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Unit 10: Women's Empowerment

four things : her individual background (educational level, aspiration level, and personal needs), Notes
her social environment (including expectations of kins, husband’s values and family members’
perceptions), her subjective perception (of her status and roles), and her economic base (that is,
level of class-membership). Our analysis pointed out the following facts pertaining to the awareness
of varied types of rights and the level of satisfaction with the enjoyment of rights.
Consciousness of Social Rights
• Awareness of the marriage laws among women is very low. Only about one-tenth women in
our survey were aware of the right to choose their own life-partners, about one-fiftieth were
aware of the correct legal age for marriage, little less than one-fifth were aware of the right
to divorce, little less than one-tenth were aware of legal stipulation of getting alimony after
divorce, less than one-fifth were aware of the legal right of widows to remarry, and little less
than one-fifth were aware of the dowry law. Taking all the aspects together, it could be said
that only about one-tenth women have some awareness of the marriage laws.
• Women play a marginal role in decision-making in the family. Consultation with wife by
husband exists only in insignificant areas of domestic life.
• Conjugal relationship has not achieved any significant importance in husband-wife
relationship.
• Women do not find their position in family frustrating; rather they find their life experience
satisfying.
• About two-thirds women are satisfied with their marriage and family life.
• Level of satisfaction with housework varies inversely with age, education and income. Poor,
illiterate and less educated women as also the middle-aged women are more satisfied with
house-work than rich, educated and young women.
• Women are least liberated from the traditional values and age strongly oriented to the
existing norms.
Consciousness of Economic Rights
• Though only a small number of women (about one-fourth) are aware of the right of a share
in father’s property, a large number (about four-fifths) are aware of the right of a share in
husband’s property.
• A small number of women (about one-third) inherit husband’s property and a negligible
number of them (0.5 per cent) get a share of the father’s property.
• Only about one-tenth women are working and earning in villages and are economically
independent.
• The working women evaluate the roles of housework and homemaker as positively as the
non-working women despite the burden which the role of wage-earning imposes on them.
• About nine out of every ten working women are dissatisfied with their wage-earning work.
This dissatisfaction, however, is caused by the nature of work they do and the wages they
get rather than by the idea of the work itself.
• Women who contribute to family economy are not free to spend their earnings according to
their own choice.

Consciousness of Political Rights
A very small number of women (less than one-fifth) have political awareness.
• Of the women having franchise, about three-fourths exercise it. Interestingly enough, a sense
of an outing rather than a real interest in politics motivates women to vote.

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