The fact that goddesses play such a vital role in the mythology of Hinduism, command the same amount of worship, and are allowed to act independent of gender politics is strange, considering the almost totally subservient role expected of women in Hindu society. There is great disparity between the power, freedom wielded by, and worship directed towards these goddesses, and the actual human women who adhere to its beliefs. In the world of myth, goddesses like Parvati are equal to their husbands; their marriage a greater whole made up of the sum of its parts. But in reality, Hindu women are expected to act more in line with human characters in their mythology like Sita, who existed solely to serve the whims of her husband. Despite the revered …show more content…
This is not just a social phenomenon independent of the teachings of Hinduism, as “what emerges clearly from the classical texts is that women are accorded significance and status only in relation to men[...]regarded with the highest esteem in their roles as wives and mothers”, but it is clear that the “texts are notoriously one-sided in emphasizing the obligations of women to men in marriage” (Raines and Rambachan 21). But how are these obligations defined? Hindu texts and religious leaders, “in regard to women[...]confront two separate but directly related issues[...]they have to establish and describe the inherent nature of woman (strisvabhava), but also determine her appropriate duties in life (stridharma)” and “a distinction between notions of nature and duty also appears[...]often with contradictory implications” (Denton 24). This sort of duality seems to play out most clearly among the Hindu goddesses, who are often shown being of these contradictory natures, but with greater freedom in how they choose to balance the …show more content…
Considering her popularity today as a figure of virtue, it is clear that these qualities in her are still admired greatly by the general populace. Perhaps what also makes this so tragic is that Sita's life and reputation are destroyed through no fault of her own. Rama fails in his duty as a husband to protect her, a rather curious prospect considering the power Rama wields, and so “one of the main questions raised by these events is Rama's obsessive interest in and deference to the opinions of his subjects[...]why should Rama, King of Ayodhya care?” (Sutherland 77). The message is clear: the sexual purity and virtue of Sita, or even the appearance of which, as well as her subservience is of the utmost importance, more so than even her life. That such a figure is to be given such cultural reverence, and what's more, put up as an example of how a wife should act, is somewhat disturbing in light of how the narrative plays
The teachings of the Buddha do not only benefit men but also women. However, when trying to be ordained, women meet more problems than men do. According to the difference in precepts for monks and nuns, nuns are inferior to monks in all circumstances. (Walsh 2016) These differences combined with the low social status of women during the time of the Buddha have formed a popular view about Buddhism that discriminates against women. However although there is evidence that emphasize the difference in treating women and men in Buddhism, it is Buddhism that propose the equality between women and men, thus further raising the status of women in social circumstances. In this paper, I will focus on the traditional view of women
Though women were suppressed from ancient times, whenever there is a chance they have raised their voice and asked their rights. The best example is that the conversation between Yama and Yami. Yami expressed her physical desire over her brother Yama however, he refused her opinion. it shows that the women had freedom to express her feelings and opinion in the family. In Rigveda some of the Rishikas name mentioned are Aditi, Indramatalu (10-15-3), Indrani, Urvasi, Ghosa, Juhu, Bharadvaja, Ratri, Surya,Viswavara etc. Among those women Viswavara and Ghosa were considered as historical characters. It shows that some of the Rishika were fight for their place in the society. Then also, the brahmanical tradition suppressed the voice of women.
As a common theme in society, politics, and books, gendering originated from mythology. Hindu mythology repeatedly reinforces gendering in Indian society, in which the males have a certain point to prove and the females are forced to sacrifice their own happiness. In the Ramayana, a ruthless villain Ravan kidnaps Sita. Her husband, Rama, saves her, but then doubts her chastity because she has lived with another man for so long. Sita is then forced to prove her innocence. Stories with this same archetype are repeated throughout the Mahabharata, another Hindu mythological text. In this story, the female character, Draupadi, is the common wife for a group called the Pandavas. The Pandavas pawn her as a prize in a game against a villain named Duryodhana. The Pandavas lose, and Duryodhana takes Draupadi captive. As a standard characteristic of Hindu mythology, the female sacrifices for the male's ego. Hindu mythology epitomizes the roles of males and females, which as a result, influences gendering in modern-day society by disadvantaging females.
In Nina Paley’s interpretation, the story focuses primarily on Sita and her emotional traumas during her capture and recovery, which were represented quite differently in the film than in the book. It is important to note that in The Ramayana, Sita played a much smaller role in the grand scheme of things. Sita was represented as a good little submissive wife, ever faithful and true to husband and she was eager to prove her devotion which was also characteristic of the woman’s traditional role in a patriarchal society in which she was reflective of India’s values and social norms.
Gender roles have been a predominant factor in our world since the early emergence of human societies whether they are positive or negative. They are based on expectations that societies have over the people in them. The Epic of Sunjata, shows us how men and women are treated almost equally in different forms. Women are praised for their ability to birth leaders, which is similar to the early Greek Society. In most societies, women are treated less equal than men. This was prevalent in the early Indian society. No matter the gender role, it has been shown that any society cannot survive without both men and women.
“In Tantric Buddhism, we are dealing with a misogynist, destructive, masculine philosophy and religion which is hostile to life – i.e. the precise opposite of that for which it is trustingly and magnanimously welcomed in the figure of the Dalai Lama.”[1] Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is an inherent contradiction regarding the status of women. Although in many aspects women are seen and treated as inferior to men, several of the ancient and fundamental values of Tibetan Buddhism, and more specifically Tantric Buddhism, emphasize equality of the sexes, universal compassion, and most importantly the significant and essential role of the woman. Tibetan Buddhist nuns have been trying to correct this contradiction for years to remove the inferior and degrading stereotype that defines them and to be seen as equal to men. Beginning with the emergence of Tibetan Buddhism from India until today, the status of women, both physically and symbolically has declined due to the patriarchal system adopted by Tibet. “The mystery of Tantric Buddhism consists in the sacrifice of the feminine principle and the manipulation of erotic love in order to attain universal androcentric power.”[2] In their patriarchal society, the symbol of the woman is used by men now as an instrument; manipulated by men in order to acquire control and power.
