Whither/What Freedom
Colonial powers often build their image as saviors of women who care about women’s rights. Moreover, they believe men of colonized society suppress women. FGM, SUTTEE and forcing women to cover their faces were considered different ways of women’s persecution. As saviors, colonizers considered it their duty to help women in getting freedom. They banned SUTTEE and encouraged the colonized community, through various policies, to forgo the practice of SUTTEE and veil. The motivation behind these steps was the liberation of women.
Policies of colonizers aimed at the liberation of women are viewed in different ways by people. One group feels that the purpose of those policies wasn’t the freedom of women, instead, they were used to strengthen the colonial rule. By enforcement of those policies, colonizers conveyed the idea that the colonized community is backward and it can’t evolve. One incident that shows that colonizers were not interested in freedom was how they acted when they discovered women without veils are involved in fighting against colonizers. The policy encouraging unveiling was aborted. This shows that they were interested in the freedom of women as long as it wasn’t hurting their interests. Another incident demonstrates that freedom was never attained: Despite the ban on SUTTEE, the number of cases of widow burning increased as people tried to adhere to the custom in resistance to colonizers. Hence, the question arises what freedom, if any, women got during those times?
Policies of colonizers aimed at the liberation of women are viewed in different ways by people. One group feels that the purpose of those policies wasn’t the freedom of women, instead, they were used to strengthen the colonial rule. By enforcement of those policies, colonizers conveyed the idea that the colonized community is backward and it can’t evolve. One incident that shows that colonizers were not interested in freedom was how they acted when they discovered women without veils are involved in fighting against colonizers. The policy encouraging unveiling was aborted. This shows that they were interested in the freedom of women as long as it wasn’t hurting their interests. Another incident demonstrates that freedom was never attained: Despite the ban on SUTTEE, the number of cases of widow burning increased as people tried to adhere to the custom in resistance to colonizers. Hence, the question arises what freedom, if any, women got during those times?
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