Page 228 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 9: Status of Women

with domesticity, so occupations requiring these same skills are not economically valued. Men Notes
have traditionally been viewed as the breadwinner or the worker, so jobs held by men have
been historically economically valued and occupations predominated by men continue to be
economically valued and pay higher wages.
• Gender inequality can further be understood through the mechanisms of sexism. Discrimination
takes place in this manner as men and women are subject to prejudicial treatment on the basis
of gender alone. Sexism occurs when men and women are framed within two dimensions of
social cognition.
• There are two schools of thought regarding the status of women in ancient India. One school
has described women as “the equals of men”, while the other school holds that women were
held not only in disrespect but even in positive hatred. Both schools refer to several passages
from religious literature to prove their point. Apastamba had prescribed: “All must make a
way for a woman when she is treading a path”. Since we behave in this way for those whom we
respect, it indicates the high esteem in which women were held. Manu had said: “Where the
female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes, but where they are not unhappy,
the family ever prospers.” At another place, Manu had said: “Where women are honoured, the
gods are pleased but where they are not honoured, no sacred rite yields any reward”.
Yagnavalkya had said: “Women are the embodiment of all divine virtues on earth. Soma has
bestowed all his purity on them, Gandharva has given them sweetness of speech and fire has
showered all his brilliance to make them most attractive.” Such lofty ideals about them have
been repeated in the Ramayana and the Mahabharta also. In the Mahabharta, women were
held not only as centres of domestic life but also as pivots of entire social organization. Man
was required to bend his will before that of his wife and to serve her and to adore her.
• Violence against women is partly a result of gender relations that assumes men to be superior to
women. Given the subordinate status of women, much of gender violence is considered normal
and enjoys social sanction. Manifestations of violence include physical aggression, such as blows
of varying intensity, burns, attempted hanging, sexual abuse and rape, psychological violence
through insults, humiliation, coercion, blackmail, economic or emotional threats, and control over
speech and actions. In extreme, but not unknown cases, death is the result. These expressions of
violence take place in a man-woman relationship within the family, state and society. Usually,
domestic aggression towards women and girls, due to various reasons remain hidden.
• Cultural and social factors are interlinked with the development and propagation of violent
behaviour. With different processes of socialisation that men and women undergo, men take
up stereotyped gender roles of domination and control, whereas women take up that of
submission, dependence and respect for authority. A female child grows up with a constant
sense of being weak and in need of protection, whether physical social or economic. This
helplessness has led to her exploitation at almost every stage of life.
• The family socialises its members to accept hierarchical relations expressed in unequal division
of labour between the sexes and power over the allocation of resources. The family and its
operational unit is where the child is exposed to gender differences since birth, and in recent
times even before birth, in the form of sex-determination tests leading to foeticide and female
infanticide. The home, which is supposed to be the most secure place, is where women are most
exposed to violence.
9.7 Key-Words

1. Ardhangnis : Better halves
2. Kumaris : Unmarried girls
3. Veil : Purdah

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