Woman and Goddess in Hinduism
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C H A P T E R 9
Gandhi’s Reconstruction of
the Feminine: Toward an Indigenous
Hermeneutics
Veena Rani Howard
The ancient laws were made by seers who were men. The women’s experience, therefore, is not represented in them.
—CWMG 37: 470
I believe that it is our duty to augment the legacy of our ancestors and to change it into current coin and make it acceptable to the present age.
—CWMG 57:241
One of the most controversial issues surrounding Gandhi is his construction of the feminine as he attempts to integrate traditional Hindu conceptions of women with his own progressive vision of women’s roles in the modern world. Many scholars have acknowledged Gandhi’s commitment to challenging oppressive patriarchal customs, including child-marriage and dowry, as well as his attentiveness to bringing women into the public sphere. Gandhi acknowledged and lamented the existence of women’s oppression in India, stating, “Woman has be en suppre s se d u nder c u stom a nd l aw for w h ich ma n wa s respon sible and in the shaping of which she had no hand . . . [Men] have considered themselves to be lords and masters of women instead of considering them as their friends and co-workers” (qtd in Joshi, 1988: 323). Gandhi considered the participation of women in his nonviolent movement to be an essential ingredient for its success. He wrote, for example, “Women’s marvelous power is lying dormant . . . My experiment in non-violence would be instantly successful if I could secure women’s help” (The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi [hereafter CWMG] 96: 77). But Gandhi also valued traditional Hindu conceptions of womanhood, rendering his thinking about women highly complex as well as controversial. It combines traditional Hindu values that are generally patriarchal with progressive gender values, and it prescribes the practice of virtues that in Hinduism are generally considered peaceful and feminine to motivate both women and men for action in the public sphere. Aspects of his attitudes toward women that have raised controversy include his experiment with celibacy in marriage and his unconventional approach toward sexual abstinence in general. I submit, however, that an intense focus on the highly debated facets of Gandhi’s own sexuality has perhaps overshadowed his legacy of efforts aimed toward the welfare of women and strong affirmations of women’s worth.1
In keeping with the present volume’s hermeneutics of intersubjec-tivity, I aim in this essay to analyze Gandhi’s views of the feminine, as rendered in his writings, in relation to his own cultural, religious, and historical context. In so doing, I will also draw upon the work of other scholars who have examined Gandhi’s words for their analysis of his views on this subject. Such an approach allows for a fresh understanding of those Gandhian views that offer empowerment to women. It is my view that Gandhi’s radical reinterpretation of traditional Hindu feminine virtues, his discourse on the nature of the feminine ideal, and his strategy of embedding a hermeneutics of the feminine in an indigenous social context remain relevant today to women’s ongoing struggle for gender equality.
Using the hermeneutics of intersubjectivity, which prompts us to take a subject’s own self-understanding seriously, I explore Gandhi’s writings and practices , wherei n he negot iated a nd rei nter preted H i ndu values in light of modern, progressive principles to create an innovative ideal of the feminine, including a new framework for addressing women’s issues. This approach may not always lead to universally applicable conclusions, but it can allow for a complex yet constructive understanding that, in this case, may offer a model for the empowerment of women. First, I will argue that Gandhi used a specif ic vocabulary of virtues defined as “feminine” to articulate his moral methods of nonviolence and satygraha (literally, “truth-force,” which Gandhi also described as “moral force,” “love-force,” and “soul-force”). I maintain that he interpreted, in an innovative way, “feminine” virtues and qualities, which were traditionally also viewed as vulnerabilities. By valorizing these characteristics, he sought to empower women and mobilize them along with male activists for nonviolent struggle. Second, I seek to bring a fresh understanding to Gandhi’s practice and public discussion on celibacy as a point of departure for addressing male hegemonic views about women and for introducing into India’s liberation movement a discourse on gender and sexual issues. Finally, I examine the literary and mythical style Gandhi used to coalesce traditional Hindu female models with modern goals of female freedom for the purpose of securing women’s rights, for seeking to awaken them to their inherent potential, and for constructing his own vision of the feminine.
