by NABANITA DHAR
‘I believe that living gives you material (pleasure, pain, angst, loneliness, joy and what not) for writing while writing helps you interpret your existence in a meaningful way. I live, I write, I grow and live some more and write some more and hopefully grow some more’ Yes that’s Sarojini Sahoo for you. A writer with a vision; with a balanced outlook towards the social prejudices against women. But unlike many other pro women writers out there after reading her books and after listening to her views you realize that indeed ‘You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.’ Any ode to contemporary Indian Literature would be incomplete without the mention of a writer and thinker of her stature.
Here in Conversation with Isahitya in our special section Talk to Isahitya ; Sarojini Sahoo discusses about issues very much pertinent to our society; especially when it comes to women.
Qus – What is ‘feminism’ for you?
Sarojini Ji – I am never an activist but always a writer. I have also told many times that as a feminist I am more a writer and as a writer I am more a feminist. Actually, I don’t know if I am a feminist in any way or not because in my idea, I have found the ideas of Second-Wave and later-wave feminists as being stereotyped. I am just a thinker and I write about what I think.
We are here for gender sensitivity to proclaim the differences between men and woman with a kind of pretence that we are all the same. But maybe we’re not the same and not meant to be. Too many women have been de-feminized under the mask of equality by the societies in which they live.
For me, it’s more about femininity rather than about feminism. I think ‘femininity’ is the proper word to replace ‘feminism,’ because the latter has lost its significance and identity due to its extensive involvement with the political process. Femininity comes from the original Latin word ‘femine’ which means ‘female’ or ‘women’ and certainly the word creates debatable identical characteristics. It separates the female mass from a masculine world with reference to gentleness, empathy, sensitivity, nurturance, deference, self-abasement. Also, the influences of patriarchy set the group alien from them in their traditional milieu.
For me, feminism is not a gender problem or any confrontational attack on male hegemony. To me, femininity (rather than feminism) has a wonderful and unique power. In our de-gendered times, a really feminine woman is a joy to behold. Being feminine, you can love and unleash your own unique yet universal femininity. To be feminine is to know how to pay attention to detail and people; to have people skills; and to know how to connect to and work well with others. There will be particular times and situations within which you’ll want to be more in touch and in tune with your femininity than other times. Being able to choose is a great privilege and skill which should never be underestimated or taken for granted.
Qus – How is your idea of feminism different from Virginia Woolf’s or Judith Butler’s?
Sarojini Ji – Virginia Woolf?s Orlando – a Biography is an impressive field of discussion on gender identity. Meditating about the notion of identity, femininity, masculinity, and sexual desire, Orlando provides a light-hearted account of Woolf?s own “theory of sexuality” which still captures the attention of readers. Inspired by the rise of ‘the new enterprise of sexology’ and the new discipline of psychoanalysis, as well as through her personal attraction towards Sapphism, Woolf comments on the substance of sex, the nature of gender roles, the role of clothes for gender identity and on sexual orientation in Orlando. In her novel, the protagonist feels he has metamorphosed into a woman—the same person, with the same personality and intellect, but in a woman’s body. The concept of ‘right soul in a wrong body’ developed from this novel to which Judith Butler described those signs or analytical models which dramatise incoherencies in the allegedly stable relations between chromosomal sex, gender, and sexual desire and named it the ‘queer theory.’
In my book Sensible Sensuality, I discuss these gestures and show how these are throwing out powerful rhetoric of ‘thwarting the binary gender system’ means nothing if it comes from somebody who hates the world, loses his or her confidence to face life, and doesn’t like himself or herself as a person. I can understand the positions of intersexuals or transsexuals who are born with differed biological bodies. There should be rational steps to make all feel comfortable and to mix up everyone into the mainstream.
What I am against is the pop-culture clichés to express these feelings like “man trapped in a woman’s body” or “woman trapped in a man’s body.”
Qus – Women and sensuality are two things that are focused predominantly in your work. Is it something that is intentional?
Sarojini Ji – In one of my essays, I wrote, “I believe that living gives you material (pleasure, pain, angst, loneliness, joy and what not) for writing while writing helps you interpret your existence in a meaningful way. I live, I write, I grow and live some more and write some more and hopefully grow some more)…That’s my theory!” I am a woman and I think every woman has different characteristics from men in their feelings.
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