Editing Indira Gandhi (section)

== Views on women ==
In 1952 in a letter to her American friend Dorothy Norman, Gandhi wrote: "I am in no sense a feminist, but I believe in women being able to do everything... Given the opportunity to develop, capable Indian women have come to the top at once." While this statement appears paradoxical, it reflects Gandhi's complex feelings toward her gender and feminism.<ref name="Norman, Dorothy 1985">Norman, Dorothy. Indira Gandhi, Letters to an American Friend. San Diego: [[Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]], 1985. Print. 20.</ref> Her egalitarian upbringing with her cousins helped contribute to her sense of natural equality. "Flying kites, climbing trees, playing marbles with her boy cousins, Indira said she hardly knew the difference between a boy and a girl until the age of twelve."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jayakar|first1=Pupul|title=Indira Gandhi, a biography|date=1995|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=978-0-14-011462-1|page=265|edition=Rev.|url={{Google books|gm5JGkb2rhkC|page=PR9|keywords=feminist|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref><ref>Jayakar, Pupul. Indira Gandhi: An Intimate Biography. New York: Pantheon, 1992. Print. 64.</ref>

Gandhi did not often discuss her gender but she involved herself in women's issues before becoming the prime minister. Before her election as prime minister, she became active in the organisational wing of the Congress party, working in part in the Women's Department.<ref name="auto1">Genovese, Michael A., ed. Women As National Leaders. Newbury Park, CA: [[SAGE Publications]], 1993. Print. 109.</ref> In 1956, she had an active role in setting up the Congress Party's Women's Section.<ref name="ReferenceA">Norman, Dorothy. Indira Gandhi, Letters to an American Friend. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. Print. 30.</ref> Unsurprisingly, a lot of her involvement stemmed from her father. As an only child, Gandhi naturally stepped into the political light. And, as a woman, she naturally helped head the Women's section of the Congress Party. She often tried to organise women to involve themselves in politics.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://theprint.in/politics/indian-women-a-step-closer-to-breaking-glass-ceiling-in-politics/212444/ |title=Indian women a step closer to breaking glass ceiling in politics |last=Srivastava |first=Shruit |date=27 March 2019 |website=theprint.in |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226202029/https://theprint.in/politics/indian-women-a-step-closer-to-breaking-glass-ceiling-in-politics/212444/ |archive-date=26 February 2020 }}</ref> Although rhetorically Gandhi may have attempted to separate her political success from her gender, she did involve herself in women's organizations. The political parties in India paid substantial attention to Gandhi's gender before she became prime minister, hoping to use her for political gain.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/23/archives/indira-gandhi-has-never-regretted-being-a-woman-well-almost-never.html |title=Indira Gandhi Has Never Regretted Being a Woman …Well, Almost Never |last=Klemesrud |first=Judy |date=23 October 1970 |website=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226202026/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/23/archives/indira-gandhi-has-never-regretted-being-a-woman-well-almost-never.html |archive-date=26 February 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/14/archives/indira-gandhi-is-either-hated-or-adored-indira-gandhi-is-either.html |title=The Indian Prime Minister prepares for an election |first=Dom |last=Moraesnew |date=14 February 1971 |website=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226202024/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/14/archives/indira-gandhi-is-either-hated-or-adored-indira-gandhi-is-either.html |archive-date=26 February 2020 }}</ref>
Even though men surrounded her during her upbringing, she still had a female role model as a child. Several books on Gandhi reference her interest in [[Joan of Arc]]. In Gandhi's own accounts through her letters, she wrote to her friend Dorothy Norman, in 1952 she wrote: "At about eight or nine I was taken to [[France]]; Jeanne d'Arc became a great heroine of mine. She was one of the first people I read about with enthusiasm."<ref>Norman, Dorothy. Indira Gandhi, Letters to an American Friend. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. Print. 12.</ref> Another historian recounts Indira's comparison of herself to Joan of Arc: "Indira developed a fascination for Joan of Arc, telling her aunt, 'Someday I am going to lead my people to freedom just as Joan of Arc did'!"<ref>Genovese, Michael A., ed. Women As National Leaders. Newbury Park, CA: [[SAGE Publications]], 1993. Print. 107.</ref> Gandhi's linking of herself to Joan of Arc presents a model for historians to assess Gandhi. As one writer said: "The Indian people were her children; members of her family were the only people capable of leading them."<ref>Genovese, Michael A., ed. Women As National Leaders. Newbury Park, CA: [[SAGE Publications]], 1993. Print. 131.</ref>

Gandhi had been swept up in the call for Indian independence since she was born in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indiragandhi.com/aboutindiragandhi.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013113017/http://www.indiragandhi.com/aboutindiragandhi.htm|title=About Indira Gandhi|archive-date=13 October 2016|website=www.indiragandhi.com}}</ref> Thus by 1947, she was already well immersed in politics, and by 1966, when she first assumed the position of prime minister, she had held several cabinet positions in her father's office.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiragandhi.com/history.html |title=History |website=indiragandhi.com |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904222356/http://www.indiragandhi.com/history.html |archive-date=4 September 2019 }}</ref> Her advocacy for women's rights began with her help in establishing the Congress Party's Women's Section.<ref name="auto1" /> In 1956, she wrote in a letter: "It is because of this that I am taking a much more active part in politics. I have to do a great deal of touring in order to set up the Congress Party Women's Section, and am on numerous important committees."<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Gandhi spent a great deal of time throughout the 1950s helping to organise women. She wrote to Norman in 1959, irritable that women had organised around the communist cause but had not mobilised for the Indian cause: "The women, whom I have been trying to organize for years, had always refused to come into politics. Now they are out in the field."<ref>Norman, Dorothy. Indira Gandhi, Letters to an American Friend. San Diego: [[Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]], 1985. Print. 57.</ref> Once appointed president in 1959, she "travelled relentlessly, visiting remote parts of the country that had never before received a VIP... she talked to women, asked about child health and welfare, inquired after the crafts of the region"<ref>Jayakar, Pupul. Indira Gandhi: An Intimate Biography. New York: [[Pantheon Books|Pantheon]], 1992. Print. 112.</ref> Her actions throughout her ascent to power clearly reflect a desire to mobilise women{{Citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=August 2017}}. Gandhi did not see the purpose of feminism. She saw her own success as a woman, and also noted that: "Given the opportunity to develop, capable Indian women have come to the top at once."<ref name="Norman, Dorothy 1985" />

Gandhi felt guilty about her inability to fully devote her time to her children. She noted that her main problem in office was how to balance her political duties with tending to her children, and "stressed that motherhood was the most important part of her life."<ref>Genovese, Michael A., ed. Women As National Leaders. Newbury Park, CA: [[SAGE Publications]], 1993. Print. 127.</ref> At another point, she went into more detail: "To a woman, motherhood is the highest fulfilment&nbsp;... To bring a new being into this world, to see its perfection and to dream of its future greatness is the most moving of all experiences and fills one with wonder and exaltation."<ref>Malhotra, Inder. Indira Gandhi: A Personal and Political Biography. Boston: [[Northeastern University Press]], 1989. Print. 55.</ref> Her domestic initiatives did not necessarily reflect favourably on Indian women. Gandhi did not make a special effort to appoint women to cabinet positions. She did not appoint any women to full cabinet rank during her terms in office.<ref name="Genovese, Michael A. 1993" /> Yet despite this, many women saw Gandhi as a symbol for feminism and an image of women's power.<ref name="Genovese, Michael A. 1993" />