Course Glossary

refers to traits and behaviours traditionally linked to being female. These may include gentleness, emotional expressiveness, nurturing, beauty, and submissiveness. Girls and women are often expected to be caring, polite, and focused on appearance or family responsibilities.

One of the broad definitions of feminism, is the that of bell hooks, where she defined feminism as ‘the movement to end sexism, sexual exploitation and sexual oppression’ (2000:33). Though the focus is on recognizing, of how sexism is built on the twin axis of exploitation and oppression of the dominant gender over the other, it also emphasizes that this recognition cannot be separated from racism, casteism, or how the contemporary is framed by colonial histories, slavery, indentured labour, as core to the exploitation of labour under capitalism (Ahmad: 2017: 5). Thus, intersectional perspective is the to one’s engagement as a feminist and the definition as a feminist.

Epistemology, is a ‘theory of knowledge’ (Harding 1987:3), that builds on a set of assumptions about – who can be a knower’ and ‘what can be known’. Feminist epistemology argues for recognizing ways in which gender influences how knowledge is conceptualized, who possesses meaningful knowledge and the practices of inquiry. It argues for recognizing knowledge, as one, where gender influences one’s understanding of reality, rationale and theory of knowledge. Thus, it relates not only to the nature of knowledge but also the methods of attaining it, thereby raising questions relating to: Why are certain types of knowledge considered as scientific? Why is there a belief that certain people may not possess knowledge? Why are certain forms of ‘knowledge’ not valid?

Feminist historiography represents a radical reimagining of how history is studied, written, and understood. It emerges as a critical response to the traditional narratives of history, which have long been dominated by male-centric perspectives and patriarchal frameworks, often rendering women and other marginalized genders invisible. Feminist historiography is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on insights from sociology, anthropology, literature, and cultural studies to enrich its analysis. It employs innovative methodologies such as oral histories, and life history, which capture the lived experiences of women who may not have left written records, and archival data such as legal codes, archaeological evidence, temple records, literature and arts, that reads "against the grain" to uncover hidden narratives (Sangari & Vaid, 1989). It also emphasizes intersectionality, recognizing that gender cannot be understood in isolation from other axes of identity such as caste, class, race, and sexuality.

Feminist methodology, is a research approach that is framed by feminist theorizations to examine not only social; issues, but also to critically engage with institutionalized mainstream androcentric research methods, design and dissemination. The objective of such a methodology is to approach research, keeping in mind the voices and lived experiences of the marginalized at the centre. Thus, feminist methodology aims among many other things to produce knowledge that is; one, transformative, intersectional and political by nature, two, based on ethical principles of doing research and three, focusses on building gender inclusive research practices.

Feminist perspective, according to Kiguwa (2019) has four central aspects: One, it is diverse, as it includes wide range of approaches to understanding gender inequality. Two, critically engages with women’s lived social realities and experiences. Three, intersectional by nature, recognizing that women’s experiences are shaped by various intersecting factors such as caste, class, religion, etc, thereby challenging the category of ‘universal’ women. Four, is political, as it is committed in principle to move towards social justice.