Japleen Pasricha holds an unswerving position in the Indian feminist discourse. She is the founder-director and editor-in-chief of the one of the oldest and most credible digital media platforms, Feminism in India, where she smashes the patriarchy for a living along with her incredible team! She is a TEDx speaker, a recipient of the WSA Young Innovator - World Summit Awards and a Rise Up Youth Champion. Japleen was also facilitated as a Web Wonder Woman by Maneka Gandhi and the Ministry of Women & Child Development. She has worked on issues around women’s rights, gender gap and online violence against women, and was formerly a German language lecturer at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Amity University, Noida. Our Badass Boss talks to us about why she founded FII, her views on online violence and through very relatable personal anecdotes, she discusses how she navigates life as a woman and a feminist, and much more.. Read on!
What inspired you to build Feminism in India (FII)?
I did not start FII with the intention of it being a media platform or as my potential day job, nor did I imagine that I would lead it as a formal organisation with employees. I knew that I wanted to work in the gender space, but I did not necessarily believe that this is what I was going to do for the rest of my life. So, I did not have a start-up mindset in the beginning. I was doing FII as a passion project and I also had a full time job alongside it. FII began as a page to vent my frustrations of being a 22-23 year old woman living in Delhi and dealing with casual sexism, discrimination, street and sexual harassment, general gender stereotypes and being told what to do and what not do. It was also a space to talk about the frustrations of identifying as a feminist. We already invite criticism when we use the term; people stereotype us as “that feminist type”. So I was creating a space where I could be myself and find other like minded people. And at that time (2012-13), Facebook was the main social media platform. So, I just decided that I was going to do something about this and I was going to start a Facebook page. Creating FII was a rebellious thing. So that's how it actually started.
What gaps did you notice missing in the digital information space when you started FII?
I wanted to educate myself about the women's movement in India and its history, because this was not covered in our history textbooks and I did not have a gender studies background. So I wanted to read about it. And, like any 22-23 year old, my first step was to go to the internet and search for content. What I found mostly were western feminist platforms like Bitch Media, Everyday Feminism, Feministing or theoretical stuff behind a paywall. I did not find the content that I wanted to read. I do not think there was any other platform in 2013-14 that existed which explained feminism in an easy or accessible manner by referencing pop culture, which is what young people are also interested. So, the idea was to create a feminist platform for Indian women by Indian women, which made feminism accessible both in terms of language and in terms of the history of the feminist movement in India and the various intersections of it. There has been a more theoretical academic approach, but I wanted to take these concepts outside of academia and share it with the masses to address negative connotations and misconceptions about the word feminism. I really wanted to educate young people about the feminist movement, both the suffragette movement as well as the movement in India, and make them sensitive towards women's issues.
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When did you understand what intersectionality was and what its significance is in the feminist discourse?
I would say it was around 2015. I was educating myself about feminism while reading things on the internet as I did not have an academic education in it. Reading tweets and posts served like an education for me. And I don't remember when I read about Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, but I think that is what made it click for me. She is an African-American civil rights advocate and a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specialises in race and gender issues. She talks about intersectionality in the context of black women.
So in the Indian context, we would replace race largely with caste, religion, ethnicity or people from conflict areas. And we would talk about how our concept of women has also been homogenised — we consider women as this Hindu upper or upper-middle class people from mainland India. But we do not talk about people who are pushed to the margins. So for me, I realised that we have to talk about that because it is not being highlighted. And, that directed our editorial and content strategy. So for us, intersectionality is key and is also in our tagline. We also have intersectionality in our editorial and hiring policies. Even before policies, we started writing about caste and gender and religion and gender way back in 2015; it was not a very common thing at that time.
What were some of the challenges you faced when you set up FII?
Setting up an organisation is a lonely journey because you have to figure out everything by yourself and there may not always be a supportive environment. To begin with, FII is one of the oldest media platforms that adopted feminism; we literally have the word ‘feminism’ in our name. That itself turns off a lot of people. And, we are not just a women's magazine. We focus on women's issues, but we do not cover lifestyle or fashion. Even if we do, it is from a body positive or body neutral perspective. So just convincing people that feminism is not a bad word and feminists are not anti-men was a challenge. That negative connotation still exists and it takes constant work to bust that myth.
