Are Indian Women Truly Liberated?

  •   Thu, Aug 29 2013
  •   Sandhya Soans

August 29, 2013

In the Indian perspective women have always been symbolized as an understanding and a sacrificing figure. The status of women in India has been subjective, but the ongoing change in the society as well as implications of the western culture has been creating a collision on the fluctuating status of the Indian women.

It is not prominent, as to when the hierarchical structure between men and women came into existence. During the stone age, men would hunt and women would be responsible to maintain fire in caves and bringing up children, thus the role distribution took place.

During the medieval period women faced immense discrimination, be it under the emperorship of the Mughal Raj or the British period, the history of violence against women in India has been action-packed.

Post Independence, the change has commenced, starting from Indira Gandhi being Prime Minister of India for fifteen years, is the world's longest serving woman Prime Minister. And with many implications made towards changing the law and system by the Indian government for the women, it has been noted that certainly change is welcomed, but the questions that arise are, “How far is the reach?” “Do the laws that are made for benefiting women really help the needy?”

Even nowadays, despite witnessing urbanization and modernization, women in India continue to face violence. Rape, acid throwing, dowry killings, forced prostitution are some of the brutalities faced by women whereas of late rape has seen a sharp increase following several cases that are now put to record.

India is a male dominant and a patriarchal country. Women have been identified by their father’s or husband’s name, undermining their ability to exist in their own right. Another subject of violence in India is female feticide; a birth of a girl child has always brought dismay in most of the Indian families as a result there is been a decline of women in the society compared to men.

There are some governmental as well as non-governmental organizations striving for the betterment of the women in society but still a large section remains untouched. Women face implied discrimination in employment, in career promotion, sex discrimination, suffer from violence at home and in the office, for instance, sexual harassment.

The list of violence against women is unending and the tribulation has been horrifying, but with the gradual change in the society and mindset women are learning to fight back. Although the concept of fighting for women’s right is limited to urban women and few educated rural women.

A few feminists are determined to give every woman equal rights and take up the battle of violence against women, but in the name of integrity, women, be it urban or rural, be it educated or uneducated, overlook or try to adapt to whatsoever comes their way.

It is an appeal to the women of India, to be real liberating women and strive for their best.

Sandhya Soans - archives :
Sandhya Soans
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • Well wisher, Udupi

    Sun, Sep 01 2013

    It is definitely tru that women are stronger than men
    1.They leave their loving family to get married into husbands house this proves they are mentally stronger, let the men try the other way they will end up in mental asylum.
    2. Women can bear the labour pain this shows that she is physically strong too.
    3. Women as housewives have no retirement age this proves they are professionally strong too.

    Men are only boasters.

  • jacintha, Mangalore

    Sun, Sep 01 2013

    Men and women were equal, or women were more than equal in pre-industrialization era. The community lived together, worked together, shared tasks based on skill, time or preference. No one dictated the format for HE/SHE.

    With the industrialization era, due to child care, the woman had to stay behind, while the man went away from the house for work. And this changed the tranquility & positioning. Woman had one surrounding to deal with, man had yet another, and he started being superior. His job was treated as BREAD EARNER and the throne and crown, he cherished.
    To seek a job, a skill, an education was required, and only men were entitled to that, women were tied to the home/child.

    men found it advantageous to spend time outside and become more important! And then you know the rest.
    Morally who is better? women also are equally or more evil may be... depends who invoked the devil in them.
    But, the liberation aspect is too true. Women have no safety, no freedom... within corporates, educational institutions, government, social sectors. They have to be a notch lower than their euqals and superiors!
    If no other means to lower them, character maligning, difficult posting is always there to harass them.

  • jr,

    Sat, Aug 31 2013

    IN GENERAL THE QUESTION OF "ARE INDIAN WOMEN TRULY LIBERATED" SEEMS TO BE RIGHT BUT IF WE STUDY IN DEPTH TO ANY CASE THE QUESTION SHOULD BE "TO WHAT EXTENT INDIAN WOMEN NEEDS LIBERATED".
    THEY HAVE THE OPTION OF NOT GETTING MARRIED IF THEY ARE NOT AT ALL INTERESTED OR DIVORCED BUT MEN WHO SHOULD STRIVE HARD ALL THE WAY IN HIS LIFE TO HAVE A FAMILY LIFE AND AFTER MARRIAGE THIS HAS TO BE CONTINUED WITH FEAR OF WIFE OR HER FAMILY MEMBERS THREATENING HIM WITH DIRE CONSEQUENCES IF HE RAISE A VOICE THEREBY WITH DESPARATION HE WILL BE EITHER ALCOHOLIC OR TRY TO FIND EXTRA MARITAL AFFAIRS GIVING SCOPE TO BLAME WIFE FOR THAT MATTER.
    THAT IS WHY IT IS SAID IN KANNADA "KANNARE KANDARUU VIMARSHISI NOODU

  • Alan, M'lore

    Sat, Aug 31 2013

    Women are more liberated at times they use the power provided for them to fulfill their lavis demands through legal terrorism such as Section 498A - Dowry HArrassment, Domestic Violence.
    And the write is asking whether women are truly liberated.

