Gender and language: A study of social movements in India

Gender is a broad spectrum that permeates every aspect of human lives. Language and forms of knowledge is one such domain that facilitates man-woman hierarchies. Interestingly, the pervasive character of gender biases thrives within social relations through literature and interaction, and vice versa. It's no coincidence that the most powerful spaces at every joint have been occupied by men. Dominant forms of literatures are not only authored by men but also express a male-centred perspective in its outright neglect of the women's point of view. Even among alternative visions of social movements, there is a possibility of dominant gendered spaces. The literatures produced by them, the words chosen to communicate their ideas and disseminate agendas are often said to be gendered. In fact, feminists accuse such movements of marginalising women's contributions by limited mention of even their names in the literatures produced. My concern here is to make a survey of the gender and language theoretical discourses and use it as an entry point for the study of social movements in an increasingly globalising world including India.