"The Representation and Portrayal of Women in Art and Literature" - September 2021

The Young Feminist Network Newsletter

August 31, 2021

The Young Feminist Network was established in July 2020 by Everystory Sri Lanka to bring together people interested in learning more about feminism, particularly from a Sri Lankan and South Asian perspective.

This month, our newsletter is curated on the theme "The Representation and Portrayal of Women in Art and Literature".

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Dear Reader,

We are excited to bring you this month's Newsletter, curated around the theme "The Representation and Portrayal of Women in Art and Literature", where we look to explore the diverse works of women in the realms of art and literature, as well as how art and literature have shaped, defined and depicted gender roles. In an inherently patriarchal society where most women are underrepresented and marginalised, it is essential that women and girls have strong, inspiring and diverse women to learn from and look up to in literature and various art forms.

My favourite section in this Newsletter is the Interview Segment, where we reached out to Author Kanya D'Almeida and professional Bharatanatyam dancer, Vidhya Kandeban. The interviews allowed me to gain an insight into these contrasting, yet powerful forms of storytelling, and how each of them play a pivotal role in uplifting, empowering, and celebrating women. As you explore each segment of our newsletter, I hope you learn as much as I did, and feel that you too are an important part of this feminist journey of learning, unlearning and growing together.

As always, we love to hear your thoughts and feedback. We value the complimentary and the critical equally, so please share! You can get in touch via email at [email protected]

In Solidarity,

Thanisha Wijeyaratne,

YFN Newsletter Editor - September

Junior Program Manager - Everystory Sri Lanka

Women have occupied the centre stage in literary works throughout history. Despite their strong presence, women’s writing and their concerns have not merited critical attention until relatively recently. In the essay, The History and Importance of Women's Literature, Adrienne Rivera argues that “The onus of women's literature, then, is to categorise and create an area of study for a group of people marginalised by history and to explore through their writing their lives as they were while occupying such a unique sociopolitical space within their culture”.

The aim here is to identify some seminal works written by women which foreground the lives they lead, the circumstances which marginalise them and the strategies they have adopted to overcome their unique challenges. By showcasing their perspectives, literary narratives and cultural production strive to offer an alternative discourse to patriarchy.

Curated by Professor Neluka Silva, who is a Senior Professor in English and was Head of the Department of English and Director of Studies at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Colombo, and immediate past President of the Oxford Society of Sri Lanka.

The Interview Segment

Each month, we reach out to people who will reflect on the theme and share their insights as to how it relates to their lives and work. For this month's interviews we reached out to author Kanya D'Almeida and professional Bhartanatyam dancer Vidhya Kandeban.

Click the link below to read Kanya D’Almeida's thoughts on the representation of women in literature, an insight into the variety literary fiction that have shaped her identity as a writer, as well as a snippet into her upcoming short story collection! 

Vidhya Kandeban shares her thoughts on the representation and portrayal of women in Bhartanatyam, an insight into its history, as well as how her own experiences as a Bharatanatyam dancer have empowered her.

To read her interview, follow this link!

Also Explore...

Photographer Simrah Farrukh explores the brown gaze, Nazar and beauty and her journey with photography as a South Asian woman. She created an exhibit called The Brown Gaze during her undergrad to reclaim the South Asian lens from orientalism. Her work creates a utopia for brown women and highlights South Asian dreams.

Digital Publication for “Women in South Asian Art” (Aug 26, 2017- Jan, 7 2018) produced by graduate students enrolled in the course taught by Jinah Kim, Gardner Cowles Associate Professor of History of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, Fall 2017; The course examines prevalent presence of sensuous images of female body in Indian art and its relationship to women’s status through a trans-historical lens. Images of goddesses, celestial maidens, courtly ladies, and ordinary women throughout history provide a meaningful matrix where deep roots of the gender politics and the social status of women in today’s South Asia can be fruitfully explored.

Demand for Desi literature is rising, and South Asian authors are filling that gap.

Instagram Pages to Follow!

