WOMEN: BACKGROUND AND PERSPECTIVE
WHERE DO THE ROOTS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN LIE
It is a paradox of modern India that women wield power and hold positions at the topmost levels, yet large sections of women are among the most underprivileged. Some women from the upper classes head political parties and command large followings, yet women 's representation in the Parliament and state legislatures has not been more than 10 per cent.
The roots of discrimination against women lie in the religious and cultural practices of India. The beginning of changes started with the reform movements in the nineteenth century, which addressed practices like sati, child marriage, life of the widows, etc. The status of women in the contemporary context is reflected in the state of their health, education, employment and life in society.
Today, Indian women have won several victories against an oppressive way of life and are poised to raise pertinent questions that will make their lives more emancipating.
The position of women in ancient India has been a very complicated one because of the paradoxical statements in different religious scriptures and sometimes in the same text at different places. Some have described their status as ‘equals to men’, while others have held not only in disrespect but even in positive hatred.
This is why it has presented many problems to sociologists while evaluating women’s status in India. The cultural history of India reveals that in India
Deja Patterson English 3 Honors 2nd Block Mr. Colagross 4 January 2016 Doubt Analysis: Oppression of Women It is said that as a woman you are suppose to stay home, clean up, breed and raise the children. Women were not allowed to hold a higher job or success than men because they might feel intimidated and their ego might actually shirk instead of being inflated. The concept of how women are suppose to portray, have been suppressing women into these roles by both men and women since the earth has been created.
Women fighting for their equality in society is still an issue in the western and non-western countries. This paper will explore women’s rights such as their employment and health rights in India and Canada as they are still very controversial issues today. India is known as a country with a patriarchal system, where inequality and gender issues of women are more frequently seen as opposed to Canada. Canada is known as a country with various types of people from several ethnic backgrounds and where equality is most commonly seen with a very few exceptions. “Urban India still faces the issue of women’s employment and reproductive rights, however, there are resources such as the ‘Action Aid’s Young Urban Women’ program to help support these poor
Women in Chinese and Indian cultures faced the issue of subordination to their male counterparts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In order to make sure women didn’t surpass them, men in Chinese and Indian cultures both physically and emotionally wounded women to the degree that they felt incapable of demanding equality. In China, some of the most prominent issues mentioned in the article, Liberating Chinese Women and Their Feet, translated by Nancy Gibbs, are marriage and the role foot binding plays in it, as well as women’s failure to rise up to their male counterparts. Similarly, some of the issues mentioned about India in the piece, The High-Caste Hindu System, by Pandita Ramabai, are lack of freedoms, especially to quality education for girls; and female dependence on men.
Throughout history discrimination has had a negative impact on people and has cause certain groups of people to suffer. Discrimination can be against people of different race, religion, gender and sexuality and in the late 1800’s women were one of the groups that were discriminated. Women had to fight hard to obtain the rights they now have in the 21st century and many of the women who fought for equal rights didn’t get to experience those rights since laws in their favor weren’t passed until years and years of fighting. In the late 1800’s American women were discriminated because they were not granted the same rights as men in the workforce, women had to be obedient to their husbands in their marriage and society had certain norms that women
Women’s place and role in the society is something that has been discussed and changed over time. Should their rights be the same as men’s? Should they be superior? Inferior? The world faces a dilemma on weather they should be or not equal as men.
There are many different societies in our world today, and each of these communities treat and group their people differently. While some places, like the United States, do not have set groups, others, like India, have very strict laws about what each class can and cannot do. The Caste system in India is a great example of how one society strictly groups their members. The Caste system is a class structure that is determined at birth.
With the rise of civilization also came the rise of patriarchy-based societies and the slow decline of the importance of women in society. For the longest time the history of the world has been written by men who have been the head of the patriarchy and have forgotten the role of women in history. It is important to realize that women do in fact have a place at the table with men when it comes to importance in history, and are not just the ones cooking and serving the meal. It is women who tasked with raising the next generation. By looking at women of the past, people of the future can learn and evolve to fight oppression and gain their own power.
The issue of women’s rights and how different societies and cultures deal with it had been on the table for many centuries. In the United States of America during the 1800s, women began to move toward and demand getting equal rights as men, they decided to speak up and fight for their stolen rights. In the 1960s, continued working toward their goal, women broadened their activities through the women’s rights movement which aimed to help them in gaining their right to receive education, occupy the same jobs that were once titled only for men, and get an access to leadership positions. The women’s rights movement has a great impact on women today, although it started a long time ago, but it did not stop and women are reaping their fruit today,
The faith of ancestor’s instruction defeats women to make a better life and raise their social
In an article authored by Urvashi Agarwal on the role of females in Indian culture, she even points out the difference in emotions between the birth of a girl and boy: “sohras – the joyous songs of celebration sung at the birth of a child in the Hindi-speaking belt – are almost never sung for newborn daughters. Indeed, many sohras express the mother’s relief that this has not been the case and her worst fears have been proven to be unfounded” (Agarawal). This indifference towards females acts a specific example that shows undoubtedly that they are seen below men in the Indian hierarchy. In most conflicts involving an Indian family, it is safe to say that there is a presumption that the person higher up in social status, or in the case of Monsoon Wedding, the older and male Tej, would have the benefit of the doubt over a young girl like Ria. In addition, Lalit and the family were tremendously indebted to Tej, as he not only offers to pay for Ria’s entire American college education, but for the wedding as well.
1.2 Background Females are an integral part of human civilization. No society or country can ever progress without an active participation of female in its general development. The status of female in society is directly linked with social and cultural traditions, stages of economic development achieved, educational levels, attitude of the society towards women, social and religious taboos, women's own awareness and political attainments. Through the centuries, the image and the role of female have been observed and studied in various ways, and the acquired knowledge has been recorded in literature, works of art, religious texts, mythology and codes of social behaviour.
Women in Mahabharata and Today’s Society Literature reflects the norms, condition, and culture of a society, and when it comes to “The Mahabharata”, an epic which is said to be a collection of stories taken over a certain period, certainly reflects the then society to a great extent. Generally, the authorship of “The Mahabharata (The Stories of the Descendants of Bharata)” is attributed to sage Vyasa. However, it was composed over many years and today’s Mahabharata is an edition of many a men. According to Monier Williams, “it is not one poem, but a compilation of many poems, not a Kavya by one author, but an Itihasa by many authors (Draupadi of Mahabharat: History of Women Empowerment, 230).” Many attempts has been taken till date to reveal the composition period of this epic and history behind it as it is granted as one of the most important scriptures from the view of World History which can give us more clear ideas of ancient Indian society.
The recent Constitutional amendments (73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments) brought about significant changes in the political scenario of the country with regard to women’s participation in politics. However, in India, attempts to secure political representation in higher political arenas have not been successful. Fresh impetus is required with a modern approach. Indian democracy is 60 years old now, yet the participation of women in politics has actually declined since the days of the freedom movement, both in quantity and
Introduction In India, discriminatory attitude towards men and women have existed for generations and thus it affect the lives of both genders. Although the constitution of India has granted men and women equal rights, but gender gap still remains. Female discrimination violates human rights. These are mostly seen in family land sharing among sisters and brothers.
Article 14 of the Constitution of India stipulates that “the state not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Protection prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion race, caste, sex or place of birth.” Therefore this law should imply that all Indian women have and can practice the same rights as men. However these laws, while legally set in stone, are not socially acknowledged much of the time.