Dependence Of Women On Men

Reviews the amendments of the 1868 Indian Act, highlighting the conflicts of superiority of rights to Indian men over women. Discusses the avoidance of violence and discrimination against women within communities and the need for an equal relationship between genders

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

The book mentions about the mental confusions, insecurities and the effort to understand their spouses. The writer has expressed simple and usual emotions of a womanhood, fidelity and family. A tint of Indian culture is reflected in each chapter indicating how a bridegroom and groom select each other, the nature of an Indian woman and how she takes up challenges in her life, reconciling the roles of a daughter, an ex-wife, a wife and a mother, the strength of the human spirit and their passion to survive and fight for a good life. It also features the distinctive qualities of Indian relatives highlighting their interest in an individual’s marital life and how offensive it is to the society to find a married woman talking to an unknown man. The book also focuses on the pain of a mother to see her unhealthy

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,

Life as a widowed woman in India is extremely debilitating. Without their husbands, the women are no longer useful to the family, therefore, from the moment their husbands die, they are cast out of their homes to fend for themselves, taking work where they can find it. Every day, thousands of these women nimbly make their way around cities, working industriously to earn any money that will help them escape poverty. Though their situation is rough, many widows have overcome their struggles, and are able to begin anew.

Expectations of the role that women have in marriage have changed with the years. In the past, women were expected to stay at their homes and to take care of the cooking, cleaning and all the daily activities that need to be done at homes. Besides that, they needed to take care of the children while their husbands were at work. Now things have changed and women and men share almost the same responsibilities in their marriage, but there are still some cultures around the world where women’s roles in marriage has not changed at all. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” their marriage went down after she had their child because he could not help her in the depression that she was suffering. In Trifles, John Wright did not let her wife be happy by keeping

Third Reason: According to the Indian Express association, an organization that fights for human and women rights, advocates the fact that women should get paid and that it should be socially and politically accepted, so when a woman gets divorced or widowed it won’t end her life, mainly as any woman needs to be secured financially in order to face the world now, of course money isn’t everything but we sure need it to survive.

The behavior of men towards women in a patriarchal society is described by Manju when she describes society in India by stating, “In Indian society stress is given to create female persona for different stages, docile daughters, chase and obedient wives and sacrificing mothers. The only domain ascribed to female is to fit in this good daughter, good wife and good mother criteria. Husband and wife are considered soul mates. But man assumes himself superior to woman, and he never tries to create emotional bonding with his wife, to understand her wishes or act according to her consent” (234). The rest of this paper will analyze the effects that male dominance had on the women.

The voluntary practice of Sati, meaning “good women”, was originally linked to Hinduism in 908 CE. Although Sati was not required, about a hundred women a year practiced this custom. Women who burned themselves to death on their husband’s funeral pyres were seen as brave. Furthermore, Sati was said to bring redemption to the dead husband even end the cycle of death and rebirth for the families. Sati represented the traditional repression of women in Hindu India as well as the difficult lives and decisions widows had to face. Although the sacrifice of widows was at its height in the 6th century, it continued through the 14th century and was only abolished in the mid 1800’s (Sati). The caste system in India was the source for societal divides that dominated India. The caste system developed along with Hinduism and it controls everything from who can marry who, what work Indians can do and

This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.

In todays globalized world a lack in social welfare can affect the social function, and result in divorce. Marriage is an important social institution between two families and not just two individuals. Women play the passive and motherhood gender role while men primarily the dominant role. Although customs play a role in parents grooming and prepare their daughters for marriage, sometimes the benefits outweigh the costs. Some young women are too naïve thinking they will be compatible with their mate simply because their parents and grandparents did without realizing the good and bad that come with marriage. There is situation where women are forces into marriage due to economic prosperities through dowry payments. As wonderful a person may

Traditionally, an Indian woman had only four roles and those were; Her role as a daughter, wife, sister, and lastly, a mother. The women in today’s time however are experiencing far reaching changes and are entering into new fields that were unknown to them. They are actively participating in social, economic and political activities. Unlike the older times, women today have received higher education.

When life becomes unbearable between a women an her husband, they may think of divorce as being a fair solution for both of them to get their “independence” and live a normal life, they may even think that it is suitable for their children. However, this is not the case , divorce may have some serious consequences that can affect the whole society .

Changes can be made at any time as long as it is for the sake of our happiness. However, how can Indian women in this movie pursuit their happiness when they think they are deemed to suffer after their husbands’ death as a symbol of devotion to husband?

The oppression of women is based on false assumption and preconceived notions by the male domination world, has been obvious and responsible for paving the way for serious gender issues to emerge. Due to the narrow realms of activity in society, deprived from essential human rights, restricted educations scope, open to unhealthy physical and mental abuse, this society has not given women the opportunity to rise to their full potential. The impact of gender discrimination has not only affected the future of the women today but it has resulted in the slow progress of human mind in general.