...ieties only do so due to their cultural views and not their religious views. Mothers in Islam are not given as much importance as those in Hinduism are. In Hinduism a mother is very well respected and viewed as a prestigious person. But, Hindu mothers who fail to deliver a boy to her husband will live her life feeling as if she failed her husband, but Islam women won’t live with that resentment. Another difference in the two religions and cultures is that Islam women may be as loyal as Hindu women during marriage, but after marriage the Islam woman will remarry another man, while the Hindu women won’t remarry even if her husband has perished. Noticing the similarities of Hindu and Islam beliefs, as well as their cultural beliefs, we can observe that Hindu and Islamic societies observe men as being superior over women, making both religions and societies patriarchal.
In examining the Buddhist religion, particularly the role of women in Buddhism, it was. quite clear that the religion of Buddhism is practiced very differently from country to country. The sand is Buddhism is a philosophy of life expounded by Gautama Buddha ("Buddha" means "enlightened"). one"), who lived and taught in northern India in the 6th Century B.C. The Buddha was not a god and the philosophy of Buddhism does not entail any theistic world-view.
The Ramayana as retold by R.K. Narayan, explores the roles and duty of women and what it takes in order to be a good woman in Indian society. He explores these roles through the women through out the epic whether it is the wife of a King or some form of deity. While in general women were viewed as subpar to men and were seen as second-class citizens, the women in the book shape the men into who they become and account for much of the manipulation of the individuals and the caretaking of the individuals. Women such as Sita and Kausalya demonstrate those women that are good. These women were regarded as beautiful, not only for their physical attributes, but for their behavior in regards to the males in the epic. They are everything women should be- they are kind and respect the males in their lives above all else. However these women are also met with their opposites, those women who have much improvement to make before being recognized as good women in the Indian society. These women, like Kaikeyi and Soorpanaka go against all Indian ideals. They use their sexuality in order to attempt to manipulate the men of the epic. They do everything in their power in order to get their way, even if it is at the cost of others.
People can not judge others based on what they take from the story. Nina Paley stated “The aspect of the story that I focus on is the relationship between Sita and Rama, who are god 's incarnated as human beings, and even they can 't make their marriage work.” This goes to show that she wanted to portray the relationship between Rama and Sita. This is what she took from the story and created her version of the Ramanya. We can 't say that it is wrong because it 's her own person views and opinion. People can argue with her version of the story because she did portray what happened in the Ramanya. Rama did abandon Sita because he didn 't trust her words and purity. He was so worried about what others were saying that he let go of his own wife. Many people don 't want to accept that because that will hurt Ramas image and name. He is always portrayed as the ideal man. Doing what 's right and moral. What he did to Sita was not right. Even till this day many people in India and other Asian countries perceive Rama and Sita as the ideal couple and they are the example of how a couple should be.They have set expectations for how a couple should live because of the stories that were told by others. Everyone has their own version of the Ramanya that has been passed down through their family and elders. No one can pinpoint and say that one
Gender Roles are expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. Gender roles apparent in work and in how we react to others. Gender Roles determine how males and females should think, speak, dress, and interrelate within the perspective of society. Normally, a boy is thought how to fix and build things; while girls learn how to cook, and keep house. Children are applauded by their parents when they conform to gender expectations and adopt culturally accepted and conventional roles. All of this is reinforced by additional socializing representatives, such as the media. The Hiraj’s of Hindu religion are looked upon for their gender and sexual
Comparatively men are not subject to gender constraints. Rama asserts that, “I am a king and my first and final dharma is toward my people”(Valmiki,649). In contrast Sita endures extreme events of calamity dependent upon Rama. Rama mentions, “Do not think of a moment Sita that I came for your sake” (Valimiki, 494). Therefore women are portrayed as secondary to honor and status of men. The role of women is predetermined to exemplify a paradigm wife, with contrastingly miniscule reciprocal behavior from the role men. Women are viewed as property of men vulnerable to suffering and hardship at the demands of the male characters. The men are liberated from gender constraints whereas women are sexually oppressed with a role dependent upon their relationship and subordinate nature to their
Looking back in history, it seems like most societies become less conservative and more accepting of their ways as time goes on. While this is true for a vast majority of societies, it isn’t always the case. In fact, comparing ancient Indian society to itself a few centuries later, it appears that instead of becoming more accepting and understanding, they got even more conservative than before. Rather than slowly eliminating gender roles and becoming more accepting of individuality, the Indian society progressed alternatively to what is expected. This transformation of society can be seen in the differences between the Mahabharata and Kalidasa’s play. In the Mahabharata, Sakuntala, the mother of Bharata, is a powerful woman and uses her voice to stand up for herself while in the play, she becomes more subservient and complicit to Duhsunta and the requests of men. Society between the two plays seems like it becomes more focused on the gender roles and
The Role of Women in Society Women are important in our society. Every woman has her own job or duty in this modern society in which men are still the strongest gender. We can t forget that women s life is a lot more complicated than a man s life. A woman has to take care of her own personal life and if she is a mother, she has to take care also about her children s life, too. Marriaged women have lots of worries and believe it or not, they carry out a more stressful life than married men.
The role women play in today’s society is a drastic change from the previous role. Women used to be confined to the superiority of the man. Physically, mentally, and emotionally abused, belittled, embarrassed, and silenced. These are just a few examples of the emotion from the isolated treatment of the past. A woman’s role in today’s society is more valued than ever before.