ABSTRACT
The articulation of any inquiry is not free from the influence of the socio-economic-political status of the articulator. Since academic writings on feminism have historically preponderantly originated from white, First World feminists – largely on account of their privileged institutional locations – the mainstream articulation of gender-based issues tended to neglect the deeper afflictions of Black women. They realised that their social reality was not captured or reflected in mainstream feminism, from which they were marginalised – mainstream feminism thus took on the character of a ‘white’ feminism from the point of view of the racially marginalised. For mainstream feminists, patriarchy, not race, was their problem. Consequently, Black feminists forwarded strong critiques of mainstream feminism for its failure to address the issues of all women. Kimberlé Crenshaw originated the concept of intersectionality based on Black women’s ‘difference’ from race-privileged women, filling the lacuna of First World feminist discourse which had failed to address the issues of all (First World) women. Similarly in Indian context, ‘difference’ from caste perspective is drawn.
