Abstract

Feminist poetry has long been associated with feminist movements. All such movements have strongly argued for the liberation of women from patriarchy. In the South Asian context, patriarchy has been much more stifling as compared to the first world. Furthermore, India faces a far more complex situation. The matrix of gender, class, and caste aggravates the discrimination on all grounds. Women from the deprived sections interpret their feminist identities in different perspectives. Contemporary female poets, writing in Hindi (India’s foremost language) and belonging to the social stratum of Dalits and adivasis, have sympathetic and humanized approaches toward the men of their class. They sometimes find themselves at the crossroads, torn between feminist discourse and other subaltern discourses. This article analyzes the poetry of Sushila Takbhaure (a Dalit poet), Nirmala Putul (an Adivasi poet), and Neelesh Raghuvanshi (a poet from economically humble background) who have reflected differently on their feminist position. With its own paradoxes and contradictions, the identity of caste and class at times seems to supersede their gendered identity. Thus, the voices arising from these margins seek to alter the feminist agenda to a reformist humanitarian discourse. This article investigates the same.