The Discourse of Gender Conflict: Feminism and Legal Violence against Men in India

Abstract

The paper is review of literature and written using teleological framework on the feminist narrative of conflict between men and women and consequential criminalisation of men in the eyes of Law. The study tried to examine the role of power and its discourse which is covered under four stages; first, the Enlightenment phase asserted the equality of men and women. The second phase has started by romanticising the autonomy of womanhood. The third phase emphasises the exercise adventure. The fourth section addresses the resultant criminalisation of men only based on their sex. The conflict is first recognised within orthodox society in the first phase, then expanding to include the family in the second phase, and ultimately concentrating conflict in the individual in the third phase. The first phase vilified orthodox society, the subsequent phase aimed at patriarchal males inside families, and the last phase concentrated on conflict of soul with body. The fourth phase likewise pertains to the criminalisation of men. Thus, initial radical universalism precipitated the ascent of unrestrained second-phase romanticism, followed by the entrance of extreme third-phase adventurism. The misuse of passion and adventure culminated in the manipulation of the legal system against men, finally resulting in its criminalisation.