  • JR,

    Sat, Aug 31 2013

    NOW A DAYS CRIME RATE ON WOMEN IS INCREASING ONLY BECAUSE OF TOO MUCH PRIORITY GIVEN TO WOMEN BY THE WOMEN RULERS THERE BY DEVIDING THE FAMILY FOR VOTE BANK INSTEAD OF CURBING THE CRIME CASE TO CASE.

  • kurt waschnig, Oldenburg Germany

    Thu, Aug 29 2013

    Part 2:

    One can only hope that this time, their government takes their concerns seriously and that they act swiftly to implement the measures they have promised. It is vital to ensure that the tragic death of the young woman in Delhi and other heinous rapes are not forgotten, like so many women and girls before them.


    Best regards


    Kurt Waschnig Oldenburg Germany


    email: oldenburg1952@yahoo.de

  • kurt waschnig, Oldenburg Germany

    Thu, Aug 29 2013

    However, despite the image that India wants to portray to the world of its progressive modernity, India remains a deeply conservative patriarchal country and the true attitudes lurk just beneath the surface. This conflict, between the India that wants to progress and the India of entrenched traditional values, has been cited as a reason for the increase in extreme violence against women. In a 2011 global poll conducted by Thomas Reuters, India was rated as the fourth most dangerous country to be a woman, while a 2012 study also listed India as the worst place in the G20 to be a woman. The main indicators used to rank India in this position were female trafficking and child marriage. In the Thompson Reuters poll, only Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan were rated as more dangerous than India, and India was even listed one place higher than Somalia. For the largest democracy in the world to be listed amongst these violence-torn or traditionally conservative countries, there is something seriously wrong.
    Another recent study by the International Men and gender Equality Survey reported that more than 65% of Indian men believed that women should tolerate violence to keep the family together and that women sometimes deserved to be beaten. This study also lifted the lid on sexual violence, finding that nearly one in four Indian men has committed a sexually violent act at some point in their lives and that one in five men admitted they had forced their wife or partner to have sex.
    However, even without the extreme acts of violence, Indian women´s lives are also very restricted. They are subject to discrimination even from before birth and this continues throughout their lives. Girls are seen as an economic liability, while boys are prized. There is thus a worrying incidence of sex-ive abortion and female infanticide in India. Even if they are born, girls´health is often neglected, they receive less food than their brothers and parents are loath to pay for girls´s education. Forty percent of all child marriages worldwide occur in India and upon marriage women are utterly controlled by their husband and his family. Even in less conservative families, Indian culture is one of obedience and women are forbidden from arguing with their husband or dissenting from his wishes.
    What is worrying is that women are often unaware that their lives could be any different. Traditional attitudes and practices have been in effect for so long in India that this lifestyle is what women have become accustomed to and expect. The high level of illiteracy and lack of political awareness means that women are often ignorant of their constitutional rights.
    However, there is hope in air in India. The many women and men who voiced their opinions so visibly in the mass protests across India are no longer content to stay quiet on this issue of women´s safety in India. One can only hope that this time, their government takes their concerns seriously

  • Lancy, Mangalore

    Thu, Aug 29 2013

    Are Indian Women Truly Liberated? My answer to this question is,'To a certain extent 'yes' but to a large extent 'No'. We find in our present day society, even well educated men trying to impose their orders and dictates on their spouses who too are equally well educated, after marriage. The restrictions they impose on them turns a woman's life to hell and result in marital discords and lead to divorces.

  • roshan braganza, mumbai

    Thu, Aug 29 2013

    another misagony article against men . actual fact is men are silent sufferers and its time for them to stand for their rights.

  • Susan DSouza, Mangalore

    Thu, Aug 29 2013

    It might look like there have been changes in the society. we might have come to this opinion from what we have noticed, from what has been reported in the media, but there might be issues with women who are not in limelight, i mean, the common women whom we see on daily basis. People might have been educated, laws might have changed, but the mentality of people has not. When i say 'people', leave alone men, you ll find this thinking in the most highly educated women too. For instance, when it comes to dicrimination in career growth etc, its the educated ones who are involved. when there is domestic voilence or harrassment of women for dowry at the hand of the in laws, its always expected that women be tolerant. and these kind of opinions are sadly given by the so called educated peacemakers. It might look like we have improved over time with education, but Its sad and a true thing that nothing has changed since the stone age in the way women think and the way women are treated.

  • R.Bhandarkar, M'lore

    Thu, Aug 29 2013

    It's always been a case of taking  cases in isolation. The lope sided development of our country has much to do with it.The progress of women in metros with that of those living in the remotest of villages leaves much to be desired. The challenges too faced differs based only on topography. Therefore unless a 'level playing ground' as it were for measuring development or even 'liberation 'is formulated on an 'All India Basis' there will be 'yawning gaps' in assessments too. How matters will synchronise on this front will remain the 'multi Dollar Question'.
    All said and done the definiton of 'liberation' too would need to looked into carefully.


Leave a Comment

Title: Are Indian Women Truly Liberated?



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.