Feminism critiques patriarchy as a system, and patriarchy puts men in positions of privilege and power. So if a man does not like the reason why men feel attacked, it is because they do not want to give away that position of privilege and power that they have received by nature of being a man and the benefits they get just for being men. And, that is why men tend to understand feminism as a man-hating movement, which it is not.
So just talking about all this itself was exhausting. And then obviously, when we started in 2013-14 and launched the website – digital media had not picked up as yet. I did not have the kind of exposure that a 22 year-old has in 2022 and there was also a lack of resources. As a student, I did not have capital or the networks for fundraising. So the formal aspect of setting up the organisation was extremely challenging because I did not know how to do it. I had to learn everything on the job. And my family also did not have experience with this. So, I was on my own and it was quite difficult.
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What have been the most rewarding and surprising aspects of building such an impactful platform?
Rewarding aspects
The most rewarding aspect is always hearing messages from our community. I still remember this message we received a couple of years back in 2019. This young woman in her early 20s DMed us on Twitter. She read an article on our website that listed some common symptoms of PCOS, and realised that she has some of the symptoms. She told her mother and they went to a gynaecologist, where she was diagnosed with PCOS. For me, this is what helping people is. This is one of the many examples of stories that we have had from our community.
PCOS is a very common menstrual disorder and one in five women in India actually live with PCOS. But that is not the important point. The important point is that we as women still do not know so much about our own bodies. We are not taught about our own bodies, our mothers do not teach us because they themselves did not receive it. And, our health professionals or teachers do not pass it on. So just reading an internet article made our community member realise that she has similar symptoms and that she should get it checked. I think, for me, that really spoke to how little women are told about their bodies, especially sexual health needs are ignored in our curriculum. Another example of this is how little awareness there is about the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer. I don’t know why the Health Ministry doesn’t do more advocacy campaigns. During our research, we found that even men should get the HPV vaccine because even though they will not get the cancer, they can pass it on sexually.
And, another rewarding aspect is the team that works with me: I'm very grateful for and consider myself very lucky to have such a great team.
Surprising aspects
I was not planning on running FII as a startup, but then when I did, I was still a one-woman army. And bit by bit, we built a team and now there are 13 of us. So, I would be surprised with everything, especially when people would give positive feedback, because I was still not convinced that this is happening. So every nice comment or every achievement was surprising. I remember the first award we received was in 2015, and I just cried all night after the award ceremony, because I could not believe this was happening. It can get overwhelming for someone who is also quite young (around 24-25). But, one of the nicer surprise situations was when we received international recognition, despite our focus on India. The feeling was great when we received an email and it sunk in that someone sitting in another time zone knew about our organisation or knew about me.
What is your take on the tension between protecting freedom of speech and addressing online misogynistic speech?
This is quite a debated argument in the internet space. But, I think that freedom of speech cannot be extended when your speech itself is threatening someone's freedom or their physical or mental safety. Like, if somebody is threatening you on the internet, or sending you a threat. I do not think freedom of speech includes death threats or dick pics, but it definitely talks about how anyone is open to criticise anyone else. People also troll, use abusive language. But I think, human beings should be aware of the impact of our speech. When you see a bunch of people on the street and you do not like them or what they may be doing, you do not just go and scream at them. You might probably ignore it, unless what they are doing is threatening your personal space. So, why do we behave differently on the internet? If I have tweeted about something, and you disagree with me, you can criticise me. Sure. Or you can move on and get on with your life. But you do not have to get into an abusive fight with me just because you do not like my opinion on something. Freedom of speech is not a binary and does not exist in vacuum, we have to see things in context especially if your freedom of speech is violating a person's right to privacy.
Do you think platforms and social media intermediaries should be held responsible for hosting and/or distributing non-consensual pornography?
