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SOCIO-CULTURAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA: A HISTORICAL

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 Volume-04 ISSN: 2455-3085 (Online)
Issue-03 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary
March-2019 www.rrjournals.com[UGC Listed Journal]

Socio-Cultural status of Women in India: A Historical Perspective

Dr. Partha Sarathi Mallik

Assistant Professor, Fakir Chand College (India)

ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT

Article History Gender as a socio-cultural construct of assignment of role, responsibility, value, attitudes
Published Online: 13 March2019 and status to two different sex . Women as a socio-culturally devalued gender in Indian
society and the facets of valuation or devaluation has a historical perspective. In this paper
Keywords attempt is made the status of women in different times and initiatives taken by society to
Women Empowerment, Historical ameliorate the condition. But in spite of several constitutional measures or different plane or
perspective. policies taken by government, till date their social status has not changed. So along with
* Government different Non Governmental organisations should come forward for their
Corresponding Author
Email: partha_sarathimallik@rediffmail.com empowerment.

1. Introduction Polygamy began to increase and child marriage came into

According to World Health Organisation Gender is a socio- vogue (Mahajan, V.D., 2018). In the Aitareya Brahmana,
culturally constructed regarding the behaviour, action and role daughter has been described as a source of misery for
a particular sex would perform. As a result the attitude, value parents, also in the Atharva Veda its is seen deplorable
and belief in connection to the role and status of a particular condition of women, for example the widow has to lay
sex are formed. Some time the socio-cultural scenario show symbolically by the side of her husband‟s corpse in the funeral
the pictures where women got the prominent role and pyre in later stage this became the Satidaha custom in society.
sometimes negligible and curtailed the freedom in society. The During the period of Smritis, it is found a similar status of
progress or development of any society has direct positive women with the sudras and they were not given the right to
relation with the status of women in that society. In the history study the Vedas, to utter Vedic mantras and to perform Vedic
of Indian civilisation, women dominated the social scene for a rites like their male counterparts. The primary and compulsory
long period and were the virtual head of the families while men duty of a woman is to marry and immerse in domestic life and
were busy with their nomadic life and hunting pursuits. As per they were restricted to lead their live in the four walls of
the traditional bio-social theory regarding the wok and husband‟s home have to work like machine.
responsibility division between male and female, the female
are entrusted with the work of care taker, family manger, give Gautama Buddha (563---483BC) was the first religious
birth to child and male are produce and controller of economic teacher who never shared the Brahmin's view regarding
affairs. As a result the social respect and values are women. According to him, daughters were quite as good as
differenced and favours the male. Women are perceived as sons were. During this period women get the opportunity to
devalued social group in India. This devaluation has its own lead a liberal and independent life and they can decide their
religious driven socio-cultural explanations and inherited own path of leading life. Their marriage was no longer a
patriarchal family system. In Rig Vedic era, women were compulsion. The Buddha had given opportunity for women
admitted to full religious rights and were also having complete participation in the religious activities like male in the society.
educational opportunities for the development of their Like the male nuns Goutam Buddha provides opprinited for
personality (Tripathy, Prabha Chandra, 2000). They had a say women to admit the sangha, matha or vihars as Bhikkhuni,
in family matters, took vital decisions of life and were free to although there were separate Bhikhuni Sangha for them which
choose their own life mates. The ancient system of show the example about equality between male and female.
"Swayamvara" which is mentioned in holy scripts and in many Many eminent nuns shone brilliantly in the study and practice
epics is a testimony to this. Child marriage as a socio-cultural of the religion. The Psalms of the Sisters (Therigatha)
menace in the present time was not found during Vedic containing 77 verses by individual nuns is one of the prides of
period. A woman in ancient India was dignified and was given Buddhist literature (Dhammananda, 2003; Hallisey, Charles,
due importance in the society. In short, they not only enjoy the 2015).
equal status with the men of the then period but also had more
prestigious position at times than the men had. In sixth century BC, Jainism also came into existence.
Lord Mahavira HAD ALSO AN SPIRIT OF CONSIDERATION OF EQUALITY
BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE. In reality because of the gender-
Nevertheless, in the later Vedic period, women started to
lose their importance as well as the position and their status stereotyping that has taken place for thousands of years in a
began to wane. Though several women enjoyed educational patriarchal society and the inherent biological differences
rights and acquired fame for learning, yet the social status in between male and female, the roles prescribed for men and
general was not the same as that of the Rig Vedic period. women are different especially in a social and cultural setup.
Society slowly curtailed down the freedom of the women and Nevertheless, the roles played by both of them are equally
not allowed them to voice their opinions in family matters as important for the concerns of wellbeing of their children and
well as political, social and economic matters of the society. family. From the evidence found in the oldest Jain texts, it

