THE PORTRAIT OF AN INDIAN WOMAN

MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI ŞI CERCETĂRII

ŞTIINȚIFICE

COLEGIUL NAȚIONAL PEDAGOGIC “ŞTEFAN ODOBLEJA”

DROBETA TURNU SEVERIN

ATESTAT DE COMPETENȚĂ LINGVISTICĂ

PENTRU ABSOLVENȚII CLASELOR CU
PREDARE INTENSIV ENGLEZĂ
~LIMBA ENGLEZĂ~

PROFESOR COORDONATOR: CANDIDAT:

VÎLCEANU LIDIA DRĂGHICI ANAMARIA ROXANA

MAI

2018

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 CONTENTS
Contents…………………………………………………………………………………3

Foreword…………………………………………………………………………………4
Chapter 1: History-Ancient India………………………………………………………...5
Medieval Period…………………………………………………………………………..5
Historical practices………………………………………………………………………..7
Chapter 2: Family and marriage………………..………………………………………....8
Education………………………………………………………………………………….8
Family structure …………….………………………………………………………….....9
Arranged marriage……………………………………………………………………….10
Wedding rituals…………………………………………………………………………..11
Chapter 3: Clothing............................................................................................................12
Chapter 5: Crimes against women……………………………………………………….14
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….16
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………..17

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 FOREWORD
First of all, I chose this subject because it has a great significance for myself. My
grandmother was an Indian woman and because of this I can say what a big importance it has
India for me.Even if my knowledge about this beautiful contry is not so wide, as the days are
passing by my curiosity arises. I consider that India and it’s surroundings are fascinating, but not
only the land, but also the astonishing history, traditions and culture which are definitely worth
studying.
The statuts of women in India has been subject to many great changes throughout
history.From equal status with men in ancient times, through the low points of the medieval
period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of the women in India
has been eventful. In modern India, the women have held high offices including the one of the
President (Pratibha Patil), Prime Minister( Indira Ghandi), Speaker if the Lok Sabha and Leader
of the Opposition.
However, women in India continue to face atrocities such as rape, acid throwing, dowry
killings and forced prostitution(underaged girls).”The worth of a civilization can be judged by
the place given to women in society.”One of the several factors that justify the greatness of
India’s ancient culture is the honorable place granted to women which has been deteriorated over
the years.The contact of Indian culture with the one of the British brought improvement for
women’s status. India was the most precious from the overseas possessions of the British
Empire, the centerpiece, the “ Jewel in the Crown”. India was the jewel in the crown for the
British Empire because, at that time, it’s riches and prosperity were at their peek.
But in spite of this amelioration in the status of women, the evils of hate, ignorance and
economic slavery had to be fully removed in order to give them their deserved place in the
Indian society.

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 CHAPTER I-HISTORY
Ancient India
According to scholars, women in ancient India enjoyed equal status with men in
all aspects of life.Creations made by ancient Indian grammarians, such as Patajali and
Katyayana, show that women were educated in their early years.Some verses suggest that
women got married at a mature age and they were probably free to choose their own
husband.
Some kingdoms had traditions such as “Nagarvadhu” which translates to “ bride
of the town”. Women competed the coveted title of “Nagarvadhu”. Studies show women
enjoyed equal status and rights with the men during in the early Vedic period.However,
in approximately 500 B.C. the women’s status began to decline and with the Islamic
invasion of the Babur and the Mughal empires, later the Christianity, it’s freedom and
rights worsened. Although reform movements, such as Jainism, allowed women to be
admitted to religious orders, women in India still faced restrictions.The practice of child
marriages is believed to have started around the sixth century.

