Chhaya Datar (also Chāyā Dātāra born 1944) is an Indian activist, writer and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. Datar writes in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and English.

Career

Datar began writing and becoming politically active out of frustration as living as a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

. She wrote her first collection of short stories in

, ''Goshta Sādhī'' ''Saral Sopī'' in 1972 and her second, ''Vartulacha Ant'' in 1977. She is also one of the founders of a publishing group based in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, called Stri Uvach (A Woman Said). After her short stories, she went on to work on studying

women's issues Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

. Earning a scholarship to study in the Netherlands, she completed a master's degree at the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent and international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Neth ...

of Rotterdam in 1981. She returned to India and was one of the founders of an anti-violence group called the Forum Against Rape. In 1988, she became a

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

lecturer at the

Tata Institute of Social Sciences Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is a multi-campus public research university in Mumbai, India. It is Asia's oldest institute for professional social work education and was founded in 1936 in then Bombay Presidency of British India as ...

. Later she earned a PhD from the

SNDT Women's University SNDT Women's University, also called by its full name Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, is a women's university in the city of Mumbai, India. The university headquarters are at Churchgate in South Mumbai, while the ma ...

, and became head of the women's studies department at the Tata Institute. In ''Waging Change: Women Tobacco Workers in Nipani Organize'' (1989), Datar examines women's struggles for both political and economic justice in

Nipani Nipani is a third largest city, taluk in the Belgaum district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is an important agricultural and commercial trade centre in the district. Nipani and its surrounding villages are known for growing high-quali ...

through the context of cigarette workers. In '' Signs'', reviewer

Chandra Talpade Mohanty Chandra Talpade Mohanty (born 1955) is a Distinguished Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Sociology, and the Cultural Foundations of Education and Dean's Professor of the Humanities at Syracuse University. Mohanty, a postcolonial and tra ...

, writes that Datar's ''Waging Change'' is an "elegantly crafted, detailed analysis of the organizational history of women ''bidi'' (hand-rolled cigarette) workers." In her autobiographical story, ''In Search of Myself'', she examines her own experiences and describes how communing with one's own tribal space allows women to have a sense of freedom. She also describes in this story how tribal women find themselves by sharing their own experiences. Datar also discusses

Dalit feminism Dalit feminism is a feminist perspective that includes questioning caste and gender roles among the Dalit population and within feminism and the larger women's movement. Dalit women primarily live in South Asia, mainly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal ...

in her works. Datar has been published in ''

Contemporary Sociology ''Contemporary Sociology'' is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal of sociology published by SAGE Publications in association with the American Sociological Association since 1972. Each issue of the journal publishes many in-depth as well as ...

'', ''

Indian Journal of Gender Studies The ''Indian Journal of Gender Studies'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal with a focus on a holistic understanding of society, particularly gender. The editors-in-chief are Malavika Karlekar and Leela Kasturi (Indian Council of Social ...

'', ''

Economic and Political Weekly The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (''EPW'') is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru wil ...

,'' and has contributed to the journal published by Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA), ''Purush Spandana''. She released ''Tarihi Shesh'' on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

2017.

Selected bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Datar, Chhaya 1944 births 21st-century Indian women writers Indian feminist writers Marathi-language writers Living people Women's studies academics