ipl-logo

Feminism In Daktaramma's Room

1058 Words5 Pages

Feminist studies accord great importance to the issue of reproductive rights, because the control over her body is the first step that a woman takes towards liberation and freedom from the oppression by patriarchy. Adele Clarke in her essay ‘Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse’ comments:

Reproduction is a fundamental human right: neither the state nor the actions of others should deny any person autonomy over their reproductive processes […] Reproductive freedom is the prerequisite for any kind of liberation for women. The right to decide whether and when to bear children is fundamental to a woman’s control of her own body, her sexuality, her life choices. (Clarke 1984: 189-190)

This paper examines two stories which deal with the right of a woman to birth control and family planning, ‘Daktaramma’s Room’ (2004) by R. Chudamani and ‘Giribala’ (2004) by Mahashwta Devi. …show more content…

The husband’s lack of concern for his wife’s physical fitness is a clear example of the sheer deliberate neglect of women in our society. As Gita Sen had pointed out in “Reproduction and Production”, the lack of control over childbearing would undoubtedly have an effect on the health of the women, which could even lead to an early death once the body becomes incapable of handling so many pregnancies. Devaki is thus denied access to contraception, birth control and abortion by her husband.

The theme of the right to birth control recurs in Mahashweta Devi’s short story ‘Giribala’ (2004), which is one among the series of short stories written on motherhood. The story is set in Bengal at a time when it was customary for the groom to pay for the bride’s hand in marriage. The protagonist Giribala is married to Aullchand, a fraud and vagabond. Giri bears four children in quick succession, and after the birth of the fourth daughter, has an operation to prevent future child

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of America And The Contraceptive Pill

    943 Words  | 4 Pages

    When Birth Control first hit the market in the 1960’s, it took off in a way no one expected, not even the doctors. In the book, “America and the Pill”, Elaine Tyler May focuses on the revolution of birth control and the effects it’s had on society. One of May’s main arguments were that “the pill” gave women new power they didn’t have before. This new invention paved the way for women’s right’s in the United States.

    Read More

  • Margaret Sanger's Speech On Eugenics

    1586 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the 1910s, Sanger became an advocate for birth control. As the years went on, Margaret Sanger became associated with the term of birth control and even later, eugenics. In the 1920s, she gave a speech entitled “The Morality of Birth Control”. In the speech, she addressed why birth control should be legal and why women deserve

    Read More

  • Margaret Sanger The Children's Era Analysis

    829 Words  | 4 Pages

    The speech was given to a group of people attending the Sixth International Neo-Malthusian and Birth Control Conference, a conference on the topics of birth control and population control. In front of an audience that praised and disagreed with her ideas, Sanger spoke using many rhetorical devices to guarantee a spark to the senses of every audience member listening. Too many babies wasn’t just a problem for mothers, but for the whole world. Sanger approached the ideas of overpopulation, abortions, women 's choice, and the

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Morality Of Birth Control By Margaret Sanger

    1119 Words  | 5 Pages

    This quotes implies that the child does not choose to be born in an unwanted, unloved, or an uncared for family or home. This is a strong statements to show society that this is why birth control is helpful to the family and the child. With Sanger’s first-hand experience as a midwife, it has really impacted her on the consequences of prenatal malnourishment and/ or neglect (Ward). It is in fact better to prevent lives that would inevitably be unhealthy and/ or unhappy. By using the contraceptives implies a “high sanction for the value of life itself”

    Read More

  • How Birth Control Changed America

    1105 Words  | 5 Pages

    For centuries women were always supposed to just bear their husband’s child, and be nothing more than a mother and wife. This created lots of problems, such as the millions of childbirth related deaths and home abortions. This eventually sparked an initiative in Margaret Sanger. As a result of the death of Margaret Sanger’s mother due to multiple childbirths, Sanger was motivated to finding a prevention of pregnancy that could potentially save lives (Gibbs, Van Pyke and Adams 41). This task, however was not easily achieved.

    Read More

  • Injustice Against Native American Women

    1283 Words  | 6 Pages

    The organization had completed a list of Native women’s reproductive rights, thus providing specific principles they believe are fundamental for every woman. Such as number 10 which states “The right to stop coerced sterilization” (Smith, 105). For Native women, their ability to give birth to the next generation of their people is continuously seen as an obstacle in obtaining their land and resources in the eyes of the government. Unfortunately, that involved unwilling sterilization of a large percentage of child bearing aged women, thus diminishing the population.

