In safe spaces, adolescent girls thrive, Where they author their tales, their dreams arrive.
Here, power and control take center stage, As they unravel norms, break free from the cage.
Through dialogue and deeds, they claim their might, Guided by wisdom, shining ever so bright.
With pens as swords and brushes as keys, They paint their futures, as bold as they please.
A Feminist Festival Nurturing Adolescent Empowerment
“Mari Patang, Mari Dheel” is a metaphor that encapsulates the interplay between power and control. Mari Patang (My Kite) represents one’s journey in life, while Mari Dheel (My String) represents one’s agency to steer this journey.
The essence of this phrase lies in understanding that the trajectory of one’s life is linked to who holds the reins and who wields the power to direct one’s path.
For some adolescent girls in India, life’s trajectory often hinges on who holds the reins of influence and authority. This interplay of power is visible in their interactions with family, peers, and society at large. It shapes their decisions, aspirations, and sense of self-worth, influencing every aspect of their lives.
Understanding “Mari Patang, Mari Dheel” is critical for adolescent girls as they navigate a transformative phase; between the years 16 – 20. It prompts reflection on the sources of power and control in their lives, allowing them to challenge oppressive norms, assert their autonomy and rewrite their narratives defined by their own dreams and aspirations.
The three-day feminist festival, “Mari Patang Mari Dheel” became a space of empowerment to young girls from Patdi and Mahisagar, Gujarat.
The engagement with girls revolved around various crucial aspects of their lives and the ‘self’ such as ‘discovering one’s own desires and aspirations, understanding consent, safeguarding oneself from the evils of digital space, and dissecting marriage customs to unearth the underlying connotations’.
The event also succeeded in breaking silences about taboos around (girls’) bodies, sex, and sexual violence. The event not only built perspective around the ‘self’ and its wellbeing, but also equipped girls with an understanding of rights and entitlements, essential to claiming them.
Given the sensitive nature of the topics addressed during the sessions and profile of the girls, an arts-based approach was selected to nurture openness, understanding, and self-expression.
Non-Verbal Communication
Allowed girls to express themselves beyond words, tapping into emotions and experiences that are challenging to verbalize.
Creativity and Self-Expression
Encouraged creativity and self-expression, helping the girls explore their thoughts and emotions more deeply.
Symbolic Representation
Enabled girls to communicate complex feelings or experiences symbolically.
Process-Oriented Focus
Focused on the creative process rather than the final product, allowing for a more fluid exploration of one’s inner world.
Safe Exploration of Difficult Topics
Provided a safe and indirect way to explore challenging or sensitive topics, making it easier for individuals to approach and process difficult emotions or memories.
There were a number of events planned as lead up to the Mari Patang, Mari Deel festival. Girls were actively involved in a range of creative activities, including photography, dancing, theater, and painting. This immersive involvement enhanced their experience and elicited their active participation in the forthcoming festival.
Capturing Creativity: The Fusion of Photography and Painting
• Explored themes such as “Expression, Leisure, Gendered Distribution of Work and Resources.”
• Through cameras, captured images that resonated with their personal experiences.
• Painting sessions, themed “Expressing my Dreams, Desires and Fears,” served as a medium for creative expression, transforming art into a powerful tool for self-reflection.
Dynamic Expression: Exploring Theatre, Dance, and Movement Art
• Allowed girls to express themselves physically and verbally, enhancing their ability to communicate effectively through dance and painting
• Explored Themes: Challenges faced by women and girls, Performance, Expression, Movement, Expressing my Dreams, Desires and Fears
Conducted by
Body, Desire and Expression
Conducted by
How does understanding and navigating the intersection of personal choice and societal norms contribute to the empowerment and well-being of girls?
Through a curated series of activity-based sessions; participants explored identity, agency, and resilience, and reflected on how to navigate the complexities of their lives with confidence and purpose.
This activity stimulated the girls’ imagination and initiated a discussion on the significance of personal choices. Girls used their bodies to create shapes and imagery, representing different spaces like a market, playground, or kitchen, while being encouraged to reflect on their physical expression and their associated choices, resulting in
• Deeper understanding of the importance of their personal likes, dislikes, and aspirations, and recognize that these preferences were also choices that shape their identity.
