Essay on the Place of Women in Indian Society

Ours is a hypocritical society:

We say one thing. We do some thing other. We profess morality. We preach values. We give sermons on character. We honour our womenfolk. We place them on a lofty platform. We recite scriptures in their honour. We sing in praise of Sita, Savitri and Damayanti. But we are hollow within. We have given equal rights to our women in our constitution. We talk of women liberation movement. But it is a sad reality that our women are slaves as they were ages ago. It is pleasant to talk about women liberation but no one gives them real freedom.

India is a male dominated society:

Boys are preferred to daughters. Men are superior to women. Man governs unquestioned. The son is always honoured. But why? He will bring us a rich dowry. He will earn for his parents. He will give shelter to his aged parents. He will light the pyre at the time of cremation. He will carry on his father’s generation.

What an illustrious achievement! It is a fact universally acknowledged in India that sons are as sincere as daughters. It is also true that sons barring exception send out their aged parents when the later are unable to work, sons inherit their father’s wealth.

Daughters are a curse:

Parents have to arrange large dowry for them. Daughters are treated as liabilities. It is true to some extent. We have to check the menace of dowry. Girls should reject dowry-hunters. They should organize themselves and fight man injustice against women. They should fight against cruel social inequalities heaped on them. They should women be molested, raped and humiliated in public? Why should not they raise their voice against such injustices?

Women have to be given economic independence to begin with:

Freedom without economic freedom is meaningless. Not to speak of unemployed women, even the employed ones have to depend on husband or in-laws for money. Employed women can’t spend their income as they choose. They work for their in-laws. They have to work at home like drudges. They have to do the entire household job.

Women live in eternal slavery:

A sister has to depend upon his brother. A daughter has to seek her father’s permission for taking up a job. A wife has to move with her husband’s and her in-laws permission. A mother dependent on her sons and husband. A widow can’t move without her son. Thus we have convinced out women that they are essentially was creatures and they need male support for their living.

Polygamy is allowed to men:

A man can marry as many times as he likes. Society keeps its mouth shut. But monogamy is a women’s privilege. Widows are hated and insulted in this great country. Widow marriage yet to get social sanction.

A woman can’t move freely:

A freedom seeking woman is bran® an adulteress and temptress. All social taboos are meant for women has to suffer social inhibitions in every field.

It is a fact that we have now women in leading positions in all respectable fields. And mind, they are not inferior to men. Smt. Indra Gandhi was the strongest Prime Minister in the world of men. Men failed but she succeeded. But as a woman she suffered a lot.

We have women engineers, women doctors, women architects, and woman administrators. The world belongs to women but it is sad that their home does not belong to them. Women are free to choose their career but how many? Very few of them are notionally free and that to in the metropolitan cities.

The village women are yet to see light to western freedom. They work like their cattle in the fields. Very few intellectual women are partly free an; 1 too in some spheres. To sum up, women are yet to get their rightful place in the Indian society. They will have to rise in revolt and end monopoly.