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 Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

appears that among the Svetambara Jains, women were burden and they were reduced to doing the chores of
allowed to lead monastic life. However, according to household.
Digambaras women cannot achieve liberation without first
being reborn as a man. This is because women cannot live a However, these evils present in medieval age were mainly
truly austere life (they have to possess clothes since it is confined to Hindu and Muslim society. As compared to them,
impractical for them to live naked). For Digambaras woman's other societies such as Buddhist, Jain and Christians were a
very femaleness creates spiritual inequality (Collins, Nancy bit lenient and were more liberal in their approach with respect
Quinn, 2018). to religious direction for women. Women in these religious
driven societies enjoyed far more freedom and had easy
However, the admission of women into the Order under access to education. According to these religions male and
Buddhism as well as Jainism was a step too advanced for the female both have same and equal opportunities for religion and
period and was fleeting. Essentially, the people were unable to salvation.
adapt themselves to the improved conditions and tended to
regress back to the society that they were used to. 2. Women during the pre independence period
Antagonistic propaganda by the Brahmins, who found their Due to the lack of self-confidence and economic
caste system destabilized and privileges giving way, was also backwardness of the women, male chauvinism has been
a factor that caused the decline of the Orders. completely established in the orthodox Hindu society. Most of
the families as well as the society considered the female folk
In Mauryan period (fourth century BC), Brahmanical as material object. They did not get any regard and freedom in
literature was mostly brutal in the treatment of women and daily life. The spread of western education and philosophy in
assigned them a very low status in the society. Owing to the nineteenth century made the men concerned about the status
suppressed condition of women in the society of his time, it is of the other half of the society. The reformation movement was
possible that Emperor Ashoka (304–232 BC), a great devotee at first concentrated to abolish the sinister customs from the
of the Buddha, felt the need to appoint a special group of society. The next most necessary step was to spread female
mahamattas who would be concerned mainly with the welfare education. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the torchbearer of social
of women. During his time, women took part in religious reforms for the women, was strictly against this societal evils
preaching. Sanghamitra, who was the daughter of King practice prevalent in his time. He is the man who has given
Ashoka, along with her brother Mahendra went to Sri Lanka to credit for abolishing this Satidaha lawfully. It was due to his
preach Buddhism. In the smirti and Purans women are efforts and endeavour that Lord William Bentinck banned the
equated as a property which could be given away or taken as a custom of Sati in 1829. The abolition of this customary practice
loan. This socio-cultural attitude of equating women as and enactment of law aganist this had not only a significant
property has a relation with typical patriarchal social system. effect on life of women but also it changed mind-set of people
Because of this, the socio-religious customary law during post to some extent. He wished to stop child marriage from society
vedic or Brahman period did not allow any proprietary rights to and start of widow remarriage system. Along with Dwarka Nath
women. The women had her rights only jewels, ornaments or Tagore, he founded "Brahmo Samaj" for the reformation of
any gifts given to her which is known as stridhana, aprt from Hindu society and emancipation of women. In this context, we
these neither she had rights on her fathers property or in-laws must remember that the Christian missionaries established first
property. This type of societal attitude was more prominent female schools in India. Obviously, they had their own interest
during Gupta (fourth century AD) and Post Gupta periods. and the upper caste Hindu families did not show any positive
Though according to Hiuen Tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim attitude towards the endeavour of the missionaries. Mahatma
(early seventh century AD), Rajyashri (the sister of King Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was given credit for opening first girl
Harshavardhana) was a distinguished scholar of her time yet school in India. He, after educating his wife, opened a school
the broad scenario was nothing like that. The practice of using for girls belonging to the lower castes in 1848. This was the
veils by women particularly in high caste families was in vogue. second girl‟s school in India established by the Indians. Peary
Actually, the earlier invaders, who came to India, looted, Charan Sarkar who was a former student of Hindu College
plundered and destroyed temples and marauding soldiers situated at Calcutta and a member of "Young Bengal" set up
abducted young girls and women. the first free school for girls in 1847 in Barasat, a suburban city
of Calcutta (the school was later named as Kalikrishna Girls'
As life, property and the chastity of women were at High School). Mahatma Phule is one who had opened first
immediate danger, each community strongly impose some home for widows from the higher caste and a home for
socio-cultural norms to protect women. It can be assumed that newborn girl children to save them from female infanticide.
child marriage was practised to keep the girl chaste before Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was another pillar of social
marriage or protect them from abduction before grown reformation movement in 19th century. He widely read ancient
attractiveness. The widows from the upper caste had to shave Hindu religious texts and found that the gender discrepancy or
their hair (mundan), so that they look less attractive to keep lower status of women which was prevailing in society is not
them safe from the lust of foreign soldiers , the wide spread rooted in true sense in spiritual scriptures rather it was the
practice of forceful Sati amongst martial race became the output of nasty politics done at that time to keep women as
norms during this unsettled period of Indian history. Hindu subordinate to men. He had done a lot for widow remarriage.
women lost all their liberties and became objects requiring Due to his incessant effort, widow remarriage was legitimated
male protection. As a result, daughters were considered as in 1856. His role for spread of women education was
praiseworthy. First female school in which the respected Hindu