Definitely. It is the platform’s responsibility to have guidelines and policies in place. Because non-consensual pornography is not a joke. It is a serious crime. Especially in the society that we live in where women's worth and honour is directly related to their modesty and their bodies. It can make a woman's life extremely difficult when such pictures are posted online without their consent. So this needs to be taken seriously. Especially for social media platforms, I think I have seen active response from social media platforms when it comes to doxxing and non-consensual, private photographs. But, we see that a lot of porn websites have non consensual pornography. And, although they keep saying that they are actively removing these kinds of videos, the problem with the internet is that once something is up on the internet, it always stays on the internet. It is very difficult to then track and make sure that it really does not exist anymore on the internet.
What advice would you give cis-het men who’ve grown up in environments that value hyper masculinity on how to be allies?
The first thing that I would tell men is to recognise that being a man comes with male privilege and power which a patriarchal system provides. So the first aspect would be for them to understand and acknowledge that that exists, even if they did not want or ask for it. And once they have understood that, the next aspect would be to unlearn that behaviour and power practices that come with the privilege. And, also to use their privilege to amplify women's voices, issues and concerns, because, a lot of the time men listen to other men. Where women do not get a platform or opportunity to speak up, men can help in creating that space for women.
What does being a Badass mean to you?
I think for me, being a badass would mean believing in myself even when others are not. Also I think, we were brought up in a way where we were never encouraged to ask questions and we all have grown up with these taboos like you should not go to the puja room during your periods. And, that is how such taboos and norms have passed down from one generation to another, because our parents never questioned it. I feel it is important for this generation to do that, because that is how you break these taboos, myths and norms that try to control women or try to put women down. So that would be another aspect of being badass.
Tell us about some Badass women in your life?
I think the first name that came to me was Kamla Bhasin, who has been a mentor to me. She died last year of cancer, and I do not remember a time when I cried so much as much as I did last year. She definitely is a badass. I think the other person is Gloria Steinem. I met her once and it was a complete fangirl moment.
Your go-to formula when you’re having a rough day or experiencing self-doubt is…
I do not do anything. I just let that self-doubt happen. You will have bad days and good days in life. And that's how life is in general. So I do not have any formula to not let the bad days happen. And we have to accept that. There is so much pressure especially for entrepreneurs or feminists to always perform. But, it is okay to take breaks. When there are bad days, just remember that there are also good days and there is not much you can do about it.
The best piece of advice you ever received..
It is a very simple sentence but it has so much depth. When I was starting my feminist journey, I attended a workshop and we were talking about gender as a concept. The facilitator said, “Gender is everywhere”. And I know it sounds like a very simple sentence. But it actually has a lot of depth. Take any scenario in your life, and you would see that there is a gender aspect to it. I talk to my partner about this quite a lot. And I keep reminding and explaining to him about male privilege. So even small things like when it comes to household responsibilities; he is very fond of cooking, so he likes to experiment and cook different things. And, once somebody visited our home and they complimented him on how great the dish was and how lucky I was. And, I smiled and said: “Yes, thank you. I know he is a great cook”. But, this was only because he was a man who was cooking in the kitchen, while I was sitting at the table and eating, as opposed to a regular scenario where the entire family is sitting at the table and the mom is cooking in the kitchen. For us, it is merely a division of household chores. The bar of expectations from men is so low, that even doing one thing is seen as such a big thing. So, for me that sentence helps me keep in mind that in every life scenario, I will have to deal with gendered microaggressions. For example, I am married to my partner, but I do not like to use that word, and I definitely do not want to be called Mrs. XYZ, but people will always see me as the wife of this person. So you will realise that there is always a gender aspect to everything that we see and do in our lives.
Another thing which helps me both in my personal and professional capacity is knowing that you will not be able to plan your entire life or know how things will go. Challenges will come, they will always be a part of what you are doing, especially if you are running a startup. So, I feel like it is important for women and especially for those whose work revolves around feminism to take breaks, because it is really important to take care of ourselves, and have that mental space. Because if we do not have that mental space, we will not be able to do the work that we want to do.
A book/podcast or show you’re obsessed with …
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez is an eye opening book. I really enjoyed reading it. And, podcast if I may do some self promotion here then I would ask everyone to check out FII’s podcast: Intersectional Feminism—Desi Style. We ran two seasons and will be launching the third season in October.
