Problems Women Writers Face in India

Kamala Das once said, “Like other women writers of my class, I am expected to tame my talent to suit the comfort of my family”.

India is a country that prefixes the term “mother” before India, “mother” before earth and worships goddesses. They exist through a woman’s womb and yet women face rigid barriers in every field big or small. The literary field is not any different, Indian women writers are often assumed and dismissed as “sentimental” “feminists” and “women centric”. There are too many limitations Indian women writers face. The few are:

Limiting content to suit the comfort of families :

A lot of Indian women weave magic when they write but unfortunately they rephrase their content to suit and conform to the norms made by the society. Eroticism , romance and explicit-icy is usually avoided or restricted due to the fear of families and societies that are orthodox and conservative.

The term “women’s fiction” :

When a fiction is published by a male author it is usually termed as a “fiction”. The same rule doesn’t apply to women, a women authors work is usually termed as “women’s fiction”. Cant women be protagonists in books and outside books too? Do people not remember Kamala Das, Sudha Muthy, Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte making miracles with female protagonists and female characters?

Gender bias :

Most men often prefer male authors rather than female authors because of the assumption that female literature is cliché. There is also a baseless assumption that male authors write better while it could also be vice versa.

Assumptions of indulgence in a mere hobby :

Women authors are often disregarded and dismissed as writing because of a mere hobby or an indulgent activity during their free time. Most women who write professionally aren’t appreciated only because of bias in gender.

The need to re-create a thought :

Most days when I write I rephrase, re-create and re-review the content i’d like to put out because of the fear of being judged for inappropriateness, lewdness or vulgarity. A man’s thoughts are accepted however human it can get but a woman writer has to always rephrase her thoughts on humanness and rawness. Societies are stringent although it is the 21st century.

Limiting topics like sex, marriage, adultery and relationships:

Women authors often strive hard to make their content as plausible as possible. Topics like sex, relationships are completely kept at bay fearing misjudgement, labels, norms set up by the society and the stringent mindset of humans.

Being labelled ‘feminazi’ for having a point of view and perspective:

Feminazi, a term invented by men because they feel the pressing need to show the world that when a woman does anything, has a point of view and a perspective the label ‘feminazi’ can be thrown upon her. It is disappointing to see the number of hate comments and vulgar language that is used when a woman writes her perspective and even more shocking that the same feat is acceptable when a male author provides it.

Bias in literary awards :

Be it The Grammy’s, The Oscars or even just literary awards there is always a bias in terms of gender. Our society is so backward that it still feels like women are undeserving. Most women achievers are underappreciated. un-applauded and unsung because of the mere fact that they are women. The bias is real and saddening and to change the minds of people in a male dominated society is very difficult considering egos and prides that are sensitive.

There is a pressing need for equality in careers and jobs which a country like India clearly lacks. Underpaid, Underappreciated and Unsung are the women of India and they do deserve better representation in all walks of life. Be it a writer or a fruit vendor a women deserves credibility for the work she does without bias.