Women's Liberation

I am writing on this subject from Indian perspective.Indian society has undergone drastic change since independence. I recall, girls in the family in our time were not allowed to study beyond high school. In my family, none of my elder sisters went to college. Only two of my younger sisters who are 8-10 years younger than me went to college and obtained college degree. During this time, the elders in the family started allowing girls to go out of the house and study further. When my generation took over sometime in 1980-82, there was paradigm shift in attitude. The realisation dawned on us how important it is for girls to get education. Me and my brothers have given the best of education to our girls . It gives me lot of satisfaction to say that today, both my daughters are well qualified and financially independent. The girls of this generation in our family are Chartered Accountants, Engineers, Doctors, MBA. They are much more confident than their predecessors. I am sure the same scenario exists in all Middle Class Indian families. This is the positive development. But still, considering the population of India, the percentage of women who are educated is miniscule.

Females in India even today are by and large considered as liabilities. The chief reason being the hefty dowry one has to give to marry them. There are families who have to even sell their homes to meet the ever growing demands of the bridegroom and his families. If the girl’s parents fail to meet the demands, the girl is harassed, tortured, burnt to death. There is very stringent law in our country to deal with this crime but still so many dowry deaths are taking place every day. I feel more than the Law, it is the social awareness which can bring about transformation in the attitude of people. As along as women are financially dependent, there will be exploitation in the name of dowry. It is the education alone which can give financial independence to women. Women have proved themselves to be as competent as men in all professional fields. In some areas, they are even better than them.

But inspite of all this, there is sexual discrimination in Indian families as regards their upbringing, education, sports and other activities. They are not given the same rights as men when it comes to division of property in the family. They find it difficult to persue professional career after marriage due to family pressure. It is always the wife who is expected to sacrifice job when it comes to choosing between career and home. Working women find it very difficult to manage both family responsibilities and professional commitments.They are under extreme pressure to do balancing act and carry on with dual responsibilities. Husbands expect their working wives to come home in time and keep everything ready before they return from office. If the child is sick , it is always the wife who is expected to take leave from office and look after the child. Wife does not have the same freedom as husband in taking decisions in family matters. Male domination in Indian family is still prevalent.

We, as parents are largely responsible for this behavioural pattern. We are reluctant to break through age old tradition of giving preferential treatment to male child over female child right from the stage of conceiving to their upbringing in the family.

As long as this tradition will continue, our attitude towards women will not change. They will not be treated on par with male counterparts and there will be discrimination.