Self Respect Movement
The self respect movement was started to break the brahmanical hegemony, to bring equal rights to the backward classes and for the women in the society. The movement was led by E.V Ramasamy regarded as ‘Father of modern Tamil Nadu’ also popularly known as Periyar. Perityar believed the principle of individuality, he questioned Nehru and Gandhi’s concept of independence as there was self respect in their iota of self individuality.The movement carried an ideology to eliminate caste system and brahmans.
Self-respect Movement was one of the important social changes that occurred during the movement, where one can get married without the presence of a brahmin priest, encouraging inter-caste marriage and widow remarriage. The movement also had a feminist ideology which wanted a society where women had freedom for their choices and aimed for rights like remarriage, divorce and child care. The sign boards of store were charged from ‘ Brahmin’s restaurant’ to ‘Vegetarian restaurant’
I believe that it was one of the most unique movements due to which everyone respected and supported them. It helped us to understand individuality and gender roles.The ideology of self respect and the feminist root help them from a different point of view to look at the common people’s problem. There is no individuality without self-respect, which gives power to fight for the inequality in the caste system.
