning efforts to help improve people's lives often end disastrously. The common thread in this collection is Kishwar's penchant for appealing to the moral conscience rather than advocating "authoritarian" and "coercive" methods of reform that "render people powerless and destroy their sense of confidence and self-esteem".

ALLADI JAYASRI

Off the Beaten Track; Madhu Kishwar, Oxford University Press Rs. 495.

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