Gender and equality in India

AST1ICI lecture 5Banaras ca. 1979, Bengali couple. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T10H53Ssjd8

Prominent Indian Women

• India had a woman PM long before Australia

• Women in India have traditionally played quite prominent roles.

• The queen of Jhansi was a hero of the 1857 freedom war.

http://tv-serials-stars.blogspot.com/2010/06/jhansi-ki-rani-on-zee-tv.html

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/india/history.html

‘Desirable women’

• The favour of Goddesses such as Lakshmi is desired by all, as she is the goddess of wealth.

• Annapurna, the giver of food, also plays a key place in the belief systems of many poor people in India.

Mahalakshmi, Calender art, Banaras ca. 1978

‘Powerful Women’

• Women in Hindu stories are often dangerous and powerful figures.

• Goddesses such as Durga had the power to defeat men.

• Gods and their consorts are both powerful, such as Shiva and Shakti

Durga wall painting, Banaras ca. 1980

‘Dangerous women’

• In village Hinduism local gods and in particular goddesses are quick to anger and if not kept happy with offerings will become angry and cause suffering.

• It is dangerous not to appease Shitala goddess of small pox.

http://crispy.customer.netspace.net.au/varanasi/varanasi4.htm

Traditional gender roles

• Gender roles can’t be understood without considering family structures.

• The key factor is the importance of the joint family system.

• Almost all Indians traditionally lived in joint families.

http://crispy.customer.netspace.net.au/varanasi/varanasi5.htm

Family structures

• In a joint family brothers live together in their family home.

• Wives move into the house of their husband’s family.

• Women and men relate more as groups than as individuals.

Banaras ca. 1980

Regional caste/class differences

• There are some regional differences.

• Matriarchal systems in Tripura and Kerala.

• Stronger roles of women in Bengal.

• More equality and group identity in lower castes.

Rajasthan and Banaras ca. 2009

Indian Women and Islam’s arrival

• Did women in pre-Islamic India have greater equality?

• What was the interaction between Islamic ideas about Purdah and Indian ideas about purity?

• Or was the status of women changing due to the dominance of feudalism in the medieval period?

• These are questions which has been much debated in India.

Drawings of statues from Khajuraho

Colonial era interactions

• Victorian British ideas about morality and hard work influenced Indian women’s movements for uplift.

• Texts like ‘Women’s Dharma Teachings’ taught women how to contribute to family and national growth.

http://pustak.org:2671/home.php?bookid=956

Imbalance in birth rates

• There has always been a preference for sons, as they earn more for a family and have higher status.

• Ultra sound and pre-natal tests have led to a massive increase in gender imbalance.

Delhi ca. 2006, palna means adoptionand this is just outside an orphanageits for mother’s to leave babies in

Marriage and dowry

• Indians often spend most of their earnings on marrying off their children.

• In particular the brides family is hit with the cost of the wedding and often extortionate dowries.

Rekha Poster Banaras ca. 1978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6yta_bcwwQ

1994 Salman KhanMadhuri Dixit

Weddings

• Weddings are of central importance.

• They are about the relationships of two families, not just individuals.

• Arranged marriages are still more common than ‘love marriages’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRyFz8ERJRQ&feature=related

Lavish Weddings

• Weddings, even simple ones, can have hundreds of people at them.

• Some weddings have had thousands of people at them and there is debate about the waste involved.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/the-costliest-indian-wedding-88583

Marriage and Jati (caste)

• Traditionally, and to this day, and even in the Diaspora, most Indians marry in their ‘jati’ communities.

• This plays a key role in determining the continued existence of caste customs and traditions.

http://www.shaadi.com/index.php

Dowry and extortion

• Although in theory dowry is illegal, since 1961, it is widely practiced today.

• The amount of dowry in a consumerist society has grown.

• Dowry extortion is a major middle class issue and tragedy.

http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/08/dowry-in-india-putting-the-institution-of-marriage-at-stake/

Education

• Women were often less educated but now are becoming more equal.

• Women are more ‘marriagable’ if their education matches that of their prospective grooms.

Banaras ca. 1980

Social roles

• Women were traditionally seen as guardians of traditional values and the purity of families.

• Often more religious.• Men were seen as

being able to go out into the world more in the quest for a living.

Rural/Urban divide

• In rural areas there is a greater persistence of the traditional joint family system.

http://pluzmedia.com/news/bollywood/2618/kareena-to-endorse-mahindra-s-powerscooter

• Traditional family structures and gender roles tend to break down in urban areas.

Banaras ca. 2006

‘Manushi’ and women’s liberation

• Women have campaigned for equal rights since independence.

• The magazine Manushi has been a prominent forum.

• Founded in 1978 by Madhu Kishwar it ran till 2006 in print.

http://www.manushi-india.org/issues/issue_cover148.htm

Change and Conflict

• In some areas, such as Haryana, there is conflict between changing family structures and tradition.

• This has led to violence and ‘honour killings’ in extreme cases.

http://fenilandbollywood.com/tag/khap-yuvika-chaudhary/

Gram Panchayats and reservation

• There is reservation for women in local government at the Gram Panchayat level

• Women are taking an increasing role in local governance.

• Also reserved seats for scheduled castes and tribes.

http://www.breds.org.in/llg.html

Gender and Equality• There is no shortage

of leading figures in India who are women.

• Uma Bharti BJP CM. • Sheila Dikshit, CM of

Delhi• Mayavati, CM of UP.• But all represent their

group interests more than their gender.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article304425.ece

http://delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/doit_publicity/Information+and+Publicity/Home/Council+of+Ministers

http://bspindia.org/kumari-mayawati.php

Gender equality=general equality?• Gender inequality

in India has to be seen alongside the issue of caste and economic inequalities.

• Can gender equality be attained whilst there is still such large caste and class inequality in India?

Images from a wedding ritual: Banaras ca. 2006http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr6Eh-wmqTQ&feature=related