• Becoming more conscious of the choices involved in their physical expressions, what they choose to express and how they choose to do so, fostering a deeper awareness of their own agency in selfexpression.
Vikramjeet Sinha Jyotsna Siddharth Gender at WorkThe intent of this session was to support girls in developing a sense of power over their stories of sexual violence. Girls were encouraged to share their experiences in order to help them move away from viewing them as individual instances, and build a sense of solidarity amongst them.
The instances of harassment were pervasive, with every girl admitting to have faced some form of sexual harassment. The discussions strongly suggest that the reluctance to share experiences of harassment arises from the apprehension of potential repercussions, including restrictions on freedom, academic disengagement, and heightened anxiety.
Using the analogy of the “Snakes and Ladders” game, the facilitator urged the young girls to reflect on moments in their lives where they encountered “snakes” in the form of harassment, leading to setbacks, as well as instances where they overcame challenges and climbed the ladder by asserting themselves and expressing dissent.
Girls engaged in a play enactment to delve into their understanding of gender identity and societal norms. Divided into groups, they portrayed moments when they became aware of their gender, highlighting gendered norms and restrictions.
This stimulated their imagination and sparked discussions about the significance of personal choices. The girls utilized their bodies to create shapes and imagery representing various spaces like markets, playgrounds, or kitchens. They were encouraged to contemplate how they express themselves physically and the choices inherent in such expression.
As a result, girls gained a deeper understanding of the importance of their personal likes, dislikes, and aspirations, recognizing that these preferences shape their identity through conscious choices. They became more mindful of the choices involved in their physical expressions, fostering a heightened awareness of their agency in self-expression.
This session offered girls a platform to explore their perspections of trauma and express their imagination around traumatic experiences. Girls were divided into small groups and were tasked with crafting a narrative centered around a home marked by tragedy, something so severe that the residents had to leave town.
The stories were to be built in response to 3 questions: Who lived in that house? What tragic event occurred? and Where did the residents go now? - prompting girls to explore their perceptions of trauma
• Girls associated trauma with instances such as family shame from elopement, prolonged conflicts with neighbors, financial losses, suicides, deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, and societal pressure on girls to marry.
• Articulated expression and ideas by building physical representations of their ideal homes and future using art materials
by
Conducted by
Conducted by
How can we empower girls to embrace their self-worth, navigate societal norms, and assert agency over their bodies and identities?
Engaging in critical conversation around safe sex, digital media safety and consent, participants were able to explore taboo subjects, challenge societal norms, and build knowledge, agency and navigate these spaces with a sense of new found awareness.
The session emphasized the importance of choice, self-respect, and consent as essential for the body, relationships, and sex. Discussion about sex remain a taboo, evoking feelings of shame, disgust, fear, and something that should not be spoken about. When prompted to consider positive associations with sex, they struggled hard and mentioned love, marriage, children, and happiness.
When asked who they could confide in about sex or where to find accurate information, the girls remained silent. Shifting the focus to abortion, the silence persisted. The facilitator informed the girls that any kind of abortion procedures should be conducted only in consultation with a qualified trained medical professional. The girls were advised to complie a set of questions they would ask the doctor before they meet them, so as to feel more confident when they are speaking to them.
Vidya Shah Center for Media and Alternative Communication
Swarali Marathe Point of View
Asma Khan YP Foundation
Not all of the girls have access to personal smart phones, however they possess enough awareness from their environment to understand the precautions necessary to engage safely on the internet. The session helped girls to articulate the norms and rules that govern their realworld interaction and bridge this understanding to the digital realm. They were encouraged to recognize that the digital space operates under similar principles, emphasizing the importance of establishing boundaries and exercising caution even in virtual environments, such as: limitations from accessing social media, incessant queries about latenight phone use, criteria for selecting WhatsApp display pictures to sharing of passwords with family members, straddling the line between surveillance and trust.
Engaging in critical conversation around safe sex, digital media safety and consent, participants were able to explore taboo subjects, challenge societal norms, and build knowledge, agency and navigate these spaces with a sense of new found awareness.
These restrictions and concerns are unlike the treatment given to their brothers, underscoring the realization that precautionary measures alone would not give them access and entitlement to online resources and knowledge.
The exploration of these norms became a segue to introducing technical measure for online protection and privacy, such as, changing passwords regulary, concealing status and profile picture from certain individuals, and dealing with potential hacks.