Japleen Pasricha holds an unswerving position in the Indian feminist discourse. She is the founder-director and editor-in-chief of the one of the oldest and most credible digital media platforms, Feminism in India, where she smashes the patriarchy for a living along with her incredible team! She is a TEDx speaker, a recipient of the WSA Young Innovator - World Summit Awards and a Rise Up Youth Champion. Japleen was also facilitated as a Web Wonder Woman by Maneka Gandhi and the Ministry of Women & Child Development. She has worked on issues around women’s rights, gender gap and online violence against women, and was formerly a German language lecturer at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Amity University, Noida. Our Badass Boss talks to us about why she founded FII, her views on online violence and through very relatable personal anecdotes, she discusses how she navigates life as a woman and a feminist, and much more.. Read on!
What inspired you to build Feminism in India (FII)?
I did not start FII with the intention of it being a media platform or as my potential day job, nor did I imagine that I would lead it as a formal organisation with employees. I knew that I wanted to work in the gender space, but I did not necessarily believe that this is what I was going to do for the rest of my life. So, I did not have a start-up mindset in the beginning. I was doing FII as a passion project and I also had a full time job alongside it. FII began as a page to vent my frustrations of being a 22-23 year old woman living in Delhi and dealing with casual sexism, discrimination, street and sexual harassment, general gender stereotypes and being told what to do and what not do. It was also a space to talk about the frustrations of identifying as a feminist. We already invite criticism when we use the term; people stereotype us as “that feminist type”. So I was creating a space where I could be myself and find other like minded people. And at that time (2012-13), Facebook was the main social media platform. So, I just decided that I was going to do something about this and I was going to start a Facebook page. Creating FII was a rebellious thing. So that's how it actually started.
What gaps did you notice missing in the digital information space when you started FII?
I wanted to educate myself about the women's movement in India and its history, because this was not covered in our history textbooks and I did not have a gender studies background. So I wanted to read about it. And, like any 22-23 year old, my first step was to go to the internet and search for content. What I found mostly were western feminist platforms like Bitch Media, Everyday Feminism, Feministing or theoretical stuff behind a paywall. I did not find the content that I wanted to read. I do not think there was any other platform in 2013-14 that existed which explained feminism in an easy or accessible manner by referencing pop culture, which is what young people are also interested. So, the idea was to create a feminist platform for Indian women by Indian women, which made feminism accessible both in terms of language and in terms of the history of the feminist movement in India and the various intersections of it. There has been a more theoretical academic approach, but I wanted to take these concepts outside of academia and share it with the masses to address negative connotations and misconceptions about the word feminism. I really wanted to educate young people about the feminist movement, both the suffragette movement as well as the movement in India, and make them sensitive towards women's issues.
When did you understand what intersectionality was and what its significance is in the feminist discourse?
I would say it was around 2015. I was educating myself about feminism while reading things on the internet as I did not have an academic education in it. Reading tweets and posts served like an education for me. And I don't remember when I read about Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, but I think that is what made it click for me. She is an African-American civil rights advocate and a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specialises in race and gender issues. She talks about intersectionality in the context of black women.
So in the Indian context, we would replace race largely with caste, religion, ethnicity or people from conflict areas. And we would talk about how our concept of women has also been homogenised — we consider women as this Hindu upper or upper-middle class people from mainland India. But we do not talk about people who are pushed to the margins. So for me, I realised that we have to talk about that because it is not being highlighted. And, that directed our editorial and content strategy. So for us, intersectionality is key and is also in our tagline. We also have intersectionality in our editorial and hiring policies. Even before policies, we started writing about caste and gender and religion and gender way back in 2015; it was not a very common thing at that time.
What were some of the challenges you faced when you set up FII?
Setting up an organisation is a lonely journey because you have to figure out everything by yourself and there may not always be a supportive environment. To begin with, FII is one of the oldest media platforms that adopted feminism; we literally have the word ‘feminism’ in our name. That itself turns off a lot of people. And, we are not just a women's magazine. We focus on women's issues, but we do not cover lifestyle or fashion. Even if we do, it is from a body positive or body neutral perspective. So just convincing people that feminism is not a bad word and feminists are not anti-men was a challenge. That negative connotation still exists and it takes constant work to bust that myth.
