writer and dalit rights activist, Bengaluru/New York
Christina Dhanaraj has more than a decade of corporate work experience in India, Singapore, China, and the Netherlands. She is the co-founder of the ‘Dalit History Month’ project and has published works on intersectional discourses between caste, gender, religion, race, and sexuality. She is currently a consultant for corporates and non-profits, advising on communications, organisational strategy, and caste-based diversity, equity and inclusion. She is also the convenor for the Global Campaign for Dalit Women, and is working on her first non-fiction book on dalit women and the fullness of life.
This year, the theme of the International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity. This is not an unfamiliar mandate. And yet, as a dalit woman, I find it hard to digest that IWD themes are not always perceived as being relevant to caste-marginalised women. Indeed, our stereotypical notions of gender, work, and womanhood are partly to blame. But we must also recognise that most of us interpret these themes while inhabiting our own social bubbles, which are bound by the contours of our caste, class, and gender.
This story was originally published in theweek.in . Read the full story here