    Read More

  • Ethos And Pathos In Margaret Sanger's Speech

    1351 Words  | 6 Pages

    In her pilgrimage to fight for women’s rights, activist Margaret Sanger created a speech on a severely controversial topic not only during her time period, but during our present time period as well. While many firmly disagreed with her and still do, she did bring to light a major disparity between sexes and social classes. By vocalizing her qualms with the rights of women, mainly in the middle and lower classes, to decide for themselves if they wish to have children or not. By voicing her opinions in an extremely misogynistic era she made herself a totem in women’s history. Women do have a right to decide for themselves if they wish to have children or not.

    Read More

  • Observation Rhetorical Analysis

    577 Words  | 3 Pages

    These unmarried women wants to “fulfill their noble tasks of motherhood”(p132). One of the motivation is they feel a sense of loneliness because many of them experience sentiments of insufficiency and uneasiness in a society surrounded by people who are in harmonious conjugal relationships(131). Moreover, even though numbers of “women are unlikely to marry, but “would need a child to take care of them in their old age” (132). A program implemented “encourage women to adopt an intensified focus on their bodies as the locus of their ‘femaleness’”(132).

    Read More

  • Margaret Sanger's What Every Mother Should Know

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    Margaret Sanger knew first-hand what it was like to experience the effects of a life without birth control, being the sister of ten siblings. Her activism for birth control was strongly influenced by her personal experience. At the young age of nineteen, she tragically watched her own mother die from tuberculosis. She personally blamed her father for causing this, saying her mother died from “having too many children and working herself to death” (Amory, 2011).

    Read More

  • Free Motherhood Dbq Essay

    1472 Words  | 6 Pages

    To further women’s rights activists’ demands, Sanger explains the relationship between birth control and freedom. Sanger does this by writing, “She gains food and clothing and shelter, at least, without submitting to the charity of her companion, but the earning of her own living does not give her the development of her inner sex

    Read More

  • The Women's Reproductive Rights Movement

    2126 Words  | 9 Pages

    In 1960, the first birth control pill was put on the market. This was the first time a woman’s reproductive health was in her own control. Ever since the 1900’s women have been fighting for the right to their own reproductive rights (“The Fight for Reproductive Rights”). With the upcoming presidential election the right to obtain birth control and other contraceptives for women could be jeopardized, and taken out of the control of the woman. Thus, the history of birth control, the statistics of how it affects today’s society, why women should have the ability to obtain it easily, and how if outlawed it would not only hurt women, but also the economy are all important topics in the women’s rights movement and very relevant in modern day society.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In The Bell Jar

    1804 Words  | 8 Pages

    To initiate, the implementation of gender equality laws will help conclude unequal treatment towards women and create opportunities for women to refuse unsafe work and treatments. Also, without the right to make individual choices for body, women 's prosperity, well-being, and potential in society are restricted and gender inequality is therefore perpetuated. According to the academic article, Sexual Health’s Women’s Rights, “120 million girls worldwide have experienced forced intercourse” (Ngcuka) activities against their own individual soul. Many women are suffering from forced physical and sexual violence because of the limited laws and regulations that allow women to refuse unsafe treatments and practices. According to reports, the “ 32

    Read More

  • A Raisin In The Sun Feminist Analysis

    1499 Words  | 6 Pages

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feministic ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women can fulfil their individual dreams that are not in sync with traditional conventions of that time.

    Read More

  • Feminism In The Yellow Wallpaper

    810 Words  | 4 Pages

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman was not just an author but a great feminist. Gillam inspired countless women to seek indecency with her work like "The Yellow Wallpaper. " The story is a fictionalized short story of a woman who is descending into madness while dealing with her mental illness and cannot heal due to her husband 's lack of belief. At the same time, the woman also known as the narrator feels imprisoned in her marriage. The story takes place during a time were women and had no independence and were not able to voice their own opinion.

    Read More

  • Feminism In A Thousand Splendid Suns

    1539 Words  | 7 Pages

    A Thousand Splendid Suns’ was written by an Afghan American writer, Khaled Hosseini. The novel narrates the strength and resilience of two women who endure physical and psychological cruelty in an anti-feminist society. It also demonstrates how The Taliban uses fear and violence to control the people of Afghanistan, particularly females. Throughout this story the novel exposes the way customs and laws endorse Rasheed’s violent misogyny and it tells the tale of two women who endure a marriage to a ruthless and brutal man, whose behaviour forces them to kill him. The protagonist Mariam is a poor villager who lives in a remote area in Afghanistan, in contrast to Laila who is a smart, educated daughter of a schoolteacher.

    Read More

More about Feminism In Daktaramma's Room

Open Document