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Unit 9: Status of Women

Women in the Post-Independence Period Notes
The low status of women in India up to late 1940s had mainly stemmed from illiteracy, economic
dependence, religious prohibitions, caste restrictions, lack of female leadership, and apathetic and
callous attitude of males. Everett Jana Matson (1981: 36-43) has identified five specific factors
responsible for the low status of women in India and also for female seclusion in our culture. These
are: Hindu religion, caste system, joint family system, Islamic rule, and British colonialism. The values
of Hinduism held that males were superior to females and that males and females should perform
different roles. Whereas women were supposed to concentrate on their roles as mother and
householder, men were to be concerned with economics and politics. Hindu scriptures prescribed a
dependent position for a woman throughout her lifetime. The caste system imposed many restrictions
on the involvement of women in public affairs. On the one hand, it prescribed an early marriage for
girls; and on the other, it prohibited widow remarriage and prescribed the practice of sati. The
patrilineal joint family system curbed women’s freedom and contributed to their low status in the
family by assigning status based on age, sex and kinship. The status of women further deteriorated
during the Muslim period. Under the socio-political impact of the Islamic rule, Hindus adopted the
Muslim custom of female seclusion, that is, purdah, which implied a complementary division of labour
by sex. Child marriages became very common to protect girls from the evil eyes of Muslim nawabs
and jagirdars. Though the British rulers initially decided not to interfere with the social laws of Hindus
but in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century, when
some male social reformers talked of reforms for women and their efforts provided incentive to
women’s movements, the British Government agreed to abolish/change some social customs through
legislative measures.
What is the status of women in India today? How do we analyze the change in their status? Five
methods have been mainly used in assessing the status of women.
Historical Method
It focuses on legacy in ancient society and its perpetuation in medieval and present periods. Social
scientists draw important conclusions about women’s status from the work of historians and
philosophers like Altekar, Indra, Das, and Karve. However, some scholars believe that just citing
examples from the religious scriptures or available records of the past does not constitute a historical
analysis and is rarely very informative, and can often lead to erroneous conclusions and unfortunate
exaggerations. Sociologists trained in the generally reductionist procedures of the hypothetico-
deductive method and other forms of positivism find it difficult, if not impossible, to study women’s
status with historical materials.
Non-empirical Case Study Method
In this method, the status of women is analyzed in terms of patriarchy as a social system, or relationship
between sexual inequality and status of women. The low status of women is explained as the result
of dominance of men over women which has existed historically and cross-culturally.
Empirical Method of Assessing Interpersonal Power
This method studies male dominance over women but in isolation from the patriarchal system of
which it is a part. It holds that the problem (of low status/exploitation/denial of rights) lies in the
dominance of women and the answer lies in the struggle against it. This body of research has focused
not on structured inequality on the societal level but on inequality and the balance of power within
the family. High status of women in this method is associated with egalitarian decision-making and
low status with non-egalitarian decision-making. The empirical study includes in-depth interviews
with women of different communities, classes and categories who have experienced different
behaviour from their husbands and in-laws. While this empirical research method provides valuable
evidence on the relationship between husband dominance and women’s status, it is too narrowly
focused and does not give real picture of general status of women in the society. The patriarchal,
social, and cultural context within which the family is enmeshed and marital power relations are
played out is overlooked.

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