“You need not be afraid to give us rights for fear we will take too much, for we can’t take more than our pint’ll hold.”
The year was 1851, and Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree), had by then achieved a feat that no black woman sold into slavery ever had; she went to court in 1928 and won a case to freed her five year old son who was sold into slavery. A first! This landmark victory and her anti-slavery movement earned her an invitation to meet President Lincoln himself. Her influence in liberating women was priceless for women of colour.
This Women’s Month, let’s cast aside numbers and statistics, and look at a few women who shook the system up to open doors everywhere to let other women gain access to education, career, knowledge, power and mainly freedom.
Muthu Lakshmi Reddy
Rejected an admission to the Maharaj’s College based on her gender, Muthulakshmi Reddy received a scholarship to the same institution thanks to the liberal views of the Maharaja himself. Yet, she was received upon a condition that the management would observe her character for three months, and if she proved worthy of herself in character, she would be allowed to continue her education. Thus began a long journey of this doctor and a woman activist who fought against casteism and gender bias. Founder of Avvai Home in Chennai, an orphanage that shelters, protects and educates orphan girls irrespective of caste, creed and colour, Muthulakshmi Reddy fought for the abolition of the Devadasi system, proposing a bill to the Madras Legislative Council as early as 1930.
Huda Sha’ arawi
An Egyptian feminist, a suffragette and founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union, Huda
Sha’arawi found restrictions on women’s movement as a deplorable act, and through her lectures, started bring women into the open with topics designed to their interests. In 1910, this brave feminist established a school for girls with academic subjects and not midwifery. Huda dedicated her entire life to philanthropy, and strived towards causes that uplifted women and children. She implored that women-run social service projects would provide them with a wide horizon to acquire necessary skills, and it would place them in a position of power, thereby decimating the school of thought that they needed caring and protection all the time. She’s acknowledged to be one of those trailblazers who fought to change the landscape of society for women.
Edith Garrud
This suffragist knew how to break a bone, because Edith Garrud was the first British female Jujutsu teacher, and one of the first female martial arts instructors of the western world. As a supporter of women’s suffrage movement, Edith, a playwright, set up a self-defense club, and to advertise the same, came up with fictional scenarios that she staged as a part of the suffrage movement. Garrud trained the members of the Women’s Social and Political Union in this martial art from as they frequently faced violence during their protests. Edith saw Jujutsu as a form of self-defense and not as a way to attack people. Along with her husband, William, Edith continued to work as a Jujutsu instructor until 1925. When interviewed at the age of 94, she demonstrated a few arm locking techniques to the journalist. Her contribution through martial arts remains that she fought against the stereotypical notion that women are vulnerable and need protecting all the time.
Not the End
History has stood witness to many a woman who has, within her grasp and power, tried to shake the inchoate patriarchal structure, carving a pathway for herself and her ilk. But, it is left upon us to carry forward the torch of feminism, flaming in all its glory, just the way these women had lit it up for us. The road is long and the battle is still not won, yet here we are, relentlessly fighting for our rights, never giving up, showing up for ourselves and stomping ahead on the road that these revolutionaries paved for us.
As India’s foremost aerospace scientist and former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had once said, “Empowerment of women leads to development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation”, enabling one woman an access to her rights will ensure that she paves way for the rest of her tribe.
So, let’s raise a toast to these strong women who started a rebellion and inspired the rest of us, centuries later; may we know them, may we be them.
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