Medieval period
Indian women’s position in society further deteriorated during the medieval
period when child marriages and a ban on remarriage by widows became part of the
social life in some communities in India. The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent
brought purdah to Indian society.Among the Rajputs of Rajasthan, the Jauhar was
practiced.In some parts of India, some of the Devadasis were sexually exploited.
Polygamy was practiced among Hindu Kshatriya rulers for some political reasons. In
many Muslim families women were restricted to Zenana areas of the house.
In spite of these conditions, women often became prominentin the fields of
politics, literature, education and religion. Razia Sultana became the only woman
monarch to have ever ruled Delhi. The Gond queen Durgavati ruled for fifteen years
before losing her life in a battle with Mughal emperor Akbar’s general Asaf Khan in
1564.

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Chand Bibi defended Ahmednagar against the powerful Mughal forces of Akbar in the
1590’. Jehangir’s wife, Nur Jehan, effectively wielded imperial power and was
recognized as the real power behind the Mughal throne.The Mughal tprincesses,
Jahanaraand Zebunnissa, were well-known poetry creators and they also influenced the
rulling powers. Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai, was the regent queen because of warrior skills
and administrator power.In South India, many women administrated villages, towns,
divisions and ushered in new social and religious institutions.
The Bhakti movements tried to restore women’s status anf questioned certain
forms of oppression.Mirabai, a female saint-poet, was one of the most important Bhakti
movement figures.Othe female saint-poets from this period were: Akka Mahadevi, Rami
Janabai and Lal Ded.Bahkti sects within Hinduism, such as the Mahanubhav, Varkari and
many others were principle moments within the Hindu fold openly advocating social
justice and equality between men and women.
Immediately following the Bhakti movements, Guru Nanak, the first Guru of
Sikhs, Preached equality between men and women.He advocated that women to be
allowed to lead religious assemblies, to lead congregational hymn singing, called Kirtan
or Bhajan, to become members of religious management committees, to leadarmies on
the battlefield, to have equality in marriage and to have equality in Amrit(Baptism).Other
Sikhs Gurus also preached for the same, but their practices often regarded to be breach of
women rights.

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 Historical practices
Traditions such as Jauhar, Devadasi or Purdah have been banned in some
sommunities and are largely defunct in modern India. However, in some parts of India
these practices can still be found, one of them being the Purdah or child marriages that
remains a common tradition in the rural areas, although it is illegal under current Indian
law.

JAUHAR
Jauhar refers to the practice of voluntary immolation done by wives and
daughters of defeated warriors in order to avoid capture and consequent molestatiom by
the enemy. The practice was followed by the wives of defeated Rajput rulers, practice
that took place during the Islamic invasions of India.

DEVADASIS
Devadasi is often misunderstood as a religious practice. It was practiced in
Southern India, in which women were ‘married’ to a deity or temple. The ritual was well-
established by the 10th century A.D.. By 1988, the practice was outlawed in the contry.

PURDAH
Purdah is the practice among some communities of India that requires women
to cover themselves so as to conceal their skin and form from males. It imposes
restrictions on their mobility, the rights to interact freely and it is a symbol of the
subordination of women.

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 CHAPTER II-FAMILY AND MARRIAGE

Education

Europeans schoolars observed in the 19th century that Hindu womehn were
“naturally chaste” and “more virtuous” than other women. During the British Raj, many
reformers, such as Ram Mohan Roy, fought for the betterment of women.Peary Charan
Sarkar, a former student of Hindu College in Calcutta and a member of “Young Bengal”,
set up the first free school for girls in India in 1847 in Barasat, a suburb of Calcutta( later
the school was named “Kalikrishna Girls” High School).
Although it is gradually increasing, the female literacy rate in India is less than
the male literacy rate.Far fewer girls than boys are enrolled in school and many girls drop
out. In urban India, girls are nearly kon a par with boys in terms of education. However,
in rural India girls continue to be less well-educated than boys. According to the
National Sample Survey Data of 1997, only the states Kerala and Mizoram have
approached universal female literacy.
Under the Non-Formal Education programme(NFE), about 40% of the NFE
centres in states and 10% of the centres in UTs are exclusively reserved for females.As pf
2000, about 300,000 NFE centres were catering to about 7.42 milion children. ABOUT
120,000 NFE centres were exclusively for girls.
According to a 1998 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the chief
barriers to female education in India are inadequate school facilities (such as sanitary),
shortage of female teachers and gender bias in the curriculum(female characters being
depicted as weak and helpless).

