Status of Women in Contemporary Indian Society
“STATUS OF WOMEN IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SOCIETY” - KRITIKA RASTOGI
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
To critically analyse the role and status of women in the contemporary Indian society and the crimes committed against them.
INTRODUCTION
Within the Indian subcontinent, there have been infinite variations of the status of women, differing according to the cultural milieu, family structures, caste, class, property right etc. we have to specify as to whether we are talking about rural women or urban women, about middle class or lower class women, about Brahmin or scheduled caste woman, about women in the Hindu society or in the Muslim community. All these distinctions are significant determinants of variations in her position in different groups. Status of woman is affected by certain macro-forces as economic development, political participation, and ideological overtones. It is also shaped by the norms and values society lays down with regard to woman’s behaviour. There are numerous prescriptions, sanctions, and constraints which overtly or covertly determine the behaviour of a woman. A girl is expected to be docile, shy, non-aggressive, self-effacing. After she reaches puberty she is generally not encouraged to mix with the boys; she should walk slowly, she has to be married early; marriage is obligatory for girls. Famous poet Tulsidas says, “An animal, a rustic, a drum and a woman all require beating”. Sage Manu who had enshrined woman as goddess says, woman does not deserve freedom; she will have to be protected by father, husband and son. What does the legend of the seed and the earth/field suggest? The seed symbolizes father’s contribution to reproduction and field represent the child’s identity. Thus though in reality both man and women are equally important in the reproduction process, the myth is created that man who is the more important determinant. Another myth
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
To critically analyse the role and status of women in the contemporary Indian society and the crimes committed against them.
INTRODUCTION
Within the Indian subcontinent, there have been infinite variations of the status of women, differing according to the cultural milieu, family structures, caste, class, property right etc. we have to specify as to whether we are talking about rural women or urban women, about middle class or lower class women, about Brahmin or scheduled caste woman, about women in the Hindu society or in the Muslim community. All these distinctions are significant determinants of variations in her position in different groups. Status of woman is affected by certain macro-forces as economic development, political participation, and ideological overtones. It is also shaped by the norms and values society lays down with regard to woman’s behaviour. There are numerous prescriptions, sanctions, and constraints which overtly or covertly determine the behaviour of a woman. A girl is expected to be docile, shy, non-aggressive, self-effacing. After she reaches puberty she is generally not encouraged to mix with the boys; she should walk slowly, she has to be married early; marriage is obligatory for girls. Famous poet Tulsidas says, “An animal, a rustic, a drum and a woman all require beating”. Sage Manu who had enshrined woman as goddess says, woman does not deserve freedom; she will have to be protected by father, husband and son. What does the legend of the seed and the earth/field suggest? The seed symbolizes father’s contribution to reproduction and field represent the child’s identity. Thus though in reality both man and women are equally important in the reproduction process, the myth is created that man who is the more important determinant. Another myth