Feminist Ideologies of the Self-Respect Movement – A Historical Study

Abstract

Women are an essential component of the human society. However, women do not get their respect and rights in the ages due to the deeply institutionalized patriarchal values. There were many feminist movements emerged globally to address these differences where they articulated different strategies for women liberation such as equal education, employment, civil rights, valuing women’s bodies and their rights in the society. In this context, the foundation of the self-respect movement in India was became a crucial movement to address the social inequality in the society. The movement was started in 1925 by Thanthai Periyar E.V. Ramasami. The movement completely believed women as an active social agent and trusted that the freedom of women would lead to a revolution in the society. The movement became a platform for women to articulate their views. The movement proposed some of the significant strategies for women liberation and empowerment, which was pioneer to the many women’s movements in the world. On this background, this particular paper is trying to study the feminist ideologies that were proposed by the Self-Respect Movement.