Is India Seeing A Rise In Misogyny Under Its Rising Spirit Of Nationalism?

Feminist literature that has explored nationalism has found linkages with patriarchal values and ideas of masculine toughness. The ‘nation’ in nationalist movements is likely to be represented feminine which the men of the nation are called upon to protect and defend. Subsequently, this call psychologically evolves into men’s efforts to prove that they are tough, and can violently defend their nation and their women from perceived attacks on honour and modesty. India, like many other countries around the globe, has seen a rise in nationalism in recent years. Alongside the rise of nationalist and religious pride, there are, as expressed in research, evident tendencies of rise in patriarchy and misogyny.

Like the study by Elin Bjarnegård, Karen Broune´us, and Erik Melander suggests, honour has both aspects: male privilege to control women’s sexuality and male perception of the necessity to be fierce and violent in their image to perceived attackers. Both these aspects are increasingly observable in India.  Early this year, the infamous ‘Bulli Bai’ App that caught attention of the public and the media, had put on auction Muslim women online. The accused was arrested as the App was brought down. But this was not a case in isolation. There was a similar ‘Sulli Deals’ App last year with similar intent and purpose. The evident communal shade to this event caught attention of the media and people, but the gendered aspect got masked and hidden underneath. These events reflect the perceived privilege of proud nationalist men to control and define women’s modesty. They also unmask the recently rising regressive phenomenon that permits looking at women as objects for control and sexual desire. Subsequently, these objects can then essentially be sold, auctioned and traded, by those that consider themselves morally righteous and powerful in the name of the nation and culture.

Refer to the Elin Bjarnegård, Karen Broune here.

You can read more about the Bulli Bai App Case here

The ideology behind the practice of dowry and honour killings has not been very different. Although illegal, both continue to exist in our society. As per the NCRB, there were about 19 dowry related deaths per day in 2020. There are horror stories of honour killing from across the country on the news and in reports. While these are not new practices and India has struggled with them for generations, with the rise in patriarchy underneath the spirit of nationalism, they may pose a worse challenge going forward.

Rise In Misogyny?

In February this year, the State of Karnataka banned hijabs in schools managed by the Minority Welfare Department. The girls stood up in protest and the High Court ruled in favour of the ban. Under the evident communal colour to this event, there is also the patriarchal privilege of a community to decide what women should or should not wear, the belief that robbing a woman of her religious attire shall bring shame and embarrassment to the targeted community, the perception and hope that attacking the community’s bearers of honour will challenge the community’s men as violent defenders and fierce warriors. As men, therefore, in their positions of precarious masculinity, try and prove that they are tough and brute, women lost their agency to choose how they want to dress or participate in social places.

There is also a parallel and increasing predisposition to viewing women as the group that needs protection from the ‘others’ (‘others including groups of a different religion, community, nation, etc.). This translates into women being infantilised, and consequently deprives them of their agency to decide for themselves. For example, the premise and narrative around the controversial ‘Love Jihad Law’ in several states in India was that Hindu women are being frequently and fraudulently converted to Islam by Muslim men through marriage. The law in some States, therefore, now require interfaith couples to get an approval from the district authority for the marriage to be valid. The onus of proving that there is no coercion or fraud involved lies on the couple. The premise lacked strong evidence, and ignited opposition from liberals who flagged the communal and divisive aspects. The misogynistic layer failed to gather enough attention and subtly, yet strongly, it was established and propagated that women can be easily fooled and need interventions from families and authorities to decide the right course of action.

Image: Unsplash

There are subtle hints of existing and rising patriarchy all around, underneath masks of nationalism, religion, culture, and casteism. These showed in the official mismanagement and silenced reports for the Hathras rape case, in the alarming rise of online trolling of vocal women, in the infamous and shocking conversation leaked from Clubhouse where a group of Hindu nationalists made appalling, vulgar and derogatory remarks about women, and in the strong opposition to criminalising marital rape in the country. There are many more that need to be flagged and isolated from perceived communal and populous events where they may go unnoticed otherwise. We, as women and feminists of a nation that we proud of, need to aggressively use a gendered lens to analyse events and push back on the expected and evident rise of patriarchy and misogyny alongside the spirit of nationalism. We need to demand from our leaders to consciously and purposefully empower women for a stronger nation, instead of infantilising them. We need to support and push more women to be vocal, participative, unbattered, and engaged in decision making that affects their lives and our country’s future. We need to imagine a future where India can be an example for future societies where nationalism empowered its women instead of inflating regressive notions of patriarchy and misogyny that psychologically and emotionally cage both men and women, and harm collective intentions of equity, growth, and inclusive development.