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 Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

families started to send their daughters was the „Calcutta was strictly against the child marriage and favoured widow
Female School‟, established by J.E.D. Bethune in 1849 (later remarriage. He said that the girls are also capable of
the school was named Bethune School). His attempt was everything that boys can do. It was mainly due to his efforts
strongly supported by Madan Mohan Tarkalankar, Vidyasagar, 'right to vote' came naturally to Indian women after
Dakshinaranjan Mukhopadhyay and others. Madan Mohan independence whereas in other developed nations like
Tarkalankar sent his own daughters in that school. Vidyasagar, England and America women got this right after lot of protest.
who was the honorary secretary of that school, established 50
female schools in Bengal in 1857 onwards. He got great 3. Women during the post independence period
support from the then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal After independence the government of India has tried to
F.J.Halliday. However, in the initial stage there was no financial enact laws, rules, positive discriminatory policies and
backing from the Government. The venture was solely measures for safeguard of women‟s interest and for their up
dependent on the personal funding (Narishiksha bhandar) of liftment due to its very spit of democracy, sovereignty and
Vidyasagar and his supporters. It should be remembered that socialistic nature of governance. In the constitutional
in the rural area there were no scope of girls‟ formal and non- framework the divisive social forces are tried to be reduced
formal education due to the lack of girls‟ school and educated and attempt has been made for equality in respect of caste,
parents and liberal persons in the family. Not only that, gender and religion etc. Also sufficient legislative measures
wherever there were girls‟ school the male teachers were not are enacted and developmental policies are initiated to
accepted by the orthodox Hindus. Another major hindrance increase women participation in economic affairs by coming
was child marriage. At that phase, the role of Brahmo Samaj out of the traditional and rigid socio-cultural constraints and
was remarkable. Keshab Chandra Sen, one of the renowned customs and attitudes; initiatives have been take for increasing
leader of Brahmo Samaj, wanted to train female teachers with awareness of sex equality, but the index of success of mission
the help of Miss Merry Carpenter (who came to India with the seems to have found among elite circles. The occupational,
mission of spreading female education). He established property and other legislations have clearly upgraded the
„Female Normal School‟ (1871) for women teachers‟ training, quality of many individual women‟s lives. However, these
„Metropolitan Female school‟ (1879) etc. Though several girls‟ changes are not indicative of any significant improvement in
schools were started at that period, yet the mind-set of the the status of women as a whole, especially amongst the low
Hindu society was not favourable to enlighten the female folk. caste, illiterate and poor female population who are in a
In the late nineteenth century only the women of the Brahmo, majority. It means Gender as a socio-cultural constructed
Christian and educated Hindu families got the opportunities of phenomenon when inter mix with other social challenges like
formal or non-formal education. However, the large section of Caste (Scheduled caste) , religion (Minority), locality (rural), it
