Customary And Ritualistic Aspects Of Women

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

Upper caste women may undergo dramatically different experiences than lower caste women. For example, lower caste women do not practice sati, because it is mostly prevalent among upper caste women. Thus, they may not comprehend how sati may function as a tool of control of female sexuality. On the other hand, upper caste women may not comprehend the experiences of widow-remarriage as practiced by lower caste women. Granted that, Mohanty makes a great point by asserting that it is impossible to analyze and treat Indian women as an ahistorical and monolithic group of people. Indian women are heterogeneous, and significant attention must be given to the components of race, class, imperialism. Furthermore, given their background, many of Western feminists in India were supporters of the colonial government and saw themselves as agents of the civilizing mission. They believed that Indian women were incapable of speaking for themselves, and thus were also incapable of liberating themselves. They disregarded that Indian women were victims of both British imperialism and the patriarchal Indian society, and thus the oppression they faced greatly differed from that of Western women. If anything, western women participated in their

Under Ottoman rule, women “faced legal and social disadvantages”, common to that of previous times. Certain restrictions often forced seclusion and viewing amongst women of all castes. Evidently, women were subordinated to their fathers and husbands in the household (AP world textbook). Likewise, throughout Mughal rule, the position of women, for the most part, faltered, subjecting them to many disadvantages in each sect of life. This came at the hands of patriarchy, polygamy, the practice of Sati (the burning of a widow on her husband’s grave), child marriages, and purdah (the physical seclusion of women in Muslim societies). (Somali, Religious and Social conditions of Society during Mughal Rule) Although low in status, many women in either society gained importance as the dynasty aged and under the rule of specific leaders. For example, this was evident in Akbar’s rule as he even went as far as to outlaw Sati. These contrasting social structures and gender roles all play into their individual history, as well as world history.

In Wayward Women, Wardlow explores roles of women within the society of the Huli people in Papua New Guinea. Within their society, Huli women are treated as a commodity. They are servants to their husbands and those that attempt to fight this system are labeled as pasinja meri, a derogative term given to those who try to escape the system. Huli women are oppressed and commoditized by the Huli system of brideswealth for their value as a sexual product instead of as people.

As a result of these reviews, the ongoing reconstruction of the social status and roles of Hindu women has brought about many new changes in Hinduism. Some of these changes include changes in education, health measures, problems of early marriages, the positions of widows, and the representation of women in governing bodies (Desai, et al., 1995). For example, within Hinduism now,

The Cult of Domesticity was an era best known for its symbolization for womanhood. The women who followed these standards tended to be generally literate and lived in the northeast of the country. Women were the center of the lifestyle and were expected to live by different roles. They needed to be a loving parent to their children and raise them to the best of their ability. The women were also expected to religious and devote themselves to Christ. Lastly they needed to pure and be the perfect wife for their husbands do whatever they pleased. True Women were to hold the four virtues: Piety, Purity, Submission and Domesticity.

(“White Man’s Burden” 1-8). While as racist this quote may seem, the new reforms help change the perilous ways of the Indian culture. This condemned the act of pudra, which is the isolation of a woman in a separate room, and banned sati, a Hindu custom in which the

Sati is still deeply engrained in the culture of many parts of rural India, and nowhere more so than in Rajasthan, which is now the centre of the cult of the goddess Sati Mata.... a memorial put up to mark the place where a living, breathing widow chose to climb atop her husband's burning funeral pyre, sacrificing herself to ensure her husband's successful rebirth. In this way she is believed to join her soul with the goddess Sati Mata and to bring good luck to her family and her village for seven generations (122).

