Roundtable 2 - Why We Should All Be Feminists

The Department of Sociology and Social Work organised the second roundtable of this academic year on the topic – "Why we should all be feminists", on 25th February 2021. The panellists were students from various courses within the department- Ananya Sunil Nair (2PSEco), Pooja A (4PSEco), Shifa Mohammad (4PSEco), Gurneesh Arora (6PSEco) and Tina Maria Dsouza (2MSoc). Nithya R. from 4MSoc was the moderator for the event.

The session commenced at 4 PM with a welcoming note from Ahana Mukherjee, followed by an introduction to the topic and an overview of feminism by Nithya. Following this, panellist Ananya Sunil kicked off the session by discussing the history of feminism. She glossed over the four waves of feminism and ended with a note on modern-day feminism.

The influence of social media on feminism and activism was picked up by Pooja A. She spoke about how the advent of online platforms had changed the discourse relating to modern-day feminism, and how feminist issues have been combined with a broader call for social justice. She also talked about how language helps perpetuate patriarchy.

Following this, Shifa talked about the heavy stigma around feminism and busted popular myths regarding feminism. She ended her segment with a note on how these myths have created a burden for feminism, which needs to be shed in order to move forward.

Next, Gurneesh spoke about the stereotypes that are present in today’s society. She provided many facts and valuable insights and helped the audience gain a real-world picture of all the issues that plague today’s society. Finally, Tina, the final panellist, discussed the necessity of ‘intersectionality’ in feminism. Her discussion extended toward discussing how the different identities every person has influenced their lives, opinions and experiences. Moreover, she examined the privileges that different identities have over others. The session came to end at 5:30 PM, with all the panellists giving a concluding note and with a vote of thanks given by Archana. This roundtable proved to be a great success, and the audience gained well-rounded information on the topic of discussion.