The Role of Women in India:

 

 

From Saris to Suits 

 

 

By Giedre L. and Eshanka J.

B3

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bangalore_scs/373364465/

The ever changing role of women in Indian society is shown in this picture, where women sit side by side with men in an office work place, when generations before, that would have been thought as improper.

 

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-chan/387867400/,  http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilio_navarino/2316540662/

The progress of women in the educational field is also shown in contrast to the more traditional role of an Indian woman as a housewife.

 

 

 

For the longest time, women have been looked down upon as the lesser sex and constrained by the bindings of society. This overall disregard of the equal powers of women has been passed around the world, but as the age of technology progresses, people have come to question their beliefs of the role of women. Especially in India, the traditional and modern tug of war is evident. In the subject of education, traditionally women’s attendance in school was to a great extent smaller than that of men’s. But as the years go by, we can see that the girls are having more chances to get an education, and they are taking those opportunities. Primary school enrollment in 2003 for age-eligible girls was 85%, while overall attendance in secondary schools rose from 13% in 1960 to 32% in 1991. The literacy rates are also increasing for women, since in 1951, the literacy rate was 9%. In 1981 it increased to 30% and in 2001 it increased to 54%. The traditional ideas that women are to stay at home, watch over the children and cook and clean are not as clear as it was before, while women go to work and value education. Even though these changes are occurring, there are still many traditional views that keep holding back the egalitarianism of India’s women. In a survey done in 2004, more than half of the women believed that domestic violence was permissible. Women are also paid less than men for jobs that they are equally certified for in both rural and urban areas. Because the society still favors males over females, the male population is bigger than the female, females are malnourished and provided with fewer health care services, and female baby and fetus killings are alarmingly higher than those of males. Laws against discrimination, female bondage and prostitution, wife murders and widow burnings (satis) are often forgotten. It is noticeable that the role of Indian women is changing its view on what is appropriate or encouraged for women to do, but India still has a long way to go before their women are truly appreciated and recognized as the parallels of men.

 

 

Mini-dialogue between traditional mother and more modern daughter

 

Mother: Beti, please come and help me with the cooking. Your father is about to get home from work and he likes his food ready!

 

(Daughter is rushing around putting books in a backpack)

 

Daughter: Mummie, I have to go to class! I'm going to be late for my review session at the college!

 

Mother: Oh, you and your college-shmollege. You don't need to go for every review session, or even those classes that you take. How many times have I told you that all you need to do is settle down with a nice Indian man....

 

Daughter: Mummie! I am NOT having this conversation again! I will become a respected and well-educated lady with the credentials to trump any man that stands in my way! Nothing you say can change that!

 

Mother: You want respect? You want to be dignified? Well let me tell YOU that a woman gains respect by being a wife and mother, by taking care of her family and raising her children up to be good people. And I know your whole talk about equality. Did you even think about how women are revered in the Hindu religion for their powers of creation of life? 

 

Daughter: That may be so mummie, but this is a new age. If I want to get anywhere in this world, I must get the best grades that I can and be at the top of my class.

 

(Door slams shut as brother walks out the door)

 

Mother: Oh, and look at your brother go out like that, my beta. He is serious about it, just as he should be. He must make a name for himself...

 

Daughter: That is EXACTLY what I am planning on doing mummie! Why can't you be so supportive of me as you are with bhai [brother]?

 

Mother: It's not the same thing....And besides, you will never be paid as well, and you will end up as an unmarried woman living by yourself, and without any children!

 

Daughter: That is why we must learn to accept women as equals, so that they can be paid the same and viewed as the same as men. And anyways, I don't see such a problem in living as an unmarried woman! If I were educated and in a position that I loved, I would be satisfied.

 

Mother: Aiyaaaah! Beti, don't say that. You must pray to the gods everyday so that you are blessed with a family of your own...

 

(Daughter cuts her off)

 

Daughter: I will pray to the gods to give me success in my career, THAT'S what I'll do. And nothing will happen in that direction if I don't get to school, so goodbye mummie! I know you still do want me to do well in class!

 

(Daughter starts heading for the door)

 

Daughter: Ah, mummie, is there an apple or something that I can grab to go?

 

Mother: No, no, at least sit down and have some tea? A Samosa, a little bit of rice, or maybe a roti?

 

Daughter: I don't have time!

 

(Grabs an apple from the counter and walks out the door. Mother calls after her)

 

Mother: And be careful when you are driving! I don't know why your father even let you have a car, you're going to end up in an accident and then who's to blame, ah? You should have gotten a ride with your brother! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For further reading, these two novels about the difficulties of growing up in the United States as an Indian woman are recommended:

~Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

~For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

"India." Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. 12th ed. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/>.

 

“Resources and infrastructure: Education.” Economist Intelligence Unit: Country Profile: India. 31 July 2006. Economist Intelligence Unit. 5 May 2008. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/>. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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