Women's Role in Society: A Gandhian Approach

Acme Annali Della Facolta Di Lettere E Filosofia Dell Universita Degli Studi Di Milano, 2002

The aim of this brief essav is ro rrace a concise panorama of the position of women in the Indian civilisation building a bridge about the ancient and modem Hindu laws and customs. I underline, from the beginning, that most conrradictions in the present condition of Indian $/omen are, in mv mind, stricdy bound to the contrasr berween the sdll livine adherence ro rhe mosr ancienr Hindu traditions and customs (religious and ùcial: often reflected also in the not-traditional literature) r, and the present-dav Indian modernisation in the field of family and marriage. The argument is verv vast: so, I have tried to concentrar. -.rr.if on the topics, which surely are mosr important, and above all most revealing 'r. It is quite evident that in the last decennia the position of the Indian woman in marriage and in social life has much improved. In fact, there are thousands _ ') See, for instance: A.S. Altekar, Tbe position of 'Women in Híndu Cbilization (Delht:

This paper attempts to analyze the changing role and status of women in India and also highlights the issues and challenges faced by women's of 21st century. Traditionally, an Indian woman had four fold status-role sequence, her role as daughter, wife, housewife and a mother. The worth of a civilization can be judged by the place given to women in the society. Of the several factors that justify the greatness of India's ancient culture, one of the greatest is the honored place ascribed to women. A wife's participation is important in some religions such as Hinduism married man along with their wife are allowed to perform sacred rites on various important occasions , thus befittingly woman is also called 'Ardhangani' (better half) of a man. The study is purely based on secondary sources. The study reveals that women in India are still struggling through issues and challenges due to some social evil practice and dual nature of society and its people.

Family is a unit of Indian system of culture. Women with their husband and with or without children from the components of a family. Women by enlarge decades back in India solely lived a dedicated partner for the health, welfare, cultural and social activities of the family and aligned relations. Civilization, education developed a vision to prompt women go for an occupation of their choice beyond home lending service to the public. This change has become almost envitable to compensate declining cost benefit ration and due to higher life standards. At the same time, women as a mother and sandwich member of the family bear additional load of their occupation. This duel role, if planned carefully and aligned with the help of members of the family, can result in phenomenal progress. During the transitional period from developing to developed society, women bear the turmoil, principally of motherhood, psychosocial, nutritional disturbances, enhanced work load, tremendously to maintain balance and harmony in a family. Some of these aspects encompassing research studies are presented in this article.

Journal, 2019

Woman constitutes the key role in the Indian society. Women in ancient India enjoyed high status in society and their condition was good. The Ancient and medieval status of women in modern Indian society regarding Equality, Education, Marriage and Family life, Race and Gender, Religion and Culture is maintained or deteriorated. The Vedic women had economic freedom. Some women were engaged in teaching work. Home was the place of production. Spinning and weaving of clothes were done at home. Women also helped their husbands in agricultural pursuit. In the religious field, wife enjoyed full rights and regularly participated in religious ceremonies with her husband. Religious ceremonies and sacrifices were performed jointly by the husband and wife. Women even participated actively in religious discourses. The status of women improved a little during the Buddhist period though there was no tremendous change. The role of women in Ancient Indian Literature is immense. Ancient India had many learned ladies. The Medieval period (Period between 500 A.D to 1500 A.D) proved to be highly disappointing for the Indian women, for their status further deteriorated during this period. Through this study we come to the conclusion that as the women has equal participation in human development. She is half of the human race. But she lacks in society. Women are not treated with respect as in the Ancient Indian society. Lot of crime against women is seen in the modern society. The Constitutional provisions are not sufficient to get the

International Journal of Social, Political and Economic Research, 2017

One of the major problems of Indian society is the inferior position accorded to women. They do not enjoy equal status and their condition is far from satisfactory. In this article, we have tried to cover the condition, status and position of women in a different period, viz. Ancient, Medieval, British and Present Time. Any assessment of the status of women has to start with the social framework, social structures, cultural norms and value systems that influence social expectations regarding the behaviour of both men and women and determine women’s roles and their position in society. A society is composed of many institutions and most important of them are the system of decent, family and kinship, marriage and religious traditions. They provide the ideology and moral basis for men and women about their rights and duties and their status and role.