the female was in the dark. Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the further aggravates the status.
founder of Araya Samaj had translated Veda from Sanskrit to
Hindi, so that common man including women can understand Census 2011 shows our national sex ratio as 943:1,000
the vedic religious scripture and apprehend that the ancient (943 females for every 1,000 males). The Declining trend in
scripture gives utmost importance on women. He emphasized sex ratio, from 972 in the year 1901 to933 in 2001 and 943 in
for the equal rights of women and men in every facets of life. the year 2011, indicates the actual deteriorating condition of
He tried to change the mind-set of people with his Vedic women in the society. Biological evidence proves that resistant
teachings. to diseases power women is more than men. Life expectancy
is a proof of that. In our country, life expectancy of women is
Situation gradually changed in the first half of the twentieth 65.27 years whereas for men it is only 62.36 years. Though
century. The social reformers of nineteenth century although women have a higher death rate until the age of 34, the
had laid down the stage for the emancipation of women from probabilities of survival after this age are higher. Therefore, the
socio-cultural evil practices but it became more vibrant and ratio of female above 60 years is greater than male. However
spread to the mass by the initiative of Mohan Das Karam the child sex ratio (in the age group of zero to six) in India has
Chand Gandhi. He was the one who liberated Indian women dropped to 914 females against 1,000 males -- the lowest
largely from the clutches of Purdah and other social evils. In since Independence, in the provisional 2011 Census report
Gandhi‟s mission of free India women have participated in the released by the Government of India. Despite of laws to
struggle for independence. According to him, women should be prevent abortion of female foeticide and schemes to encourage
released from the slavery of kitchen and only then, their true families to have girl child, the ratio has declined from 927
potential could be realised. According to him although women female children against 1,000 male children in 2001 to 914,
have a vital responsibility in household affairs but it should not which was perceived as a "matter of grave concern" by Census
be the only one duty and responsibility for them. In fact, Commissioner of India C. Chandramauli. It portrays social
women should come forward to share the responsibilities of discrimination shown towards women even at the stage of
nation building. It was due to his efforts female participation in birth. Main reasons of this high gap in the ratio are sex wise
the struggle for independence became visible. They came out abortions and female infanticide. Although Abortion is legal in
of their homes to organise meetings and processions, to our country but sex based abortion is a crime here (Regulation
spread the message of Swadeshi, to sell khadi, to give away & Prevention of Misuse Act 1994, which prohibits any prenatal
their jewellery and ornaments, to picket near the shops of diagnostic techniques and sex selective abortions). However,
foreign cloth. He spread the message of equality of gender to gender wise abortions are on the rise in India. Although
the masses and criticised the desire of Indian people to have abortion of female foetus in society has a high relation with
male child instead of a female (Patel, Sujata, 1988). Gandhiji poverty due to son preference attitude for economic return