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 Family structure

For generations, India has had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system.
It is a system under wich extended members of a family-parents, children, the children’s
spouses and ther offspring, etc.- live together. Usually, the oldest male member is the
head in the joint Indian family system. He makes all the important decisions and sets the
rules and the other family members abide by them.
In a 1966 study, Orenstein and Micklin analysed India’s population data and
family structure. Their studies suggest that Indian household sizes had remained similar
over the 1911 to 1951 period. Thereafter, with urbanisation and economic development,
India has witnessed a break up of traditional joint family into more nuclear-like families.
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 Arranged marriage
For centuries, arragend marriages have been a tradition in the Indian society.Even
today, the majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents or by other
respected family-members. In the past, the age of marriage was young, especially in
Rajasthan, but nowadays it is increasing with the modernization and there are laws which
enforce the age of marriage.
In most marriages, the bride’s family provides a dowry to the bridegroom.
Traditionally, the dowry was considered a woman’s share of her family’s wealth, since a
daughter had no legal claim on her natal family’s real estate. It also tipically includes
portable valuables such as jewellery and household goods that a bride could control
throughout her life. Historically, in the most families the inheritance of the family estate
passed down to the male line. Since 1956 Indian laws treat males and females as equal in
matters of inheritance without a legal will.
In India, the divorce rate is low -1% compared to about 40% in the United States.
These statistics do not reflect a complete picture, though. There is a dearth of scientific
surveys or studies on Inidan marriages where the perspectives of both husband and wife
were solicited in-depth.Sample surveys suggest that the issues with marriages in India are
similar to trends observed elsewhere in the world. The divorce rates are rising in India.
Urba divorce rates are much higher. Women initiate about 80% of divorces in India.
Recent studies suggest that Indian culture is trending away from traditional
arraged marriages.Banerjee et al surveyed 41,554 households across 33 states and union
territories in India in 2005. They found that the marriage trends in India are similar to
trends observed over the last 40 years in China, Japan and other nations. The study found
that fewer marriages are purely arranged without consent and that the majority of the
surveyed Indian marriages were arranged with consent. The percentage of self-arraged
marriages (called love marriages in India) was also increasing, particulary in the urban
areas of India. A 2006 article reported that between 10% and 20% of the marriages in
urban India were self-arranged.

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 Wedding rituals

Weddings are festive occasions in India with extensive decorations, colors, music,
dance, costumes and rituals that depend on the religion of the bride and the groom, as
well as their preferences. The nation celebrates about 10 milion weddings per year, of
wich over 80% are Hindu weddings.
While there are many festival-related rituals in Hinduism, vivaha (wedding) is the
most extensive and personal ritual that a Hindu adult undertakes in his or her life.
Typical Hindu families spend significant effort and financial resources to prepare and
celebrate weddings.The rituals and processes of a Hindu wedding vary depending on the
region of the contry, local adaptations, resources of the family and preferences of the
bride and groom. Nevertheless, there are a few key rituals that are common in Hindu
weddings: Kanyadaan, Panigrahana and Saptapadi; these are respectively, the gifting b
away of daughter by the father, voluntary holding hand near the fire to signify impending
union and taking seven steps before fire, with eache stept taken back including a set of
mutual vows. After the seventh step and vows of Saptapadi the couple is legally husband
and wife.Sikhs get married through a ceremony called Anand Karaj.The couple walks
around the holy book named the Guru Granth Sahib four times. Muslim Indians celebrate
a traditional Islamic wedding following customs similar to those practiced in the Middle
East. The rituals include Nikah, the payment if financial dower called Mahr by the groom
to the bride, signing the marriage contract, and the reception. Christian Indian’s weddings
are similar to the ones in the Christian countries in the West.

