Place of the Woman in Indian Society: A Brief Review

Abstract

Indian society belongs to the man since time immemorial. The woman has been given a secondary and inferior position in her family and society. She has been facing injustice, suppression, oppression, subjugation and exploitation in a male-dominated Indian society. In spite of being educated, she has been looked down upon with contempt. She has been reduced to the status of a plaything and a machine, a lifeless object used to fulfil men"s sexual desire. She has been treated as a commodity to be used, controlled and disposed of by the male members of society. She, a meek and obedient member of a male-dominated society, a puppet that follows five paces behind her man, an inanimate object suffering on account of prejudice, orthodox conventions and traditions, is expected to be silent, tolerant and patient, and yet gentle and gracious, caring and loving, kind and considerate right from the ancient days. Though, like a man, she is born free, she is caught in chains in one way or the other. She is miles away from freedom from male-domination deeply rooted in a male-centric and patriarchal society with its conventional beliefs, superstitions, values and norms. The place and status equal to man need to be given to her in various fields of life. She is stronger and bolder than man in many respects. The woman occupies an important position as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and most importantly, as a human being in all human relationships. However, man-woman relationship is marred by the evils such as male-ego, male-domination and gender-discrimination which seek to marginalize the role of a woman in Indian patriarchy. The present article is an attempt to review the place, position and status of an Indian woman in her family and society.