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 Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

point of view but in some societies opposite pictures are higher among female (11.8%) where as it is (6.9%) among
visualised. In economically developed states such as Haryana male in the 2001--2011 decadal period that indicates narrowing
and Punjab, the tendency is found to be more. Though there is of the literacy gender gap. Nevertheless, there is huge
an increasing trend in 2011 census still Punjab and Haryana discrepancy in between male literacy and female literacy. More
remained at the bottom of the list of sex ratio. Haryana has 830 boys are enrolled in primary schools than girls are. In addition,
female children and Punjab 846 against per 1,000 male more girls drop out of school before any kind of graduation or
children. The accepted reason for practice of female infanticide certificate than boys do. Of course, the reason for this result of
in India is the existence of dowry system, where parents of studies is the perception of the society about the role of women
girls have to pay a great deal of money to the parents of groom in the family, especially in poor areas, that women do not need
during marriage. By avoiding a girl, a family can avoid paying a education, as they have no financial responsibilities to maintain
large dowry on the marriage of their daughter. families. It is true that the people living a life below the poverty
line do not have enough funds to educate all their children.
In India dowry remains as the major point of discrimination Hence, they prefer giving education to boys and keep girls
and injustice shown to women. It has always been an away from schools and colleges. Even if girls get a basic
important part of Hindu marriages. Not only among Hindus, are education, they are often called back to stay at home when
its evil tentacles now spreading to other religions also. they start their teenage in order to help their mother in choirs of
Although dowry was legally prohibited in 1961 (Dowry household. Another problem is a lack of job offers to educated
Prohibition Act), it continues to be highly institutionalised. As women in rural areas. Usually parents consider it very
per the prohibition of dowry Act, the precipitant and provider of unproductive to get the girl children higher educated as it end
dowry will be sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years and a fine up working on a field and traditional engagement in domestic
of Rs 15,000 or the value of dowry if that is more. Still the works like cooking, watering crop or taking care of cattle etc.
practice of dowry abuse is rising in India. It is ridiculous to see Primarily in rural and economically back ward areas, parents
that even among highly educated sections the practice of hardly found any scope of engagement for their daughters.
dowry is seen which is perceived as a symbol of status from People have no better outlook on the future if they go to
both end. The statistics are more in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh school. Consequently, the gender disparity in literacy rate is
but miserably, the largest IT sector of the country, Bangalore higher in rural areas.
has also recorded an alarming rise (Ministry of Women and
Child Development, 2015). Despite several Acts and schemes undertaken by the
Government, women are immobilized and are mistreated
It is found from the survey data that half of the world‟s inside and outside the home. Intense study reveals that the
malnourished children live in India primarily due to the non- level of awareness of Government schemes is very low.
availability of nutritious food to their mother during pregnancy Therefore, more effective publicity as well as system for
period. In all the stages of human development i.e. prenatal, monitoring women welfare and empowering programmes has
postnatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence the girls or women to be developed. Along with the Government lots of non-
suffer from malnutrition purely due to the discriminatory and governmental organisations are also involved in the process of
the narrow social attitude mentalities. This type of capacity building of the underprivileged women to improve their
discriminatory attitude is more prominent among lower middle situations economically, educationally, socially and physically.
class or below the poverty line families. In the poor families
where the income is not sufficient to fulfil the basic needs of 4. Conclusion
life, the male members get the priority in case of food and The status of women in Indian society is basically guided
nutrition without any consideration to the health of the or shaped by socio-cultural beliefs, attitude and practice. Vedic
females. period was the golden time where the conservative gender
differentia attitude or practices were hardly found. But
Poverty is a major cause of poor health and various social gradually due to various religious and other social problems
issues in India so also the issue of illiteracy and lack of like, poverty, caste system the situation become worse.
education to girls is closely related to poverty. As per census Although constitutional frame work have been enacted,
data, 2011, literacy rate in India is 74.04%. where the male developmental policies have been under taken but those
literacy rate is 82.14% and that for females is 65.46%. As per cannot be fruitful to achieve the mission of equality without the
the literacy rate it shows a significant decrease of the gap in change of social attitude and this direction education is
comparison to the year 2001. In the year the literacy gap was suggested as best mechanism
21.59 percentage in 2001 which is reduced to 16.68
percentage points in 2011 . Also trend of literacy growth is

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