HERMENEUTICS OF
FEMININE VIRTUES AND FEMININITY
In his discussion of diverse critiques of Gandhi, Vinay Lal (2008) focuses attention on variations in the “feminist reading” of Gandhi, which simultaneously includes harsh critiques of his troubling explanation of femaleness, appreciation of his efforts to draw women into participating in the nonviolent struggle for independence, and deep ambivalence with regard to Gandhi’s views about female nature and women’s roles, especially when these views are couched in the vocabulary of Hindu mythology. In this vein, Lal points to the fact that, in spite of criticism of Gandhian views, many feminists and activists are “prepared to concede that Gandhi feminized the nationalist struggle” (60). For example, in her article “Indian Nationalism, Gandhian ‘Satyagraha,’ and Representations of Female Sexuality,” Ketu H. Katrak (1992) notes the unique feature of Gandhi’s nonviolent movement, observing, “Whereas other liberation struggles invited women to fight alongside men, Gandhi enjoined Indian men and women to engage in acts of passive re s i st a nce wh ic h fem i n i z ed t he usually masculine struggle against the colonizer” (emphasis in the original). She continues with a rhetorical question: “Who more than women, used to maneuvering patiently through patriarchal au
thority, could offer better models of passive resistance?” (395). It must be noted that Gandhi was keen to avoid any allusion to passivity in his method. He argued that “passive resistance means resistance to evil with inner force of instead of physical force,” and therefore chose the word satygraha denoting the power of Truth or Soul (CWMG 8: 194). Traditionally, the soul-force is acquired though renunciation, self-sacrifice (tapas), and practice of ethical qualities, which are linguistically feminine. Gandhi called satygraha “the weapon of the strongest,” and asserted that it was “preeminently open to women” (qtd in Joshi, 1988: 258). Thus Gandhi affirmed the active power in nonviolent resistance and tied that force directly to women’s innate capacities.
But crucial questions remain, namely, how was Gandhi able to transform the age-old tradition of women’s “maneuvering patiently through patriarchal authority” into a mass mobilization of those patient and passive women to defy political authority? What were the overarching motivations and methods that guided Gandhi’s feminizing of the movement and the nation?2 If we are to understand Gandhi’s ideal of the feminine and his views of women, it is important to address these questions.
Many of Gandhi’s contemporary political revolutionaries and religious reformers, including Bankim Chandra Chatterji, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, and Rabindra Nath Tagore, invoked the symbolism of the divine feminine for the purpose of reforming the conditions of women and reinvigorating the masses for social and political change. Gandhi also invoked similar religious and nationalistic symbolism—for example, divinizing India as Bhrat Mt (“The Motherland”) —but his discourse was more practical than theoretical. In Gandhi’s thought, feminine power represented moral and spiritual force, which, to him, was fa r superior to the st rength of arms. Gand hi trusted the power of “restraint and goodness” (CWMG 97:139). He thus emphasized the active power of feminine virtues and made them the core of his nonviolent resistance movement—a movement that included and empowered women as participants rather than as mere symbols.
Gandhi’s writings reveal that the so-called feminization of the nonviolent independence movement through use of nonaggressive tactics and behavioral strategies that were traditionally associated with women was not a contrived effort on his part. Rather, it evolved organically from his personal proclivity for moral methods and the framework of his sociopolitical movement, as well as his unique understanding of Indian traditions. His strategy of satygraha, which he described as a power superior to the force of arms, was acquired through the practice of moral virtues such as ksam (forgiveness) , ahis (non-harming), pavitrat (purity), nti (tranquility), and day (compassion). Gandhi noted that these moral principles or ethical virtues are linguistically feminine and argued that “everywhere these qualities are met with in greater measure in women” (CWMG 60:166).
Trad it iona lly, t hese qua lit ies a re u nderstood to be act ive pr inciples that guide the conduct of individuals engaged in combating negative emotional tendencies and striving to attain spiritual freedom (moksa). Gandhi interpreted his methods of ahis and satygraha in terms of the feminine-identified strengths of endurance, love, and self-suffering, and he inverted their power for his nonviolent political activism. Nicholas Gier (2008: 138) notes, “Gandhi once said that he wanted to convert the woman’s capacity for ‘self-sacrifice and suffering into shakti power.’ “ Gandhi lamented: “If only the women of the world would come together they could display such heroic non-violence as to kick away the atom bomb like a mere ball. Women have been so gifted by God . . . Women’s marvelous power is lying dormant . . . My experiment in non-violence would be instantly successful if I could secure women’s help” (qtd in Joshi, 1988: 359– 360). Gandhi invoked the literal (rather than symbolic) power of feminine virtues that he believed could be awakened for social and political transformation.
Gandhi’s use of the power of moral force has been interpreted as a counter-response to British rule, which symbolized male dominance and hegemony. Anup Taneja (2005: 52) points out:
The counter culture of the Gandhi-led mass movement emphasized the feminine culture as opposed to the basic character of the British rule wherein the symbols of power, prestige, status and individual successes represented a masculine character . . . In this form of non-violent passive resistance, the masses firmly reject the oppressive, insensitive and immoral alien authority through withdrawal of support (without resorting to the use of force).
