Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ASSIGNMENT - 1
What is the understanding of Feminism in West and East? How does modernity
influence gender roles, particularly in India?
improve the status of women. The early female believers were actively involved in the
struggles of the nascent Islamic community. They supported and aided the early Muslim
men to adhere to their faith. In short, Islam does not debase woman (as Western society
does) but rather respects her and regards her as different from but equal to man.
In India, Patriarchal system of families exist and majority of population living in the
rural section of the society, women are treated as burden to the family for the reasons of
education, dowry etc. The fact that girls are needed to assist their mothers at home,
most of the women in rural areas are uneducated. In an Indian household, a male child is
treated very different when compared to a female child in all aspects like giving pocket
money, or sending them to long distance for education or employment. Feminism in
India was challenged by various minority groups for not entirely addressing the needs
of minority populations. Mainstream feminism in India was upper caste and Hindu in its
orientation and did not address the concerns of minority women. This led to the
formation of the Awaaz-e-Niswaan (The Voice of Women) in 1987 in Mumbai in largely
Muslim part of the city. The Muslim community has personal laws that often were
considered harmful to the rights of Muslim women.
How does modernity influence gender roles, particularly in India?
Although the scenario of male domination has decreased comparatively in Indian
society, there are still many issues which vary the gender roles. Long back, in Vedic
period, there were no disparities between male and female. But in the later times, the
traditional system of oppressing females has started. The customs and traditions like
Sati Sahagamanam etc. were abolished and eminent people like Raja Ram Mohan Roy
and Eshwar Chandra Vidhya Sagar have conducted many movements which emphasized
women education. The role of women in various sectors in the present Indian society is
far different from the past. But the country is still severely male-dominant and
unwelcoming to movements that go against sex and gender traditions in India.
In religious matters, the customs and traditions were blindly followed without knowing
the biological reasons behind them. Women were not allowed to take part in all types of
worship. They were not allowed to enter into few temples (in Kerala). In some places,
they are not allowed to touch the idols of Linga. Earlier, the tradition was that women
take care of the kitchen and children; man was the earning member of the household.
This tradition was followed for many years, which is the main reason of women for
having no major role in any development matters. But now, though the trend is changed
and women go out of the home and work the whole day, men dont take charge of the
kitchen, though he is unemployed. In political sector, though they promise to have few
seats reserved for ladies in their manifesto, it never passes into the law due to the male
dominant political parties. Legally, though the transfer of patriarchal property is equal
between sons and daughters, it is rarely followed and women get less share. And the
share which she gets is used for dowry. Her right to manage the land and income from
the property is very less.
Modern influences are affecting the younger generations in parts of India, where girls
are beginning to forgo the more traditional ways of Indian life and break gender
stereotypes. All these traditions and customs are slowly vanishing in the present
generation due to the development in the modern world, especially in India. There are
many policies come up not only for the dalits but also for emphasizing the participation
of women in the present development sector. There are many state governments
assisting women for the education and dowry etc. The patriarchal system of families is
vanishing and women are also going out of home and working. Women have landed in
highly respectable careers. Development and modernization would solve many
problems and bring people a better life.
REFERENCES:
www.sagepub.com/.../6236_Chapter_1_Krolokke_2nd_Rev_Final_Pdf.pdf
Sen, Amartya. "The Many Face of Gender Inequality
G.L. Nijeholt, (1988), Women and development: the fallacy of integration
Chaudhuri, Maitrayee. Feminism in India (Issues in Contemporary Indian
Feminism).
http://womensissues.about.com/od/feminismequalrights/a/FeminisminIndia.htm
Fields of Protest: Women's Movements in India. University of Minnesota Press;
Minneapolis
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http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/j2602e/j2602e04.htm