Articles by Mary E John

'Indisciplined Outpourings' Myth and Bathos of Male Exclusion Mary E John FEMINIST-BASHING seems to have become a popular pastime of late, especially among established academics. But even those inured to the growing intensity of" such attacks arc sure to be stunned by Dipankar Gupta's breath-taking performance (The Feminifieation of Theory', EPW. March 25). Feminism is perhaps unique in this respect: about no other intellectual field could a scholar adopt in the teeth of his abundantly evident ignorance such a supercilious and offensive attitude; nowhere else could the basic tenets of academic practice be flouted so comprehensively and with such confidence of impunity. It seems beside the point, therefore, to speculate about the personal and/or professional skirmishes in the corridors of 'academic power that may lie behind such an astonishing, yet ultimately predictable, outburst. It is far more important to examine how this particular attempt at feminist-bashing is structured, what it tries to get away with, and what it implies for Indian feminists.