Manjari Sahay is a fourth-year student who has been one of the most vocal and passionate people on the campus regarding issues related to gender. She has consistently worked for women’s representation in politics amongst other important issues and also started ‘The Feminist Collective’ last semester. She will be pursuing her masters in Gender Studies. Here are some excerpts from an interview with her revolving around feminist culture on campus.
Q. What made you choose Gender Studies for your masters?
A. It wasn’t much of a choice, honestly. You know the cliché that when you love someone you just know? It was one of those things, just in the academic respect. A lot of it had to do with my own lived experiences which then led me to research more about the discipline and broaden my knowledge about it and once I was in that deep, I really didn’t see myself pursuing any other discipline.
Q. When did you realise that this is what you wanted to do?
A. The interest has been building up over years since my time at Ashoka began. A lot of my papers are geared towards the questions of gender hierarchy. So it has been accumulating over time but I had to sit down and make the decision this past summer. I did try to escape it, initially wondering if it was too specific and what the future prospects were, but beyond a point, there was no escaping it.
Q. How did your friends and family react to it?
A. It wasn’t a surprise to them. They always knew when I was appalled by something I read in the news or if I pursued something gender-related on campus or if I wrote papers on it. And my family has always been supportive of the kids in the family pursuing what they want to.
Q. What do you think are the major gender issues on campus?
A. I think and this extends beyond the gender issues, that the culture at Ashoka is one of apathy and ignorance, which is essentially a culture of silence around issues of social justice in general. Gender ends up being a component of that which is hard to overlook given the number of women on campus. So I think the biggest gender issue for me is that the fact that gender issues are overlooked on the campus. And I am not saying that the issues we will find on campus are the same issues we will find in Asawarpur and we do happen to be in a very privileged position but it is even more shocking that the gender issues are overlooked even in this position.
Q. Why do you think we are all so blinded towards them?
A. I think that the desire to dismiss gender issues exists everywhere and a lot of it has to do with the fact that we are comfortable and acknowledging the problem would mean that acknowledging that we are all complicit.
Q. How do you react when you see your loved ones, especially your family members being patriarchal?
A. My response in those situations is not to argue but is sadness. When you know that they are good people and have been central to your lives and have shaped you and you love them for it, you just feel hurt. I think the right way to approach this would be to not throw theories or big words at them but to discuss with them certain instances which they must not have thought of in a certain way and try to lead them to the point you are trying to make.
Q. What do you think is the misconception Ashokans have about gender issues?
A. That they don’t exist!
Q. In your opinion, why are so few men interested in gender issues, both on campus and outside it?
A. There is a way in which all of us are complicit, irrespective of our gender. When it comes down to acknowledging the complicity, it’s harder for men to do it because there is a way in which they occupy the position of privilege in society. I don’t think men are to be blamed, I think patriarchy is to blame and both men and women have contributed to it. It’s just harder for men to acknowledge that because more often than not they are the beneficiaries of it and it would mean divorcing yourselves from the benefits and I understand that. I also think another reason is that as a student body we haven’t had enough conversations about how patriarchy affects men.
Q. Have you observed any positive changes lately?
A. I think more people are talking and in many ways that is both the hardest and the easiest change and it is also the change that will take you the furthest. I think many people on campus are all too happy to forget about the gender issues and it’s becoming harder for them to do that and that is definitely a positive change in the sense that I don’t need you to agree with me, but I need you to engage with me and then if you disagree with me, it’s okay. It’s just not okay to dismiss the concerns.
Q. How do you see The Feminist Collective addressing these issues?
A. The members of The Feminist Collective individually have a lot of opinions on the subject of gender and feminism. I think firstly it’s great and a significant step in itself that people are organizing around a belief and an ideology in a way people on this campus don’t. So organizing it is a huge achievement and it’s been four years of Ashoka and this is happening only now. I mean most of the good universities abroad have a feminist society so it’s definitely not news or so radical that a campus can’t take it. Secondly, there is a lot that it can do which it hasn’t been able to until now because we are still figuring out the kinks and bolts of discussing gender with a large student body. The area in which we are lacking is turning the discussions into actions and the reason. This is because there are only a few of us and we are still trying to figure out the best way to relay a certain message. But I think once it is figured out, there is really no end to how much the collective can do in terms of social media activity, the kind of activities we can plan, or posters or just in terms of open houses and conversations that aren’t headed by the actionaries. But I think it will take time and it’s not surprising that it will take time.
Q. How do you deal with all the negativity that comes your way because of being so vocal about these issues?
A. Firstly, I’ve known and accepted for quite some time now that if you stand up for something, anything, anywhere you’re going to get flak. Because the thing is what people like is somebody who’s agreeable and somebody who doesn’t question. But when you do that you’re less likely to be liked by people. The choice is between not voicing my opinions and not being true to who I am and between being well liked by people and voicing my opinions and not being well liked by that many people but still being liked by people I wanted to be liked by and I’m always going to choose the latter option. Secondly, I think I’ve been a little fortunate that I haven’t received a lot of negativity or hate in that regard just because people are more likely to send it your way if you’re going to take it lying down and I guess I’m not the one to take it lying down. And then there is the risk of me engaging with what they’re saying and the thought that what if this girl proves the illogic of my completely misogynist argument and nobody really wants to be in that position of engagement. So yeah, nobody is outwardly negative towards me. I know people disagree with me, I sometimes know who they are but nobody has kind of confronted me and tried to take me down.
Visit The Feminist Collective’s Facebook page here: https://m.facebook.com/tfc.ashoka/
Edited by Nayanika Guha
Photographs curated by Sanjna Misha