Growth of women's movements in India, in the middle centuries

Unlike the feminist movements in the Western countries, women's movements in India, in its early stages, had adopted a revivalist ideology and worked for improving the social condition of women. Even the women activists stood for the complementary sex roles and not against the division of labour based on sex. They also discouraged the competition between the two sexes for economic independence. They took measures to spread the light of knowledge among women by opening different educational centres throughout the country in association with various social organizations. Most of the women's associations of the 18th and 19th century had adopted “self help” as their motto for women's emancipation.