GENDER AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION

FEMINISM AND THE EXCLUSION OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
BY DR. KRISHNA MENON (READER, DEPT. OF POL. SCIENCE, LADY SHRI RAM COLLEGE, DU, DELHI)

Third world feminism complains about being excluded from the mainstream feminist debate.
The term, 'feminism's' is more popular in its plural term because of the recognition that women today differ in terms of experiences and also faced different forms of exclusion.

Her presentation focus on the struggle against the pursuit of a perfect body by women.Her point is that if we construct the our politics based on the idea of an able bodied citizen, then it will be inadequate.
A disabled women is like an aberration or a structured subjectivity. Feminist also excluded women with disability in their debate and in this way feminist stabilised the idea of a perfect normal body and the permanence of an able bodied citizen.Nobody is permanently able. We are moving to the other spectrum which is portrayed by a person in a wheelchair.

KIMBERLE CRENSHAW INTERSECTIONALITY
Intersectionality is a feminist sociological theory first highlighted by Kimberle Crenshaw (1989). Intersectionality is a methodology of studying "the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations" (McCall 2005). The theory suggests—and seeks to examine how—various socially and culturally constructed categories such as gender, race, class, disability, and other axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic social inequality. Intersectionality holds that the classical conceptualizations of oppression within society, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and religion-based bigotry, do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate, creating a system of oppression that reflects the "intersection" of multiple forms of discrimination.

Zoya Hasan

Caste based reservation--focusing on inclusivity is good but if this is not based on the idea of egalitarianism, it vaporised into mere cosmetic gesture.

Disabled women are asexual because it is not expected for them to have sexual desire because they are considered 'damaged goods.' They are rendered 'sexless' with no option of motherhood or marriage. They have been forced to occupy the shadowy existence of the Indian society. Both disability discourse and feminist discourse are oblivious to each other in that feminist discourse in each narration of the women experience do not accommodate the experiences of the disabled woman.

QUESTION ASKED

CAN WE SAY THAT THE TERM 'DIFFERENTLY ABLED' IS CLOSE TO 'INCLUSION'?
There seem to be an element of patronizing in using the term though it is meant for empowering. Eg. you can't see but you can hear, so you are still fortunate. This is a 'designed apartheid.'

fLAVIA AGNES
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE?? NO LONGER RELEVANT TODAY
IS FEMINISM REALLY ABOUT INDIVIDUAL CHOICE OR EXPRESSION??