The Role Of Harassment By The Zamindar By Kamala Markandaya

According to Hinduism the female was created by Brahman as part of the duality in creation, to provide company to men and facilitate procreation, progeny and continuation of family linage. The Vedas suggest that a woman’s primary duty is to help her husband in performing obligatory duties and enable him to continue his family tradition. Her primary duty is to give birth to his children and take care of them. Hinduism is a predominantly male dominated religion. Woman play a secondary role. The situation is gradually changing. It is difficult to draw generalizations about the status of present day Hindu women because of society is complex. In general, life in cities is much different from life in the rural areas. Those who live abroad live in different conditions than those who live in the country. Yet, we have ample indications that women are still subject to many restrictions and disabilities in rural area as well as urban areas. The financial independence of woman and the education levels of the family play an important role in this regard. Women in urban areas face numerous challenges in their professions and personal lives. But overall, life is better for them compared to the past. Love marriage outside of the caste or community are scorned and sometimes the couples are killed or excommunicated by the elders in the family or village. Widows can now have a life of their own and even remarry. They draw a lot of sympathy. But

Breaking Tradition the story of women’s roles. The author of this very detailed story, compared to “family affairs, gives its readers Incite on how women were apart of something so dangerous that change the lives

The author agrees with the idea of women as victims through the characterisation of women in the short story. The women are portrayed as helpless to the torment inflicted upon them by the boy in the story. This positions readers to feel sympathy for the women but also think of the world outside the text in which women are also seen as inferior to men. “Each season provided him new ways of frightening the little girls who sat in front of him or behind him”. This statement shows that the boy’s primary target were the girls who sat next to him. This supports the tradition idea of women as the victims and compels readers to see that the women in the text are treated more or less the same as the women in the outside world. Characterisation has been used by the author to reinforce the traditional idea of women as the helpless victims.

“The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved” (Matthew Henry). Gender roles are how each human is supposed to act, speak, or dress according to their assigned sex. The world has always depended on them to make crucial decisions and they have marked every aspect of society. Several people have taken advantage of gender stereotypes to determine what to do with their lives or to come up with excuses as to why they are carrying out a task. Literature is one of the main agents that exposes human attitude towards life. It has been affected by time

Devor’s essay explains how society influences the stereotypes when it comes to gender and he also explores the gender roles casted by our society.

There are traditional gender roles for both men and women that where designed to define the difference between genders. Males are expected to separate themselves from anything deemed feminine such as dolls. They should also have a successful occupation, one that provides not just for them but also a family. Finally men should display a demeanor of confidence, toughness and self-reliance while not expressing emotions or being sensitive unless the male desires being humiliated. Females should be attentive, physically attractive listeners who shower their male counterparts with affection after every accomplishment. She also should put her families, to include children, need before her own. It is also important to note that the traditional woman is not competitive as that is a trait reserved for males. Stressors accompany individuals trying to fulfill what are conceived traditional genders by place restrictions on expanding outside what is preconceived. Depression, confusion, and hopelessness can result as persons try to adhere to what is deemed acceptable by

Gender defines people in society. People may utilize their gender as an advantage or disadvantage, depending upon the situation. Whether it be a female or male, people can and will exploit themselves in order to achieve ‘happiness’ and goals. There is also many societal gender based stereotypes, for example if you are a man you behave a certain way and if you are a woman you behave a certain way although, there will always be stragglers who deviate the norm. Nevertheless they are judged for it.

The roles of male and female have been controversial since the beginning of time. In the early modern era, several authors explain how gender roles impact their society. One of these authors is Chinua Achebe, who wrote the novel, Things Fall Apart that reflects the conditional of society. The significance of one’s culture affected gender roles and allowed society to determine an individual lifestyle; therefore, I attend to identify the structure of gender roles in Things Fall Apart on how women were important to men, yet they do not receive the treatment they deserve.

A long time ago, women had played a great role in life in different societies, existed in various civilizations. This role extended from covering all life-related matter to be dependent on males or rulers in the community, which she lives in. The women recessive characteristics of dependence originate from the society’s culture, beliefs, and their previous experience in life. Furthermore, history assures that the women’s role was not determined, and it was not following a specific pattern or system: it exhibits discrepancies amongst different eras and civilizations. However, it is ascertained that feminine attitudes limits to be in domestic sphere, and they are also obliged to obey roles, stated before power source representatives (i.e. kings,

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 narrator’s actions are considered as rebellious to the traditional gender roles such as thinking too much, has depression, being passive, and not taking care of the child. Not being presentable when the husband comes home is also a trait that a traditional female should not have. The wife is called the troubled women since she does not fit into society’s gender role. While making the wife feels even more miserable than before the sister is viewed as the good women in the family. Since the sister is the care-taker of the family and taking care of the child which is the job of the wife.

In Chinese traditional culture, since women had lots of limitations in gender role, they have no power to influence their future. In the essay “No Name Woman”, the author Maxine Hong Kingston shows a tragedy of her aunt in the traditional Chinese society and it emphasizes how it is necessary to change men and women’s status. Her aunt got pregnant after her husband left home. It was not accepted by villagers and her family because they thought she do not follow the traditional women rule. The whole family considered aunt as the shame and they kicked her aunt out of the family. Villagers tried to destroy her house, when she gave birth to her baby. At the end, her aunt killed herself with the baby in the well. In order to prevent

Women’s need to conform to cultural discrimination under the pressure of society and family to choose boys over girls contributes to the beginning of the gendercide cycle. The violence against females never stops; it is a constant battle against females throughout their lives. There are many causes of this violence that create a never ending cycle. One of the major causes is cultural discrimination. In Indian culture, the boy is valued more than a girl mainly “because parents look to their sons to support them in old age” rather than their daughters (FAQ). According to tradition, once daughters are married, “they do not care for their own parents, but rather their husbands’ parents” (ibid). Therefore, society sees more value in a male over a female. A male can support his family more than

Girls, young women, and mature mothers. Society has consistently given women strict guidelines, rules and principles on how to be an appropriate member of a man’s society. These rules are set at a young age and enforced thoroughly into adulthood. When not followed accordingly, women often times too many face reprimanding through means of verbal abuse, physical abuse, or social exile. In the midst of all these strict guidelines and social etiquette for girls, a social rebellion started among girls and women and gender roles were broken, however the social rebellion did not and does not affect all girls and women. For instance, in less socially developed places, young girls on the brink of womanhood are still strongly persuaded to be a man’s idea of a “woman”.

Although some people believe that the sex role theory or the socialization model of gender as a process, in which we absorb instructions prescribed by the social institutions to act in the acceptable way to our biological sex, is a trivial issue, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over the gender formation. This significance is accurately noticed by Raewyn Connell, a renown sociologist who proclaimed her views in the essay “Gender in Personal Life” published in Gender: in World Perspective. In her work, the author reveals the flaws of the socialization model, states that psychoanalysis provides a moderately better clarification for the contradictory character of human development and offers a solution that people should actively learn through the dynamic character of gender formation. According to Connell, therefore, the definition of how we acquire gender should not be represented by the socialization model of gender but rather through the emotional contradiction as a part of psychoanalysis and, more importantly, thorough the active and dynamic character of gender formation.