Interrogating Intersectionality: The Me-Too Movement in India

Abstract

In recent times, intersectionality, as a critical framework for feminist analysis, has been subjected to both criticism and appreciation. This paper aims to contribute to the wider literature of feminist thought in India with an examination of the MeToo movement. We argue that the MeToo movement allows for a significant space to interrogate the relevance of intersectionality in conceiving the socio-political landscape of India. The #MeToo movement initiated and ignited a new wave of feminist consciousness, while contributing to the wider discourse of the feminist movement in India. Many women, hitherto significantly suppressed, shared experiences of and raised their voices against sexual discrimination. Despite being a platform which brought women’s voices to the forefront he #MeToo movement has, however, been criticised for neglecting subaltern voices, marginalising the lower-castes, and possessing an inherent upper-caste bias. Analysing the MeToo movement through an intersectional lens allows scholars to address the invisibility of violence while also helping redress the injustices stemming from the intersection of multiple social vectors. Social positions are relational, the contours of which are determined by the coalition and dialectic of a multitude of forces, they in turn shaping the everyday social life.