Alleviation: An International Journal of Nutrition, Gender & Social Development, ISSN 2348-9340 , Volume 8, Number 8 (2021): 1-5
© Arya PG College (College with Potential for Excellence Status by UGC) & Business Press India Publication, Delhi
http://apcjournals.com, www.aryapgcollege.ac.in

Journey of Women - Ancient to Contemporary Times

Sonia Soni
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Arya PG College
Panipat (Haryana), India
Email: soniasoni.rewari@gmail.com

Abstract

In the words of Aristotle, "Woman was a'misbegotten' or imperfect male,she was not fully developed like human beings. Man is the principal and end of woman, as God is the principal and end of man. Men's superiority over women is viewed in myths and legends in everyday life. Indian and Western myths and religions have given legitimacy to the subjection of women to their male counterparts: Even the most basic rights and privileges were denied to daughters. The complicated and long-standing customs of Hinduism resulted in the majority of women living in appalling conditions. Now new women's ideas spread around the world, not only the United States and Europe. It had a profound effect on women all across the world, as well as on sensitive males. There is still a lot of battle in the feminist discourse, despite generational and geographic shifts.

Keywords: Male-Dominated Society, Inequity, Insurmountable Impediment, Liberation

Introduction

For ages, women have been subjugated regardless of caste, creed, era and race. In the words of Aristotle, "Woman was a'misbegotten' or imperfect male, she was not fully developed like human beings. Man is the principal and end of woman, as God is the principal and end of man. Woman exists for the man, not man for the woman" is the psychological concept of male-dominated society (Swidler 1967). When it comes to men's decisions, women primarily care about their image as patient followers (Swidler 1967).
Archetypes have played a significant role in the depiction of women throughout history. A more accurate way of saying this is to state that in every era, women have been viewed primarily as the primary caregiver, mistress, or sex object for men (Shirwadkar 1979).
There is a marked contrast between the Indian and Western conceptions of femininity. In India, women's status may be traced back to the early Vedic Age. In fact, women were given same rights and status as males during the Rig Veda period. All men's rights applied equally to women, and there was no sex-based discrimination. However, it was only in later Vedic times that the 'Varna Ashrama Dharma' and the caste system became more prevalent in society. This had the unfortunate effect of pushing women further down the social ladder. 'Brahmins' were at the top of the caste system's four divisions, while 'Shudras' were at the bottom. Shudras were relegated to a lower status for women. The Vedas and Upanishads were also forbidden from being recited. Husbands were even allowed to beat and physically assault their wives. Because they were viewed as useless or burdens on the family, widows were even in worse condition. It was considered a sin for them to indulge in any form of pleasure or luxury. Manu in clear terms asks a widow to " continue till death, forgiving all hurts, executing austere chores, shunning every sensual pleasure, and joyously practising the incomparable rules of virtue that have been followed by such women as were committed to one spouse only (Sarkar & Sarkar 2007).
Yajnavalkya also indicates the same doctrine "A widow shall live under the care of her father, mother, son, brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law or uncle; since, on the contrary, she shall be liable to reproach" (Sarkar & Sarkar 2007).
Smartta Raghunandana, one of the most recent experts on Bengal's Hindu law goes one step further for widows as he said there was no other course than concremation. He again said that Oh fire! let these women were not separated from their spouses, who had been smeared with clarified butter and whose eyes had been tinted with collyrium and were devoided of tears, might enter thee, the parent of water. A lady who ascends the burning pile with her husband on his death is exalted to heaven as equal to Arundhah (Sarkar & Sarkar 2007). These quotes highlight that woman who dies with her husband will continue to live on in glory even after her death. And, in order to obtain further carnal fruition, concremation is the sole object for widows.
Men's superiority over women is viewed in myths and legends in this way as well as in everyday life. Indian and Western myths and religions have given legitimacy to the subjection of women to their male counterparts: "Most theology and religious practice... was unkind to women or even misogynistic and many religious leaders thought that, spiritually and otherwise, women were undoubtedly subordinate to men; most faiths had explicit restrictions on women as leaders of any type (Steinbach 2004).
