Post on 29-Mar-2015
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