Dignity to each created being and the creation of the creator is the utmost respect and prospect to the creator and the protector of the universe. Woman and the man is the epitome of the creation of the creator. The image and the likeness of the God are to be experienced and expounded by saluting one another and living in unity and diversity. God has never ceased or eased to speak, God speaks ever anew in every event and moment with content, in every change and in every age without any damage. Every man or woman in need is God's urgent word, deed and bread. There is much confusion and fusion today about the modern concept and precept of Indian womanhood. The injustice and discrimination against women cover every area of social living and every stage and page of life. Emancipation of women from discriminative attitudes, unjust systems and structures of exploitation created by a male-dominated society is a crying need today, especially in India where, as is well known, they are denied even the right to be born, let alone the other forms of injustice. Objective of the study is to enhance the dignity of women and to explore the unity is the possibility in the emancipation of women.

This paper attempts to analyze the changing role and status of women in India and also highlights the issues and challenges faced by women's of 21st century. Traditionally, an Indian woman had four fold status-role sequence, her role as daughter, wife, housewife and a mother.

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), 2021

Gandhian ideology is the set of religious and social ideas adopted and developed by Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and is based on two pillars – Truth and Non-violence. The principles of ‘Satyagraha’ nonviolent resistance, ‘Sarvodaya’ progress of all, ‘Swaraj’ self-restraint and self-rule and ‘Swadeshi’ self-sufficiency are its outcome. Empowerment of women and their political, social, economic and health status are the most important goals of any nation. It is also important for achieving sustainable development. Mahatma Gandhi was a social and political reformer and he strongly struggled for this purpose. The present paper discusses the efforts made by him for the upliftment and empowerment of women. It is the finding that Gandhi emphasised that women empowerment is necessary for nation building and three important factors that can promote it: education, employment and changes in social structure. These three components are equally important and mutually related. He believed that unless women gain their respect in social, economic and political fields on the basis of education, knowledge and skills, they cannot gain self-respect for themselves nor they can be independent in any field. It is concluded that throughout his life, Mahatma Gandhi inspired Indians to take concrete and practical initiatives about the empowerment of women, which would bring them out of the centuries-old orthodox customs, rituals and rules of society which along with their social slavery have been responsible for mental enslavement. Her views regarding women empowerment are also relevant in the contemporary scene and scenario when the empowerment of women has been in the national agenda.

Haryana More than half of the population of the world is made of woman but she is not treated at par with man despite innumerable evolutions and revolutions. She has the same mental and moral power, yet she is not recognized as his equal. In such conditions the question of searching her identity is justified. Actually in this male dominated society, she is wife, mother, sister and homemaker. She is expected to serve, sacrifice, submit and tolerate each ill against her peacefully. Her individual self has very little recognition in the patriarchal society and so complete selflessness is her normal way of life. Inspite of all brouhaha and sloganeering about woman lib, the blink ring view that woman's place in India is within the four walls of a home that pervades the entire system. The crime statistics against woman and the cases reported and unreported of female feticides, rapes, sati, devdasi, prostitution, use and throw like divorce practices rampant in society even after sixty years of independence, all are indicative of the fact that what we talk about woman, we aspire not. The ideas, thoughts, traditions, and practices reflect anti woman attitude and the values fixed by patriarchal hegemony have made the life of the woman much more pitiable. Various feminist movements right from mid 19 th century till the recent decade establish the fact that women have been neglected throughout the world on one pretext or the other. They are oppressed under a system of structural hierarchies and injustices. Besides, certain relational hierarchies direct women against one another in a family setup. The patriarchal male dissuades them their rights by supporting the one who is inadvertently provided a higher position in the hierarchy. Women are hindered not by lack of ability but by bias and outmoded institutional structures. And a nation is an era of global competition cannot afford such under use of precious human capital. The intense culture bias relegated woman to playing second fiddle. Woman central issues are always tainted with male bias. Woman has always been restricted, forced, pressurized, and persuaded to be a homemaker, supportive spouse, esteemed mom, and professional success for man. And she gradually melded all these personas, letting the male all the glory, just for peace of mind.