In Western mythologies also, we can also find similar terms. The Bible instructs in Ephesians "Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord," (Jain and Mahan1996). In Genesis, the Bible declares that "it is thought that woman is fashioned out of man," and hence, women are considered inferior to men. There are various instances in the Bible where man is represented as being superior to woman. According to Genesis, Adam is the ruler who gives titles to all creatures, including his wife, eve. The image of God, the benevolent ruler of the universe, is embodied in man. A man ought not to hide his head, since he is the image and glory of God but woman is the glory of man who places women in a subordinate position. For ages, women have had to express themselves in a variety of sayings, such as "as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives submit to their husbands" or "the head of every man is Christ, but the head of woman is man" (Camus 1975).
How much of a mandate does the male-dominated culture still have on women to mindlessly abide by any and all religious comments? The women's movement has entered the battlefield with one hand tied behind their backs by picking this territory to establish ideals of women's equality, as the Indian women's organisations use terms such as "Sakti" or "Kali" as part of their nomenclature seem to have done ( Mazumdar 2015).
In Indian society, women have traditionally had it worse than in Western nations, and the social model is at the heart of this inequity. With Sati Partha, polygamy was a major factor in the inferior status of women. Polygamy was practiced by the upper class Kulin Brahmins not just to increase the number of their sons, but also to satisfy their insatiable sexual appetites. Reformers spoke up to help women see their own value and reject polygamy as a harmful tradition.
The fact that they're married doesn't pose an insurmountable impediment to their academic pursuits. After the death of their first wife, they can marry a second wife, but they also have the option of marrying as many wives as they want at the same time, or whenever they want. Early marriage does not necessitate tender mercies of loving mother-in- law, nor is there any restraint on their activities because of it. Women, on the other hand, face a quite different situation (Rakhmabai 1885).
Even before puberty, child brides were sold to older men, young girls were sold to older men, child brides were physically abused, and widows were prohibited from remarrying. To keep the family's esteem intact, parents rushed to marry off their daughters as soon as possible to any suitable or unsuitable young man, whether he was a match for the family's needs at the time or not. Pregnant women's common cry is, "Pray! If only the good Lord grants me: a boy child, how happy I'll be, how my family will love me" (Bhattacharya and Sen 2003). Even the most basic rights and privileges were denied to daughters. The complicated and long-standing customs of Hinduism resulted in the majority of women living in appalling conditions. In a family, a son was considered an integral part, while the daughter was praya dhan (another's). Because she is a liability to her parents. Sons are more likely to take care of their ageing parents. A married daughter is unable to do so. She belongs to another family and all her time and energy is devoted to that family (Atin & Sen 1918).
Nearly everyone holds biases towards sons vs. daughters. Long life is bestowed upon sons in our country if they are born to parents who have been successful in producing multiple sons. Khanto (halt) or Ar Na (no more) are common names given to the third and fourth daughters, respectively, because they are so undesirable. A family's focus may be diverted to a lone sister among several brothers. Sisters are often blamed for calamities when their brother does not follow their birth.
In general, women were denied an education because it was considered a privilege reserved for men. Education for the girl child was deemed pointless because she was destined to serve the dominant male in all realms of life. It was also common belief in Bengali society that a lady who was educated would soon become a widow. As a result, even if the husband was willing to educate his wife in order to raise his social status in the upper-middle class of society, the weight of joint family and the fear of the mother-in-law left him with no time for further education after marriage. Women were subjected to a series of compulsions in order to train their minds to accept all orders without question. The primary obligation of a woman is to serve her husband.
The whole education of women should be relative to men. To please them, to be useful to them, to make themselves loved and honoured by them, to educate them when young, to care for them when grown, to counsel them, to make life sweet and agreeable to them, these are the duties of women at all times, and what should be taught to them from their infancy (Millett 1989).
