Exposing The Treatment Of Young Women

In current times in America, the role of women and the role of men is about equal. When it comes to home life, it’s just as common for women to go out and work as it is for a man to do it. Women have even run for President. However, in the Harappan society in ancient India, and in Sumerian times in ancient Mesopotamia, the equality and respect of women weren’t as strong as it is today. Regardless, women were respected to a certain level. Overall, the respect of women in ancient India was similar to the respect of women in Mesopotamia because goddesses were seen as powerful, young women were admired, and women were highly regarded for being able to give birth.

According to study done by researcher Abigail Weitzman, “women in India who have more education than their husbands, who earn more, or who are the sole earners in their families have a higher likelihood of experiencing frequent and severe intimate partner violence (IPV) than women who are not employed or who are less educated than their spouse” (Weitzman, 2014). Even women with higher education and jobs in India reported becoming victim of domestic violence. One reason Abigail mentions in her research was, “gender deviants”. Women with higher education were looked, as superiority to men and that is why men use more violence to gain power over women. To men in India, they always wanted to be superior to women in any way. They are head of their family and therefore, they are the one who makes all kinds of decisions, take over the control of their whole

The role of women in Hinduism is also a very contentious topic in the world today. Although women are gaining some freedom in society in India, it is known that females have a history of being oppressed in India. Women of the Hindu faith in particular have been viewed as the minority sex as Hinduism is predominantly a male dominated religion. As Hinduism has no set sacred text Hindus are free to follow whatever text they want and each text or set of teachings have different views about women. For the purpose of this essay, I will be discussing the view of women according to the Vedas. As young children girls are under the protection of their fathers and when they get married they are under the protection of their husbands. The Vedas, which

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

In all areas of life and society the treatment and well being of women have always been challenged. In many religions the role and status of its women are usually overwhelmed by the actions and roles of its men this inequality of religions between male and female allows these feelings and ideology of which sex is superior or inferior to bleed into a society’s culture thus shaping their treatment of their men and women.

Just as the British ignored women’s perspective, so did the Indian men from both secular and religious backgrounds. Geraldine Forbes (1996) argues that the female approach is often missing in history and thus, she attempts to privilege women’s own accounts, whether it be through their oral histories, folktales, memoirs, journals, documents, etc. I believe the same could have been done in regards to the sati, primary documents such as the Ramayana reveal that there was female opposition to the sati (in the case of Sita). The introduction of the “woman question” was a significant step in South Asian history in terms of initiating the movement for women’s rights, however, it lacked the necessary voice from Indian women

The article “Buddhism and the Feminine Voice” was written by Gay Watson for Routledge, a publisher that specializes in humanities and social sciences topics. The author discusses how as Buddhism has spread across the world, its message has in turn changed somewhat to fit each culture it encounters. As Buddhism has become popular in the West, it has had to adapt to a vastly different outlook that from peoples in the East, including a larger emphasis on feminism. However, although the author is advocates for more acceptance of “the feminine voice” (Watson, 2003, p. 25) she is careful to refer to it less in terms of the feminist movement and more in terms of inclusion of feminine qualities in all aspects.

People often said that daughters were “someone else’s treasure” and that the sooner you parted ways with them the “better off” everyone was (Sheth 9). As a result of this male dominated mindset and society, women were caught in a cycle of misery and restraint that was seemed impossible to abandon (Indian Women). Unfortunately, it gave rise to some of the most evil practices in the Indian culture, such as Sati, child marriage and the limitations on female education.

Women during this time were severely belittled by men. They were not seen to be on the same level as men and due to this they were treated unequally. There were several advertisements that portrayed women as housewives and if they were not married they were seen to only be capable of jobs such as teachers, nurses, or secretaries. It was a necessity for woman to always look presentable and to quickly have a husband and then have children. There were many limitations on women, because men saw them as not having the same potential as them. Women were expected to take one path, and that is the life as a housewife(Tavaana). Women were spending an average of about fifty-five hours a week doing domestic chores alone. Women were basically becoming

The exclusion of women performing Hindu rituals, the falling age of Indian women being married, and in the increase of Brahman control in Hinduism are all examples that suggest the status change of women in India. During the Vedic period, women were no longer allowed to participate in spiritual rituals. They weren’t not allowed to contribute to rituals because the Brahmans made property ownership a necessity of ritual completion, and women weren’t not allowed to own property at that time. Women also started marrying at a younger age during the Vedic period. They started getting married around pre-puberty; before finishing education. Since they were married minors, they couldn’t perform rituals and their legal rights as wives were not existent. Lastly, Hinduism increased the power Brahmans and women could not be Brahmans. Women started

By nineteenth century, a myriad of men and women left the homes in their homeland and traveled to the exotic and mystified country of India, where they tried to replicate their own society. The women led hidden lives, out of the history books, often supporting their husbands’ conquests and even

Sexual violence becomes a big topic that people pay more attention to it these days. It is a positive attitude because it should let people know how serious it is. Sexual violence is not the same as other types of violence. It does not only hurt women by physical, but also hurt them by very serious mental problem. As we all know, the mental disease sometimes cannot totally recover by having medicine. Patients need other people to help them by talk with them, which can figure out the way to treat. In my opinion, the issue of sexual violence is a huge mission that should be attached importance to deal with it, also it needs the support of the public.

“In the construction of womanhood in the Hindu tradition, the idea of the goddesses functions as a philosophical and social archetype.” Goddesses were perceived as a symbol of divine power and irresistible energy. Women were prescribed roles like the protector, wielder of power, wife, helper, daughter, mother and nurturer. It was in the dharmaśāstras, that women were prescribed rules to abide by in their day to day lives, towards the household and their position in society was described. Vedic literature contains texts which recorded prayers for the birth of sons in the family and not daughters because it was considered a misfortune for the father.

In this day and age Muslim women can in many cases be seen hunting down the light in this dim patriarchal society of India. Various enactments have been instituting over and over, relating to make changes in the solid status of women. The solid status that has been raised by the general public itself which alludes the women as subordinate to men as well as a reliant on them for their extreme survival. This circumstance still perseveres.

In India, past and present, the status and freedom that are held by women has and is in a constant decline due to both external and cultural factors that not only causes large panic, but defensive reactions that negatively affect and hinder the women in their culture.