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 CHAPTER III-CLOTHING

Clothing in India Varies from region to region, depending on the ethnicity,

geography, climate, and cultural traditions of the people of that region. Historically, men
an women clothing has evolved from simple Langotas and loincloths to cover the body,
to elaborate costumes not only used in daily wear but also on festive occasions as well as
rituals and dance performances. In urban areas, western clothing is common and
uniformly worn by people of all strata. India also has a great diversity in terms of weaves,
fibers, colours and material of clothing. Col;our codes are followed in clothing based on
the religion and the ritual concerned. For instance, Hindu ladies wear white clother to
indicate mourning, while Parsis and Christians wear white to weddings.

Traditional clothing: Sari

A saree or sari is a female garment in the Indian subcontinent. A sari is a strip of
unstiched cloth, ranging from four to nine meter in length, that is draped over the body in
various styles such as: Sambalpuri Saree from East, Kanchipuram from South, Paithani
from West and Bnarasi from North and many others. The most common style is for the
sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end dten draped over the shoulder, baring
the midriff. The sari is usually worn over a petticoat. The blouse can be “backless” of in a
halter neck style. These are usually more dressy with a lot of embellishments such as
embroidery and can be worn on special ocasssions. Women in the armed forces, when
wearing a sari uniform, don a half-sleeve shirt tucked in at the waist. Teenage girls wear
half-sarees, a three piece set consisting of a langa, a choli and a stole wrapped over it like
a saree, while women wear full sarees.
Saris are usually known with different names in different places. In Kerala, white
saris with golden border are known as kavanis and are worn on special occasions.A
simple white sari, worn on a daily basis, is called mundu. Saris are called pudavai in
Tamil Nadu and kupsas in Karnataka.

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 Ghagra Choli
A Ghagra Choli or a Lehenga Choli is the traditional clothing of women in Rajasthan
and Gujarat. Punjabis also wear them and they are used in some of their folk dances. It is
a combination of lehenga, a tight choli and an odhani. A lehenga is a sort of a long skirt
which is pleated.. It is usually embroidered or has a thick border at the bottom. A choli is
a shell garment blouse, which is cut to fit to the body and has short sleeves and a low
neck.

Salwar Kameez
The Salwar Kameez is the traditional wear for the women of Punjab, Haryana an
Hymachal Pradesh. The suthan, similar to the salwar is common in Sindh and Kashmir.
The salwar kameez has become the most popular dress for females. It consists of loose
trousers (the salwar) narrow at the ankels, topped by a tunic top (the kameez). It is known
as “Punjab suit” or simply “salwar” in the North and “ churidaar” in the Southern India.
Women generally wear a dupatta or an odani (veil) with salwar kameez to cover their
head and shoulders. It is always worn with a scarf called dupatta used for covering the
head and drawn over the bosom.

Contemporary Clothing
Western clothing made its forway into the Indian society during the times of the British
Raj. Indian professionals opted to wear western clothing due to it relative comfort or due
to regulations set then. By the turn of the 21st century, both western and Indian clothing
had intermingled creating an unique style of clothing for the tipical urban Indian
population. Women started wearing more comfortable clothes and exposure to
international fashion which led to a fusiom between the western and Indian styles.
Following the economic liberalization, more jobs opened up and created a demand for
formal wear.

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 CHAPTER 5-CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN

Police records show in India a high incidence of crimes against women. The
National Crime Record Bureau reported in 1998 that bu 2010 growth in the rate of
crimes against women would exceed the rate of population growth.Earlier, many crimes
against women were not reported to the police due to the social stigma attached to rape
and molestation. Official statistics show a dramatic increase in the number of reported
crimes against women.

