Graphic Archives of Feminist Movements Around the World
This collection of graphic stories illustrate Indigenous women’s movements and struggles that are so powerful and so staggeringly minimized in history. Reading about female elders in the Kalinga region of northern Philippines as they fought to protect the river, or of Dolores Cacuango and the symbol of resistance she became
The Revolutionary Friendship of Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh
Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh broke all the rules of their times. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, in the state of Maharashtra, they began India’s first girls’ school called the Indigenous Library in Fatima Sheikh’s home. In doing so they unapologetically defied Brahmanical and patriarchal oppression and
Seven Times South Asian Film & TV got Female Friendships Right
Queen (2013) Finding a good girl friend is amazing in itself, but finding one while you’re on a trip by yourself is even more amazing! Rani and Vijaylakshmi in the movie ‘Queen’ are one such example. The line “Vijay nahi toh kya hua? Vijaylakshmi toh hai!” probably warmed all your
Small Town Matters
I grew up in a small town where you can always find the neighbors, especially the aunties, in everybody’s business. I hated that in my hometown, everybody knows everybody and their business. I couldn’t wait to graduate high school and go to university so I could escape my father’s anger
May Ziyadah and Malak Hifni Nasif: A Literary Liaison
In this article I am writing about a beautiful ‘Literary Liaison’ between two extremely illustrious Arab women writers—May Ziyadah and Malak Hifni Nasif— who not only challenged the norms of the society but even paved the way for future Arab women writers to voice their opinions fearlessly. These women set
Radical Female Friendships against Monstrous Patriarchy
Collective article by Anjali Chauhan and Khushbu Sharma “Female friendships are amongst the most enduring, intentional, and mutual relationships of our lives. They are safe spaces for us to be authentically ourselves, without fear of judgment and retaliation”, writes Ava Gilder. Living as a woman and navigating through a man’s
Showing up in Solidarity at the Workplace
What does solidarity at the workplace mean? It manifests itself sometimes in negative and unhealthy ways—whether it comes in the form of complaining about your workplace culture or bickering with your teammate about your manager. What if I told you there are more ways to show up for your fellow
Sisterhood as Collective Power
Collective piece by Bhoomika Ghaghada, Zahra Mansoor, and Juneida Abdul Jabber. I want to be happy for you. “Guess what??” Seema texted me. I picked my phone up from my car’s cup holder, careful not to burn myself on the steel rim. I had just settled into the driver’s
Getting Away with Patriarchy
Getting Away with Patriarchy First, tell your daughter to do all the dishes she scrubs, watch her dreams being washed away, soapy and smeary crushed, under the eyes of indifferent sons Second, prepare your daughter for her wedding discuss her entourage and bridal outfits she tries them on, watch her
Gul Muth as an Act of Solidarity
How do women create little spaces for themselves? How do they care for each other? In trying to find answers to these questions from my own lived experience, I focus on an age-old practice/tradition in my region—Kashmir—that has silently empowered women. Silently is the keyword here since a vast majority
Sisterhood of Flower Letters
While recently re-reading Vikram Seth’s magnum opus, A Suitable Boy, a letter exchange between the novel’s heroine, Lata and her best friend, Malati made me pause and smile. In the letter, Malati writes about a note Lata sent her, which including a pressed narcissi; the flower makes Malati recall the
Rooms/ Rules of Their Own
The more I live the more I am convinced that what makes our friendships different from those of men, is how much we listen to each other. All of us—in that hostel space—we so meticulously narrativized everything. In talking to each other we assumed the pen of the author in
How The Combahee River Collective Got It’s Name
160 years ago on June 2nd, 1863, Harriet Tubman, along with 150 Black Union volunteers freed 750 enslaved people in the Combahee River Raid in South Carolina, U.S. More than 100 years later in 1974, Black queer feminist activists honour Harriet Tubman’s legacy by naming their newly formed group, The
Finding Friendship in The Pomelo
In March 2023, I was looking for cheap places to crash in Delhi, India. I needed to stay back for a couple of days after my parents returned to Nepal. Excitedly, I messaged Nangsel “Do you know any cheap dorms to stay in?” Almost without batting an eye, she replied “There are,
A Kitchen of Her Own: The Life and Writing of Rashsundari Devi
“I came to nurture a great longing: I would learn to read and I would read a religious manuscript.” — Rashsundari Devi, Amar Jiban (translated from Bengali by Tanika Sarkar) According to the 2022 National Survey of India, the female literacy rate in India stands at 70.3%. This figure is
Sublime Anthology of Feminist Imagining
In 1981 Gloria Anzaldúa and Cherríe Moraga published a collection of writings by women of colour, a collective Moraga later refers to as ‘refugees of a world on fire’, with the hope that ‘young people who may first pick up this collection of poems, protests, and prayers, suddenly, without warning, feel
Not to worry, sisterhood is but a cry n click away
I rediscovered the essence of female kinship when my daughter was about nine months old. All cried out, body aching from sleeping in awkward positions to accommodate her slow suckling, mind tired by the perpetual tussle between responsibility, love, and self-care – I felt done.
Sisterhood and Feminisms, Essential Reads
If you love readings that expand, celebrate, examine and trouble contemporary notions of sisterhood and feminism, this is your list.
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