Feminism critiques patriarchy as a system, and patriarchy puts men in positions of privilege and power. So if a man does not like the reason why men feel attacked, it is because they do not want to give away that position of privilege and power that they have received by nature of being a man and the benefits they get just for being men. And, that is why men tend to understand feminism as a man-hating movement, which it is not.
So just talking about all this itself was exhausting. And then obviously, when we started in 2013-14 and launched the website – digital media had not picked up as yet. I did not have the kind of exposure that a 22 year-old has in 2022 and there was also a lack of resources. As a student, I did not have capital or the networks for fundraising. So the formal aspect of setting up the organisation was extremely challenging because I did not know how to do it. I had to learn everything on the job. And my family also did not have experience with this. So, I was on my own and it was quite difficult.
What have been the most rewarding and surprising aspects of building such an impactful platform?
Rewarding aspects
The most rewarding aspect is always hearing messages from our community. I still remember this message we received a couple of years back in 2019. This young woman in her early 20s DMed us on Twitter. She read an article on our website that listed some common symptoms of PCOS, and realised that she has some of the symptoms. She told her mother and they went to a gynaecologist, where she was diagnosed with PCOS. For me, this is what helping people is. This is one of the many examples of stories that we have had from our community.
PCOS is a very common menstrual disorder and one in five women in India actually live with PCOS. But that is not the important point. The important point is that we as women still do not know so much about our own bodies. We are not taught about our own bodies, our mothers do not teach us because they themselves did not receive it. And, our health professionals or teachers do not pass it on. So just reading an internet article made our community member realise that she has similar symptoms and that she should get it checked. I think, for me, that really spoke to how little women are told about their bodies, especially sexual health needs are ignored in our curriculum. Another example of this is how little awareness there is about the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer. I don’t know why the Health Ministry doesn’t do more advocacy campaigns. During our research, we found that even men should get the HPV vaccine because even though they will not get the cancer, they can pass it on sexually.
And, another rewarding aspect is the team that works with me: I'm very grateful for and consider myself very lucky to have such a great team.
Surprising aspects
I was not planning on running FII as a startup, but then when I did, I was still a one-woman army. And bit by bit, we built a team and now there are 13 of us. So, I would be surprised with everything, especially when people would give positive feedback, because I was still not convinced that this is happening. So every nice comment or every achievement was surprising. I remember the first award we received was in 2015, and I just cried all night after the award ceremony, because I could not believe this was happening. It can get overwhelming for someone who is also quite young (around 24-25). But, one of the nicer surprise situations was when we received international recognition, despite our focus on India. The feeling was great when we received an email and it sunk in that someone sitting in another time zone knew about our organisation or knew about me.
What is your take on the tension between protecting freedom of speech and addressing online misogynistic speech?
This is quite a debated argument in the internet space. But, I think that freedom of speech cannot be extended when your speech itself is threatening someone's freedom or their physical or mental safety. Like, if somebody is threatening you on the internet, or sending you a threat. I do not think freedom of speech includes death threats or dick pics, but it definitely talks about how anyone is open to criticise anyone else. People also troll, use abusive language. But I think, human beings should be aware of the impact of our speech. When you see a bunch of people on the street and you do not like them or what they may be doing, you do not just go and scream at them. You might probably ignore it, unless what they are doing is threatening your personal space. So, why do we behave differently on the internet? If I have tweeted about something, and you disagree with me, you can criticise me. Sure. Or you can move on and get on with your life. But you do not have to get into an abusive fight with me just because you do not like my opinion on something. Freedom of speech is not a binary and does not exist in vacuum, we have to see things in context especially if your freedom of speech is violating a person's right to privacy.
Do you think platforms and social media intermediaries should be held responsible for hosting and/or distributing non-consensual pornography?
