any outsider threats, etc. engaged the men. So, women had to take charge of home-front. The heterogeneity of the Indian experience reveals that there are multiple patriarchies, contributing to the existence of multiple feminism. Hence, feminism in India is not a singular theoretical orientation; it has changed over time in relation to historical and cultural realities, levels of consciousness, perceptions and actions of individual women and women as a group. The widely used definition is "An awareness of women's oppression and exploitation in society, at work and within the family, and conscious action by women and men to change this situation." Acknowledging sexism in daily life and attempting to challenge and eliminate it through deconstructing mutually exclusive notions of femininity and masculinity as biologically determined categories opens the way towards an equitable society for both men and women. The male and female dichotomy of polar opposites with the former oppressing the latter at all times is refuted in the Indian context because it was men who initiated social reform movements against various social evils. Patriarchy is just one of the hierarchies. Relational hierarchies between women within the same family are more adverse. Here women are pitted against one another. Not all women are powerless at all times. There have been intense debates within the Indian women's movements about the relationship between Western and Indian feminism. Many Indian feminists simultaneously claim a specific "Indian" sensitivity as well as international feminist solidarity with groups and individuals worldwide. The rise of liberal feminism in the West in the 1970s focused deeply on demands for equal opportunities in education and employment, as well as ending violence against women. To a large extent, the emerging feminist movement in India was influenced by Western ideals. These called for education and equal rights but also adapted their appeals to local issues and concerns, such as dowry-related violence against women, Sati, sex-selective abortion, and custodial rape. Some Indian feminists have suggested that these issues are not specifically "Indian" in nature but rather a reflection of a wider trend of patriarchal oppression of women. History According to Maitrayee Chaudhuri, unlike the Western feminist movement, India's movement was initiated by men, and later joined by women. But feminism as an initiative started independently a little later in Maharashtra by pioneering sex of women's rights and education: Savitribai Phule, who started the first school for girls in India (1848); Tarabai Shinde,