Women In Rig-Vedic Period

Women in Rig-Vedic period played a important role in their family, in the society and even in the political life. They enjoyed positions of equal opportunity and were respected both in the family and society as well. They were not decorative objects, but co-partners in life, in its pleasures and hurdles, in its joys and sorrows. They were imparted education like men and enjoyed considerable freedom in their personal matters. These are evidences of women actively participating in the political activities. They participated in the debate of Vidhatha (the earliest folk assembly of Indo-Aryans) and Sabha along with men. In short, it may be said that women enjoyed a fairly reasonable position during ancient times. The communities as a whole showed

The high status that women enjoyed during the early Vedic period gradually started deteriorating in the late Vedic period. Lineage began to be traced in the male line and sons were the sole heirs to family property. As the economic and social status of sons began to rise, the position of women saw a steep decline. The position of women reached an all-time low during the age of the Dharmashastras. It is during this age that codes of conduct, prescribing behavior norms for women were evolved. This period saw the exclusion of women from both economic and religious spheres. During the period of the Dharmashastra, child marriage was encouraged and widow marriage was looked down upon. The birth of girl child was considered as an ill omen and many parents went to the extent of killing the female infants. The practice of Sati became quite widespread because of the ill treatment meted out to widows. The system of Purdah which was prevalent among royal families, nobles and merchant prince classes prior to the advent of Muslims spread to other classes also. The priestly class misinterpreted the sacred texts and created an impression that all these evil practices had religious sanction like Sati, Widow Marriage, Right to Property, Child Marriage, Female Feticide. According to ancient Hindu texts and tradition, until about 500 B.C. women in India enjoyed considerable freedom. But

Empowerment is the process of building the capacities of women, creating an atmosphere which will enable people to fully utilize their creative potentials. The empowerment of women refers to providing the necessary rights and responsibilities of women in order to make them self-reliant. Traditionally, Indian women have been brought to become workers or servants to serve the man – dominating the world. Even in mythology, there is no gender equity and women were deprived of their legal rights, to get property, education privacy, social status and they were never treated as participants in any developmental works. The status of women empowerment in India using various indicators like women 's household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, political participation, acceptance of unequal gender role, exposure to media, access to education, experience of domestic violence etc. based on data from different sources. Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. The household decision-making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with their age, education and employment status.

1.4.2.3 Economic Sphere - Women were valued in the middle Ages, but only as an economic commodity. They served two main functions within medieval society: child bearer and manual laborer. Because women represented a large