Acid Throwing
A Thomas Reuters Foundation survey says that India is the fourth most dangerous
place in the world for women to live in. Women belonging to any class, caste, creed or
religion can be victims of this cruel form of violence and disfigurement, a premeditated
crime intended to kill or maim permanently and act as a lesson to put a woman in her
place. In India, acid attaks on women who dare to refuse a man’s proposal of marriage or
for the ones who ask for a divorce are a form of revenge. Acid is cheap, easily available
and the quickest way to destroy a women’s life. The number of acid attacks have been
rising.

Child marriage
Child marriage has been traditionally revalent in India and continues to this day.
Historically, child brides would live with their parents until they reached puberty. In the
past, child widows were condemned to a life aof great agony, shaved heads, living in
isolation and being shunned by society. Although child marriage was outlawed in 1860, it
is still a common practice. According to UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children-2009”
report, 47% of Indian’s women aged between 20-24 were married before the legal age of
18, rising to 56% in rural areas. The report also showed that 40% of the world’s child
marriages occur in India.

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 Domestic violence
Domestic violence in India is endemic. Around 70% of the women in India are victims
of domestic violence, according to Renuka Choedhury junior minister for women and
child development.
National Crime Records Bureau reveals that a crime against a women is commited
every three minutes, a women is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77
minutes and one case of cruelty commited by either the husband or a relative of the
husband occurs every nine minutes. This all occurs despite the fact that women are
legally protected from domestic abuse in India under the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act.
Psysical injury is the most visible form of domestic violence. The scope of physical
or intimate violence from the partner includes slapping, pushing, kicking, biting, hitting,
throwin objects, strangling, beating, threatening with any form of weapon or use of a
weapon. Worldwide, the percentage of women who suffer serious injuries as a result of
physical domestic violence tends to range from 19%-55%. Women who experience
domestic violence overwhelmingly tend to have greater overall emotional distress, as
well as disturbingly high occurrences of suicidal thoughts and attempts. According to a
study made by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information , suicide attempts in
India are correlated with physical and psychological violence from the intimate partner.
Of the women who participated in the study, 7.5% reported attempting suicide.

Rape
Rape in India has been described by Radha Kumar as on of India’s most common
crimes against women and by th UN’s human-rights chief as a “national problem”.In the
1980s women’s rights groups lobbied for martial rape to be declared unlawful as until
1983, the criminal law act(amendment)act stated that “sexual intercourse by a man with
his own wife not being under fifteen years old is nor rape”.Marital rape is still not a
criminal offence.While per-capita reported icidents are quite low compared to other
contries, even developed countries,a new case is reported every 20 minutes.New Delhi
has the highest rate of rape-reports among Indian cities.Sources show that in India were
reported 24,206 cases of rape in 2011, but it is believed to be much more bigger.

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 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I could say that India is a wonderful contry, but I consider that women
should be treated with respect. Although, theoretically, women have equal rights with
men, Indian women suffer every day. Unfortunately, there is a big difference between
how parents treat their daughters and their sons. Girls are not given the same food, they
are not educated in the same manner and they are only raised to become someone’s wife.
Nearly half of India’s girls are married off before the age of 18. Once married, many
women are subjected to domestic violence. It is tragic that more than half of Indian
adolescent males think that is is justifiable to beat a wife under certain circumstances.

A foundation survey says that India is the fourth most dangerous place in the world for
a woman to live in ( after Aganistan, Congo and Pakistan). Acrime against a woman is
committed every three minutes, a woman is raped every 29 miinutes, a dowry death
occurs every 77 minutes and one case of crueltyoccurs every nine minutes. This all
happens despite the fact that women in India are legally prevented by the law from
domestic abuse.

I consider that it is the time for a dramatic change of attitude in India. Women need
to be heard, they want justice. Even the authorities acknowledge that action is needed and
say that they are taking stepts forward into protecting women. But when discrimination
begins even before birth, change will not come easily!

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Bibliography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence_in_India
https://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/12/world/asia/india-women-challenge/

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