Definitely. It is the platform’s responsibility to have guidelines and policies in place. Because non-consensual pornography is not a joke. It is a serious crime. Especially in the society that we live in where women's worth and honour is directly related to their modesty and their bodies. It can make a woman's life extremely difficult when such pictures are posted online without their consent. So this needs to be taken seriously. Especially for social media platforms, I think I have seen active response from social media platforms when it comes to doxxing and non-consensual, private photographs. But, we see that a lot of porn websites have non consensual pornography. And, although they keep saying that they are actively removing these kinds of videos, the problem with the internet is that once something is up on the internet, it always stays on the internet. It is very difficult to then track and make sure that it really does not exist anymore on the internet.
What advice would you give cis-het men who’ve grown up in environments that value hyper masculinity on how to be allies?
The first thing that I would tell men is to recognise that being a man comes with male privilege and power which a patriarchal system provides. So the first aspect would be for them to understand and acknowledge that that exists, even if they did not want or ask for it. And once they have understood that, the next aspect would be to unlearn that behaviour and power practices that come with the privilege. And, also to use their privilege to amplify women's voices, issues and concerns, because, a lot of the time men listen to other men. Where women do not get a platform or opportunity to speak up, men can help in creating that space for women.
What does being a Badass mean to you?
I think for me, being a badass would mean believing in myself even when others are not. Also I think, we were brought up in a way where we were never encouraged to ask questions and we all have grown up with these taboos like you should not go to the puja room during your periods. And, that is how such taboos and norms have passed down from one generation to another, because our parents never questioned it. I feel it is important for this generation to do that, because that is how you break these taboos, myths and norms that try to control women or try to put women down. So that would be another aspect of being badass.
Tell us about some Badass women in your life?
I think the first name that came to me was Kamla Bhasin, who has been a mentor to me. She died last year of cancer, and I do not remember a time when I cried so much as much as I did last year. She definitely is a badass. I think the other person is Gloria Steinem. I met her once and it was a complete fangirl moment.
Your go-to formula when you’re having a rough day or experiencing self-doubt is…
I do not do anything. I just let that self-doubt happen. You will have bad days and good days in life. And that's how life is in general. So I do not have any formula to not let the bad days happen. And we have to accept that. There is so much pressure especially for entrepreneurs or feminists to always perform. But, it is okay to take breaks. When there are bad days, just remember that there are also good days and there is not much you can do about it.
The best piece of advice you ever received..
It is a very simple sentence but it has so much depth. When I was starting my feminist journey, I attended a workshop and we were talking about gender as a concept. The facilitator said, “Gender is everywhere”. And I know it sounds like a very simple sentence. But it actually has a lot of depth. Take any scenario in your life, and you would see that there is a gender aspect to it. I talk to my partner about this quite a lot. And I keep reminding and explaining to him about male privilege. So even small things like when it comes to household responsibilities; he is very fond of cooking, so he likes to experiment and cook different things. And, once somebody visited our home and they complimented him on how great the dish was and how lucky I was. And, I smiled and said: “Yes, thank you. I know he is a great cook”. But, this was only because he was a man who was cooking in the kitchen, while I was sitting at the table and eating, as opposed to a regular scenario where the entire family is sitting at the table and the mom is cooking in the kitchen. For us, it is merely a division of household chores. The bar of expectations from men is so low, that even doing one thing is seen as such a big thing. So, for me that sentence helps me keep in mind that in every life scenario, I will have to deal with gendered microaggressions. For example, I am married to my partner, but I do not like to use that word, and I definitely do not want to be called Mrs. XYZ, but people will always see me as the wife of this person. So you will realise that there is always a gender aspect to everything that we see and do in our lives.
Another thing which helps me both in my personal and professional capacity is knowing that you will not be able to plan your entire life or know how things will go. Challenges will come, they will always be a part of what you are doing, especially if you are running a startup. So, I feel like it is important for women and especially for those whose work revolves around feminism to take breaks, because it is really important to take care of ourselves, and have that mental space. Because if we do not have that mental space, we will not be able to do the work that we want to do.
A book/podcast or show you’re obsessed with …
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez is an eye opening book. I really enjoyed reading it. And, podcast if I may do some self promotion here then I would ask everyone to check out FII’s podcast: Intersectional Feminism—Desi Style. We ran two seasons and will be launching the third season in October.
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