The Concept of Shakti: Hinduism as a Liberating Force for Women

The intricate dynamics of power and gender has grown to become an increasingly important topic within the realm of present day academia- and justifiably so. Though representing half of the human race, women’s voices, needs and inner psyches have, traditionally, been relegated to a place of unimportance in the history of the Western world. Throughout the history of European civilization, the nature of the feminine was misunderstood, neglected and, in some cases, practically demonized. Consequently, for millennia women have been deprived of the power- political, economic, spiritual, even sexual- which men so take for granted. Recognizing the imperative need to correct this historic imbalance, many modern Feminist leaders attempted to devise an ideological framework through which they felt that the roots of this imbalance could be properly understood. Additionally, there have been many attempts to wrest control over the primary mechanisms of power, specifically in the political and economic sectors. As a result, what were at one time conceived as the exclusive domains of the male gender have now begun to open up to women. In the modern West, power is no longer equated with the testosterone laden half of the human race. The question, however, is should this have ever been the view of Western civilization? For while it may have been the tradition in the West to naturally equate power with the masculine, this i