While travelling in our diverse country over the last eight years, I have met women from Kargil to Kanyakumari, Shillong to Kutch. As an anthropologist and artist, I continue to question the idea of how feminism and femininity could co-exist, and how culture and nature come to a harmonious balance.Sayali Goyal for ‘Cocoa and Jasmine’ Issue 2, 2019, Gujarat.
Feminism advocates gender equality, ensuring that women have the same rights, opportunities and autonomy as men. Femininity — often associated with traits such as softness, grace and beauty — can be seen as a powerful expression of identity.Being a feminist while embracing femininity means rejecting the idea that traditionally feminine traits make a person weak or less capable.
Instead, it means reclaiming those qualities as sources of strength.Historically, femininity has been used to justify the oppression of women, with qualities like emotional sensitivity or nurturing being framed as inferior to traditionally masculine traits like assertiveness and rationality. Feminism challenges these stereotypes, arguing that strength is not exclusive to masculinity and that emotional intelligence, compassion and cooperation are just as valuable.
Sayali Goyal for ‘Everyday IndianAesthetic’, 2021, Meghalaya.Most craft clusters I visited had a crucial contribution by the women of the household or village. Here are women from the metalsmiths’ community near Turtuk (Ladakh), clay potters near Shillong (Meghalaya), and Mata N.