Because Gandhi emphasized the active nature of feminine qualities, he interpreted the elements that make women vulnerable as symbols of feminine strength. The emotional and biological components of pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing are often understood as rendering women vulnerable and incapable of an equal participation in public life and political movements. For Gandhi, female fortitude through these experiences was proof of the strength required for his method of nonviolence. In 1940, he wrote:
Woman is the incarnation of ahimsa. Ahimsa means infinite love, which again means infinite capacity for suffering. Who but woman, the mother of man, shows this capacity in the largest measure? She shows it as she carries the infant and feeds it during nine months and derives joy in the suffering involved. What can beat the suffering caused by pangs of labour? But she forgets them in the joy of creation . . . Let her transfer that love to the whole of humanity. (CWMG 77: 322–323)
Thus, Gandhi reframed as the precise locus of feminine strength and power the very same life events that others viewed as impediments to women’s full engagement in social or political movements. On another occasion, Gandhi invited women to use their nurturing characteristics to instill in their children the qualities of independence and courage, arguing, “A woman nourishes the bodies of her children. In the same way, she should inculcate in their minds the qualities of independence, fearlessness, firmness, etc.” (CWMG 21: 331). Gandhi’s reference to such specific characteristics of feminine nature may be viewed as problematic as it dichotomizes the categories of femininity and masculinity; but by emphasizing the strength of normative female virtues for cultivating freedom and fearlessness for both men and women, Gandhi strives to bridge the gender divide.
Gandhi has been accused by some of his critics of essentializing female virtues to serve his own ends. Katrak (1992: 398) observes, for example, “Female sexuality was essentialized through Gandhi’s appeals to the ‘female’ virtues: chastity, purity, self-sacrifice, suffering . . . These ‘female’ virtues were an ‘investment’ in his nationalist, nonviolent strategy.” Certainly, it can be argued that Gandhi appears to be adopting patriarchal assumptions about feminine virtues and simply extending them to the political sphere. Manfred Steger (2000: 126) summarizes Sujata Patel’s views on this issue by saying that “one of the various forms in which patriarchy presented itself in early twentieth-century India was through the formulation of a ‘morally superior ideal woman, who was the embodiment of all the best and goodness of human life and the world.’ “ He takes note of Patel’s argument that “Gandhi not only accepted these assumptions, but he extended them to fit his own perspective relating to the participation of women in politics.” Although this claim is plausible given the nature of Gandhi’s ideology, Gandhi’s words and actions suggest that he did not perceive these virtues to be the monopoly of women, although he found women to be more naturally inclined toward them. Gandhi did not perceive the “feminine” and the “masculine” as sharply distinct categories, nor was he aware of later feminist readings of patriarchic structures that are now so familiar to us. Rather, he reclaimed the resources available to him and rechanneled them.
The most important of these resources, along with the purportedly “feminine” virtues enumerated earlier, is the power of voluntary self-restraint (tapas), which male yogis in particular use for achieving material and spiritual goals within the Hindu tradition. In yogic systems of practice, tapas can be understood as a concentrated effort leading to physical purification and spiritual realization. Tapa s denotes voluntary austerity, physical restraint, an
d mental discipline with the aim of “burning away” physical and psychological impurities. This effort is thought to prepare a yogi for spiritual enlightenment, enable mastery over one’s life and environment, and bestow supernormal powers (siddhi). Some of these restraints, which have their origins in yogic asceticism, are also used by women—especially in practices such as vratas (vows) that involve fasting—for accessing spiritual power, though not authority, which was otherwise not available to them. Gandhi felt that due to the biological and social roles of women, their lives in general required greater self-sacrifice, and this made them ideal candidates for tapas (self-suffering), which he considered necessary for the success of his nonviolent struggle.
Gandhi sought to harness the power believed to reside in traditional religious virtues, such as the practice of ahis and the performance of tapas, to serve the goal of attaining India’s svarj (self-rule). He trusted that a collective performance of these traditional Hindu virtues would lead to India’s freedom from the colonial regime. What was unique about Gandhi was that “in extolling these feminine virtues Gandhi had not excluded men” (Taneja, 2005: 53). He asked men not only to embody the virtues of sacrifice, nonviolence, and endurance, but also to do jobs traditionally assigned only to women. Gandhi and the male followers who lived in his rama did all the tasks that women did. Once a professor accused Gandhi of beginning “at the wrong end” by asking “able-bodied men” to take up spinning, which “appears odd in the eyes of most of the people.” The professor argued that men “can’t take up the work which has been associated in our country, for centuries, with women” (CWMG 31: 458). Gandhi replied as follows:
It is contrary to experience to say that any vocation is exclusively reserved for one sex only. Cooking is predominantly the occupation of women. But a soldier would be worthless who cannot cook his own food . . . Fighting is predom inantly men’s occupation , but . . . Rani of Jhansi distinguished herself for her bravery as very few men did during the Sepoy Revolt. And today in Europe we find women shining as lawyers, doctors and administrators. (459)