Sacrificial suicide, more commonly known as sati, commenced in the Indian subcontinent as a Hindu custom. Devi Sati was born to Queen Parusuti and King Dakhsha, who, desiring to parent a baby girl turned to Devi Adi Parashakti to seek help. The Devi promised to grant their wish, stating that she herself would be born to them, but that if her manifestation is ever humiliated or insulted, she would leave the queen and king’s lives forever. When Devi Sati reached adolescence, she wished to wed Lord Shiva against the King’s command, but the King humiliated her so Sati set fire to herself and bore a sacrifice to defend her honor. The custom of sati persisted in the subcontinent for centuries and in fact persists to today. A widow immolating herself on her husband’s funeral pyre or committing suicide one or another way is seen as a symbol or marital felicity and longevity, as specified by Hindu scriptures. British imperialists not only justified imperialism by exemplifying sati, but also often took credit of the practice’s abolishment in 1829. The specifics and history of this practice can be demonstrate through three divergent theories: stadial, hybridity, and post-structuralist.

There are many different types of people in the world. Different hair color, skin color, languages, religions, talents, etc. but there is one thing we all have in common, we all die. There is no one who can out run the long arm of death. People can however, have different attitudes and feelings towards death. For example, “Some of us know for sure that death is the implacable enemy of life. Others of us know for sure that death is the portal though which we enter a higher form of existence,” (Kastenbaum, 2012, p. 38). With these different feelings about death come different ways to mourn or celebrate the life of those lost. In Tibet there is a ritual performed by Tibetan Buddhist known as “Sky Burials”. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss the details of this ritual and where it originated.

This merciless rebellion began in 1857 and lasted until 1858. Sepoys were Indian soldiers serving under British or other European orders. The Sepoys consisted of mainly Hindus and Muslims. The British began attempting to abolish religious Indian customs, like the Caste system and Sati (also known as Suttee) of Hinduism. Sati/Suttee is an ancient ritual practiced by Hindus in which “a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force or coercion commits suicide as a result of her husband's death” (Heaphy).

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a collection of multiple short stories about Tim O’Brien’s, recollections of his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. This novel depicts the experiences and effects of the Vietnam war on the lives of the American soldiers. O’Brien informs the readers that the stories may not be completely true or moral but that’s the point of a true war story. In the novel, O’Brien introduces characters by the items they carried. The thoughts of women or items women had given to these men were often recognized in the book. O’Brien incorporated a few female characters such as Martha, Mary Anne Bell, and Henry Dobbins’s girlfriend in order to show the influence they all had on the men in the novel. Though the

According to the article “Gender Roles,” from Korea4Expats, a women role were to be confined inside their houses and were never allowed to be seen outside the family. Back during the course of the Chosun Dynasty and when Confucianism took over korea, at a young age, women were only taught to prepare for their future roles as a wife and a mother. And, men were taught to be strong, have full authority in the household, and provide financial support.However, due to the influence of modernization in society, korean women today have nearly the same equal rights as men do.

November 24, 1922 12pm.: Ever since I cut my hair I’ve never felt so free. I refuse to wear the corsets that I have been obligated to use since childhood. You cannot believe how relived I am to not have to wear those tight close fitting undergarments. So instead I have started wearing loose dresses that I feel more comfortable in. My mother always told me that men liked women with a slim waist and emphasized breast and with my new look no man will want to marry me. Of course she is livid. Not only at the fact that I cut the “beautiful long cascade of never ending long dark hair” as she says, but mostly because I’m rebelling against society’s norm. I’ve decided that it is time to take a stand for my rights and fight for my independence. I refuse to comply too these social norms. The submissive woman, restricted from freedom due to her traditional modest, accustomed, womanly gender roles. I will not be that woman. I will be the change. I’ve seen my mother, grandmother do it for years and I’ve had it. We have been repressed, and made slaves of the household generating a perspective that all we have to offer is pleasing our men and doing chores. But these social conventions will finally come to an end. Thanks too many women who have decided to be the change for today’s society. The Voting right for women has already commenced. And I can’t find the words to describe how incredibly joyful I am that now we have the right to vote. As of now we have a whole new sector of power and

Nothing has "excited the attention of the Europeans than the burning of wives upon the funeral piles of their husbands" (Perera 91). Another important aspect of the act of Sati was that "it became an element in the vindication of British Imperialism . . . and was also used as a moral justification to the Britishers to impose their rule on India" (Perera 92).