Minal Naomi is an artist and designer based in Sri Lanka. Her work covers topics of femininity, sensuality, identity and language within a South Asian context, including her island home. Through her work, she stumbles upon questions, finds resonance and cultivates a space for expression of the deeply personal. 

Follow this link to view her Instagram!

Namrata Kumar is an artist and graphic designer based out of New Delhi, India. She graduated from the Srishti School of Art & Design, Bangalore, India in 2010 and has been a practicing graphic designer, illustrator and painter ever since.

Follow this link to view her Instagram!

Maliha Abidi is a Pakistani-American feminist, artist and author who is focused on creating work for women's rights and mental health.

Follow this link to view her Instagram!

Poetry

She spun rhymes, wove blanketsThe Dravidian woman who sowed wheatIn the Aryan man’s fields, reared his kidsIf she isn’t a worker, then what is work?Tell us Marx, who is a worker, …

"There is no difference between ‘silence’ and ‘violence’. We inherit both from our men.

Here is a moving and courageous reversal of an old, male literary tradition of the Indian subcontinent: the courtly Urdu love poetry, transformed by contemporary Pakistani women poets to express their social, political and personal resistance to the Islamisation campaigns of the eighties...

Paid Work Opportunities

At Equality Now, we believe in creating a just world where women and girls have the same rights as men and boys. We tackle the most difficult issues, challenge ingrained cultural assumptions and call out inequality wherever we see it. Social change often begins with legal change and so we use the power of the law to create enduring equality for women and girls everywhere.

Join our global team of expert lawyers and campaigners working across the world to build a just world for women and girls.

Explore open job opportunities at Equality Now.

2021 MARKS THE 74th ANNIVERSARY OF PARTITION! There is a great urgency to record stories now. Join us through this special program for the final years of story-collection. Below, please find the application, instructions, and program description for our story collection program, the Story Scholars Program, which is a full or part-time commitment.

For more information, follow this link!

For more information, follow this link!

Call for Submissions

Follow this link for more information!

Education

This is an open online course to help you brush up on your knowledge on feminist advocacy and intergenerational activism. The themes include Feminist Movements, Gender-Based Violence, Bodily Autonomy, Economic and Climate Justice, and Feminist Technology.

Events

To commemorate the founder of WMC Sri Lanka, human rights defender and feminist activist Sunila Abeysekera, WMC will be having a memorial lecture on the 4th of September, 2021 at 6 PM. The lecture will be presented by Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women.

Every month, we feature the work and story of a member of the Young Feminist Network with the hope of inspiring and learning from each other.

Follow this link to read our September Member Spotlight!

Every month, Kopi Collective, in collaboration with Everystory Sri Lanka calls for submissions by its members to be featured in the YFN Newsletter.

Find this month's submission on the theme, Representation and Portrayal of Women in Art and Literature below!

Learning Circle Sessions

If you want to suggest any particular topic for our Featured Speaker sessions and learning opportunities, please fill in this Google Form and let us know!

Presenting to you our very first collection of feminist stickers specially curated based on stories of girl’s resistance in the South Asian region. Would love to have one of your own or buy it as a special gift for your family or friends? Please head to Everystory Sri Lanka official Instagram page to choose yours

For more on the Support Team, read here.

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Who can Join? 

Anyone can sign up for the newsletter! Fill in the Google Form (link below) to be added to the database:

Women, girls, and transgender/non-binary individuals who are of Sri Lankan heritage are also invited to join our Facebook group “Young Feminist Network by ESSL”

Sharing Information with the Network?

ESSL is conscious of the ethical handling of the data we hold of our members and their privacy. In order to respect the feminist values through which we try to shape our day-to-day work and the vetting we carry out of all information and opportunities we send out, we ask that members please refrain from directly emailing the YFN mailing list or using the reply all feature.

If you do have any information which might be of interest to the Network, please send it across to the ESSL team so we share it via appropriate channels.

Tag us in your work, questions, thoughts, and ideas! Share what you are doing and tell us more about what you would like to see!

Instagram: @everystory.sl 

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