The Past and Present Views on the Status of Women in Indian Society

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 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

Bride burning, also known as dowry death occurs quite frequently in India. It is when the husband or the in-laws decide that the dowry the bride offers is not enough and demands more. If the bride refuses or is financially not able to increase her dowry, she is tortured until she either agrees or dies; otherwise she is murdered by her “family”. The husbands and the in-laws usually disguise the deaths as accidents or

The heterogeneity of the Indian experience reveals that there are multiple patriarchies, contributing to the existence of multiple feminisms. Hence, feminism in India is not a singular theoretical orientation; it has changed over time in relation to historical and cultural realities, levels of consciousness, perceptions and actions of individual

The status of women in a society is a significant reflection of the level of social justice in that society. In the literature, women’s status is commonly described in terms of their education, income, employment, health, fertility, etc. somewhere it has shown thattheir roles within family, community and society also. But if we are talking about tribal communities, the role playing by women is crucial and substantial.

The objectification of the female gender must be terminated. The oppression that the females of India experience day after day go against the universal human rights of freedom. For instance, according to an article released by Research Institute for Compassionate Economics states that, “…the number of woman [in India] sexually assaulted by their husbands is 40 times higher the number of woman who suffer such violence from others” (2015). The research explains how a casual married female is in greater danger inside her own home, ironically, it is where she must feel protected; this in turn decreases or eliminates family unity, morale, and welfare. The passive laws of India have created the foundation that marital rape is acceptable.

Imagine a woman whose ex boyfriend has forced her to drink acid because he has found out she is in an arranged marriage to marry another man. These are problems that women in India are always trying to avoid on a daily basis. For decades women in India have fought to have rights that protect them from the social injustice that overruns the country, slowly women have gotten more rights and laws to protect them but, there is still more to be done. It is not often that these issues are mentioned by those living in countries such as America because in other countries we often do not understand the complexities of these problems. In India, for years women have not had the rights they deserve, from inequality of basic rights, rights in the workforce, or more major rights such as protection against rape and sexual harassment.

Approaches you cannot help but lack the ability to speak, brush your hair, or even put on your dress; instead, a day devoted to happiness and joy is overshadowed by an overwhelming feeling of disgust and reluctance. This was the feeling a young Durga, (15) felt on the day her father forced her to wed a forty year old, uneducated man known to have a drinking problem, within the little Indian village of, Rajasthan (AIZENMAN, 2017). Wedding ceremonies such as this are not uncommon within the country of India. In modern times, arranged marriages are still preferred by over 85% of India’s youth. In a recent study conducted by IPSOS in 2013, over 74% of young Indians, that is between the ages of 10-35, allow their parents to choose their spouse ("Know All About Arranged Marriage In India!", 2017). Arrange marriage has not always been the norm within Indian culture, long before this practice was accepted within Indian culture, Swayamva- a ceremony where suitable matchers from all over the country is invited to swoon over an expected bride; however, this practice cised in 500 b.c. when “Vedic Hindu” gave birth to Hinduism ("Know All About Arranged Marriage In India!", 2017). With the rise of the Manusmriti- a code of conduct for a life of stratified Dharma, (duty, virtue, morality, religion), women were stripped of their basic independence ("Know All About Arranged Marriage In India!", 2017). Women who were

Thousands of years ago in Asia, a book was written that gave social structure that would go on through the ages in India. Today that social structure is called the Jati or in English words, the Caste system. While it has undergone a few changes here and there, the system has relatively been unchanged and just like thousands of years ago when it was first introduced in the Vedas, it exists in modern day India as a part of society in it. This paper will go over a more detailed explanation of the Jati as well as the classes and books that defined the Jati system, most notably the “Laws of Mandu”.

There are 28 million women estimated to be missing from the Indian population , a study done by Harvard economist Amartya. Has no one stopped to question, why is there so many women missing from the Indian population? There has been a strong rooted tradition in India known as Dowry , a tradition where the father presents his daughter as a gift to her new husband and family when presented in marriage. This tradition is still being practiced today , but do to modernization a lot has changed with this practice. Women in India have long endured this tradition that has evolved into a dreadful act, where husbands and in-laws physically and mentally abuse women until they receive the amount of money or gifts they think they deserve. While many

All over the world, 8th March is celebrated as International Women’s Day. In fact, gender equality is proclaimed as fundamental right by the United Nations’ Charter in 1945. However, the status of women is not at par with that of men in India. Ages have come and go, but the plight of women is not likely to change. From aeons, time has helplessly watched excesses done on women in the form of discrimination, oppression, exploitation, degradation, and humiliation etc. gender based discrimination represents the ugly face of the society. This is global issue with varying degrees and India is not an exception to it, especially Haryana where it’s a patriarchy society.

India is country where being women is deadly difficult. The country that has nuclear weapon, but people die of hunger on sidewalk. Around exclusive apartments homeless cook on a real fire. People in India live on the streets, they are born, live and die on them. India is country where are arranged marriages, often parents are indebted to the rest of the their live to have only a dowry for their daughter. They arrange marriage of several year old children and even newborns ( younger girl is cheaper). Daughters threaten the survival of the family so many parents prefer in advance to get rid of them. They disappear each day in secret. In village there are different ways to kill a girl, for instance administering a poisonous edible part of oleanders, cocktail of pesticides, opium or raw rice , which

Women enjoy a unique position in every society and country of the world. Despite their contributions in all spheres of life, they suffer in silence and form a class which is in a disadvantaged position because of several impediments. India presents a complicated situation so far as the status of women in the country is concerned. The context of a traditionally male-dominated, patriarchal society, the foresight of the pragmatic framers of the Constitution of the country led to the inclusion of equal socio-economic and political rights for women. However, gender inequality persists despite robust growth and progress of the country. The Paper presents an understanding of the various facets of the protection of women under Constitution that guarantees women an equal space free from all discrimination.

The age old problem of female related issues affecting the Indian society adversely continues to exist today in the 21st century. The advancement of new age, technology, scientific inventions, standard of life, and change in life style has failed to bring- in change of the mindset. The problem of female infanticide in India seems to be persistent. The alarming records collected by local, regional, national and international bodies only reflect the drastic decline in the male- female ratio. The matter is of serious concern and what is required is not only law but the change that each one has to bring- in understanding that when Nature was impartial in evolving man and woman, why has the society then brought about gender discrimination.

India, a nation which had Mahatma Gandhi as its role model of uprightness became so remarkably violent and corrupt that the women can no longer be safe within their bodies. Mahatma Gandhi who defeated the Britishers to save the Indians by relying on non-violence is considered as the father of the nation, but his sense of honor are being deceived so easily that a woman is raped every twenty minutes in India [1] In the world’s largest democracy and even children of five years are subjected to rape [2]. Women in contemporary Indian society are really leading if we compare them from the ancient time. Women are the congenital part of our society and cannot be cast aside due to their less power and authority. The basic section of society is a woman. As woman makes a family, a family makes a home and homes make a society. So we should never think that a society would come into continuance without the contribution of women. But with the development in the society as women is becoming empowered , Indeed there are few categories of crime that affect the community and their victims as much as rape, sexual assaults, and the other sex related crimes. The impacts of sexual assault and rape crimes can be easily seen in the very way we live our lives and raise our family because it has a great affect on our