How Indian Women Are Challenging Centuries of Misogyny and Patriarchy

FEATURING DEEPA IYER – A massive women-led resistance to centuries of patriarchy and misogyny under the guise of religious tradition is playing out in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. Women have been defying massive pressure to respect a rule observed for thousands of years barring women of menstruation-age from entering an important temple in Kerala.

The Sabarimala temple, dedicated to Lord Ayappa, prohibited women aged 10 through 50 from ever stepping foot inside. But the Indian Supreme Court struck down the ban after a lawsuit challenged the rule. While the backlash to the court’s decision from Hindu fundamentalist groups has been huge, women’s rights activists have also pushed back and held firm to their rights. The violent clashes have resulted in more than a hundred injuries and thousands of arrests.

Read Deepa Iyer’s article on Medium called ‘The Women’s Resistance We Aren’t Hearing About is Happening Now In Kerala,’ HERE.

Deepa Iyer, South Asian American activist who works and writes on race, immigration and more. She is the author of We Too Sing America and host of a monthly podcast called Solidarity Is This. She recently wrote the piece entitled The Women’s Resistance We Aren’t Hearing About is Happening Now In Kerala.