Due to Victorian society's increasing shackles on women's freedoms, the world was a far more difficult place for women during this time period. A new generation of female philosophers and writers emerged in the last part of the nineteenth century as a result of this. Sarah Grand was the leader of this group of philosophers and authors who were committed to challenging the andocentric society's boundaries. Grand (1894) coined the term “New Woman (The term clearly indicates towards a change in the ideology and thought process of contemporary woman thinkers who advocated for more rights and liberty for women. Suffragette activism in the 19th century was a major influence on the new woman movement. Women have claimed a variety of liberation routes, some in partnership with males and others in opposition to the conservative realms established by men. Even after abandoning family and relationships, the new woman is shown to be able to preserve a social status protected by legal rights. She is clever, confident, well-educated, and able to care for herself. This fin-de-siècle phenomena coincided with the emergence of "new socialism,""new capitalism,""new imperialism,""new literature,""new journalism." In the 1880s and 1890s, she was a part of the "culture novelties" (Ledger 1997).
There are many new women like Sarah Grand in Henry James' novels who are able to forge their own paths based on their own goals, free of the constraints of marriage and family. However, the new woman category was far from stable. Indeed, the new woman writers were not quite in sync with the new woman concept themselves. It is clear that Victorianism's seemingly uniform society could not establish a consistent terminology by which to identify and deal with the illusive new woman of the end of the century. All that was certain was that she was dangerous, a threat to the status quo (Ledger 1997).
New women's ideas spread around the world, not only the United States and Europe. It had a profound effect on women all across the world, as well as on sensitive males.
As long as civilization is to survive, the new woman, the best woman of the past ages, has arrived to say. For all that she has gone through, she has grown, and she now understands that she must perfect herself if she is to perfect the species and make her mark on immortality, either through her progeny or through her labour (Cooley 1904).
Women of Indian society have also come from their conservative, unhygienic and claustrophobic space to mark their way in the society. As long as women are viewed as second-class citizens, they will not accept the suffocating traditions and conventions that have been passed down from generation to generation. To put it another way, they're more uninhibited than most males. In the face of adversity, they rise to the occasion and become trendsetters. There are number of female characters who are both emotionally and intellectually developing, such as in the context of education, culture, and maturity. Among the colonial society's colonial women, these characters have an unusual dual combination rarely seen in the 19th and 20th centuries. They can read, write, compose poetry, and discuss matters of politics and philosophy with this new generation of female scholars. As they fight against social norms and preconceptions that limit their potential for self-discovery, they are able to explain, question, reject, and rebuild their identities.
New patriarchy stood in stark contrast to society and culture as a whole, as "new" women were radically different from the "common," who were coarse, vulgar, loud, quarrelsome, lacking in moral superiority and sexually promiscuous while also being subjected to brutal physical abuse at the hands of men (Chatterjee 2007).
Feminism in India has not yet begun in the truest sense of the word. It is due to shortage of feminist philosophy and the dearth of feminist activists. Activist feminism is not possible within the context of Indian society. Women are being exploited for mythical and traditional symbols. "History" and "myths are two different things. "History" refers to annals and records recorded by men, "myths" refers to stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. The need of sexual continence and faithfulness is emphasised in Indian mythology. An awareness of women's oppression and exploitation in the society, at work, and within the family as well as deliberate effort to improve this situation" is feminism in the Indian setting (Maitrayee 2012).
Conclusion
There is still a lot of battle in the feminist discourse, despite generational and geographic shifts, like the Salt Satyagraha: "Who will buy the salt of freedom?" Struggles in cultural context and against cultural impositions that deny them room and independence, self and agency, explain the divergence from Western feminism and the split from male portrayals of femininity.
With little question, modern-day women embrace his 'ekla-chalo-re' school of thought. They're not afraid to walk alone and leave an imprint on the world. They feel more confident and prepared now. It's not that they're insulated from the modern world, but they're capable of managing their lives on their own even when no one else is around. In many ways, this New Women is revolutionary.
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