Status of Woman in Indian Society

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.

In the traditional culture, women’s education was limited to learning domestic skills, they used to be in charge of the house, their job was to keep clean the house, take care of the children, prepare the food, and many other things. Also they were subordinate to the authority of their parents first, and their husbands later, so for example women could not go out of the house without their concern. Their difference was huge, as we can see in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” when the knight rapped that woman. In like manner we observe men superiority in Mallam Sile’s story

Gender roles of diverse cultures have differed immensely throughout history. The evolution of gender roles first began in the Paleolithic Age and then began to transform with the transformation of the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. Women in Mesopotamia, India, Greece, China, and Rome were not treated as equals and viewed as inferior to men. Cultures like Egypt and Persia had similar laws for women and treated them with more respect out of any of the other cultures.

Over the centuries the treatment of women has varied from country to country. Some countries considered females to be their equals, while others completely disagreed with this idea and believe that they should be treated as man's servants. In modern society almost every country in the world has complete equality between males and females. The treatment of women in Ancient Societies differentiated from having very equal rights, partially equal rights, and barely any equal rights at all.

Women rights movement’s dates back to the nineteenth century as the female gender was seeking to have a place in the society where they have their rights and entitlement fairly given to them. It was instigated by the fact that the male population by making them feel as less beings in the society. This is because they were not entitled to having their views brought out. However, in the 1970’s efforts to secure equal rights for women by eradicating gender discrimination put by institution, laws and various behavioural pattern meet serious activism (Barrett. 2014). The reforms enjoyed currently concerning women empowerment is as a result of all the atrocities that they went through at this time. It is, therefore, evident to say that the challenges faced by women in the 1970’s rights movement gave birth to new opportunities such as coming up with severe laws on gender discrimination, pushed for the Title IX law and defining rape as a crime.

Women throughout time have experienced position changes more times than can be counted. Not just in modern times, gender roles began in the B.C.E era. In Egypt and India, gender roles were a huge part of society. In both locations, male’s word was law. What they said was the final answer and a woman could not change that. The gender distinctions were similar in ways that women had minimal power in familiar locations, like their homes. They had a small opinion about certain subjects, but they never ventured out of the comfort zone of subjects they were allowed to discuss. Men were treated better than women, yes, but the power women held was used for some of the most important topics.

Some ancient societies saw women as inferior to men. For example, in ancient China, philosophers such as Confucius taught that women were to look after the man and they should only be respected as a mother or mother-in-law. However, in civilizations such as India, where women had many privileges in the beginning. This did change in the Later-Vedic Age, though, as factors like polygamy got worse and deteriorated the position of women. In Rome and Greece, women were vital to a family's success in work as farmers and artisans. On

Women's lives, roles, and statuses changed over various early world history eras and culture areas in many ways. Ancient Persia, Paleolithic, Athens, Mesopotamian and Roman eras were all different in very unique ways. The Paleolithic era treated women fairly and were treated equally. During the Neolithic era women were not treated fairly. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.” (oi.uchicago.edu, 2010) Athenian women were not treated fairly

In Envisioning Women in World History, by Catherine Clay, Chandrika Paul, and Christine Senecal many of the societies treated their women as in superior to men especially in religious cultures. These societies believed that men were superior intellectually and physically restraining women from many experiences. Although the laws that women had to endure became harsher when religion was involved most of the times. Some of the hardships that women before 1500 had to endure were, lack of citizenship in Greece and Rome, arranged marriages, and not being able to leave the house alone. Most women had to go through tougher times then men after the Paleolithic era, but the ones that had the least amount of power were the Muslims. Christian women

     Back in the days of Mesopotamia, things were quite different. Women were respected for who they were and did not have to fight to gain the rights they had.

In 1919, Women were first granted equal rights to vote; the struggle for women to play an important role in history can be dated from the 1900’s and all the way back to the ancient Mesopotamian time period. Women have been viewed as goddess to unwanted servants throughout the variety of change in rulers, religions, and simply time periods. There has been a constant battle for women to have equal rights and to be treated equally in all aspects of life. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest recorded account of the roles of women and their importance in a functional society. The role of women in the Epic of Gilgamesh was only small highlights of the story, but their influence on the epic hero’s journey was life altering; Ishtar, Shamhat, and Siduri were able to create and maintain a civilized

Let’s start out talking about the Mesopotamians. The role of a Mesopotamian woman was strictly defined. She was either a daughter to her father or a wife to her husband. Women rarely acted and were treated as individuals outside of their families. If you were allowed to it was because you were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.

In Ancient times there was only one society that gave women equal right. In the Egyptian civilization, a woman could come before members of the court to express her complaints. The members of the court would listen and come up with a fair solution, not even think twice

Patriarchal societies treated women like objects and possessions, but this slightly changed as we entered into the medieval period. We can clearly see this laid out in the ancient writings of Confucius and the through the treatment of women and their rights after the Vedic period.

In the 1990’s foreign donor agencies enabled the formation of new women-oriented NGO’s. Self help groups such as Self Employed Women’s Empowerment (SEWA) have played a major role in the advancement of women’s rights in India. Many women such as Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan have emerged as the leaders of local