Interstingly, girls had their own strategies to ensure their safety online. A noteworthy tactic involved creating fake accounts under a male identity to avoid being visible to others. This was considered more effective than making the account private or hiding it from specific individuals.
The session entailed an exploration of girl’s expectations and experiences of romantic relationships, providing a platform to introduce the concept of consent.
Girls articulated their ideal relationship expectations as satisfaction, comfort, support, love, freedom, trust, respect, care, safety, peace, understanding, attention, and enjoyment, while percieving boyfriends primarily sought their bodies and companionship in relationships. The girls acknowledged that one relationship could not fulfill all their expectations, citing boys’ lack of long-term comittment and tendencies toward control and domination. They highlighted instances of disrespect, restrictions on behavior and clothing, emotional blackmail, threats, and even physical abuse, especially when refusing sex.
Despite remaining silent when asked about saying “no” to sex, the introduction of the concept of consent prompted a shift in the discussion, emphasizing its conditional, situational, and evolving nature. Trust emerged as a crucial element, with negotiation of consent essential for establishing one’s place in a relationship and prioritizing pleasure amid societal and personal fears surrounding sexuality.
How can we influence adolescent girls’ perceptions and inform their understanding of societal norms and personal agency in marital decision-making?
The session began with a simple question: “How many of us want to talk about love and marriage?” This sparked shy laughter and hesitant responses. The activity was structured into four groups, each led by a woman living a distinct lifestyle. Neeta opted for independent living, embracing a life rich in love and companionship without the commitment of marriage. Komel embraced an arranged marriage, while Avni embarked on a live-in relationship, choosing not to marry her partner. Sushma, on the other hand, embraced a love marriage.
The largest group chose arranged marriage, citing gratitude towards parents for their upbringing and support in choosing partners. The smallest group opted for love marriage, valuing the freedom to choose partners and fight for their relationships. However, both groups acknowledged the importance of parental approval, raising questions about its necessity.
The decision to remain single stemmed from resistance towards postmarriage gender-based responsibilities and the loss of decision-making autonomy. Those advocating for marriage argued that life without it is incomplete and emphasized the importance of partners as social and emotional support systems.
Live-in relationships received less discussion. When imagining a society free from marriage norms, the girls struggled acknowledging the inevitability of conflicts in decision-making, regardless of marital status. Surprisingly, the notion that marriage accompanies inevitable struggles resonated with many
The facilitator delved into the underlying meanings of marriage rituals, questioning gendered symbols and unequal power dynamics. While noting progressive changes, like brides leading ceremonies, traditional vows were scrutinized for favoring husbands. Additionally, discussions extended to the language of affection, highlighting influences from Hindi media and societal influences.
Sushma Iyengar Kuch Mahila Vikas Sangathan
How do we know what is right and wrong for us?
What is ‘Samaj’? How does it function/influence the lives of girls in shaping as well as curbing desires?
How can we deepen our understanding of historical tribal customs and rituals, which were often more egalitarian, in contrast to the practices influenced by Brahminisation that are prevalent today?
How can we address the centrality of marriage in the lives of girls and advance conversations surrounding the inequalities reinforced, sustained, and cemented by marriage rituals and customs?
How can we address the impact of violence in intimate relationships, as well as sexual violence and harassment, on the lives of girls, and empower them to engage with these issues while shifting away from solely focusing on individual instances?
While the festival space was conducive for empowering girls, there is a need to extend similar conversations to boys
A small booklet or repository of essential concepts and resources, such as information on emergency contraception, could be beneficial for participants. Additionally, organizing sessions with experts, like gynecologists, could address specific health-related queries and concerns.
Involving community members as session anchors could provide girls with role models and facilitate deeper connections. Seeing individuals from their own community leading sessions could inspire participants on a personal level.
Build a repository
On steps that can be taken if anyone faces any kind of harassment online. The guide can be circulated among the girls. This will help them know the steps they can take.
Support participants in building friendships and forging alternate perspective that the girls have been able to acknowledge here
Society for Women’s Action and Training Initiative (SWATI) is a feminist organisation that is committed to gender equality and socio-economic empowerment of women. Ending violence against women (VaW) is a primary objective and SWATI works at all levels in multiple ways to combat it.