In Hyderabad, our group visited Dhruva College of Management and participated in the International Conference on Women's Leadership. I remember being completely enthralled with the powerful, articulate women on the panel. They were witty and intelligent, brainstorming pathways to an egalitarian India. In short, the conference gave me hope for the world; if the women in a male-dominated country like India can embrace their feminism and femininity with the same arms, change is entirely possible everywhere else.
In Hyderabad, we also toured Film City. It was fun to see touristy commercialism in India, similar to that one would see in Florida or Hawaii. I noticed the daughters and mothers standing on the side of the rides, and the fathers and sons participating in the ride. This speculation sparked a bit of controversy within the group.
When prompted, some felt that it might be the individual's personal preference to not go on a roller coaster. Some felt it was a result of the male-dominated society discouraging women from participating. Some felt that their husbands did not invite them to participate, or directly told them they couldn't participate. Regardless of the circumstance and origin, the women in Film City at that time were not fulfilling the same roles as men.
It was in Hyderabad that I recognized the different forms of the relationship between femininity and feminism.
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