Women’s Rights and Indian Culture, Research Paper Example

Tagore, Rabindranath. “Punishment.” Timeless Short Stories. Ed. T. W. Phillips. Delhi: Bery Art Press, 2005. Print.

The story tells of two men, Dukhiram and Chidam. The men worked very hard during the day, they didn’t even stop to eat. Dukhiram’s wife, Radha and Chidam’s wife, Chidam were at home tending to the house while the men were at work. The two women had been fighting all day prior to their men returning home. When Dukhiram asks his wife where his food is, a fight inevitably results. Radha, his wife, said sarcastically,” Where is the food? You didn’t give me anything to cook. Must I earn the money myself to buy it?” (Punishment, 14). In a state of rage, Dukhiram takes a knife and kills his wife. Ramlochan came to collect the rent that the brothers were late paying. He was a pillar of the village and often took care of legal matters. He offered Chidam help in defending his brother in the events that transpired.

The men decide the best option was to pin the murder on Chandara. Chidam could not handle the idea of losing his brother and felt the best option was to pin the murder on his wife. He also felt it would be easier to get his wife out of trouble than his brother. Chidam instructed his wife to say that Radha tried to attack her with a slicer and she only acted in self-defense. When interrogated by the police, Chandara told the police the exact opposite. Chandara defied her husband and told the police that Radha did nothing to her, she just decided to kill her. The case went to trial and she continued her self-incrimination, admitting to the murder she committed. Chidam tried to save his wife and confessed to the murder, and the judge only felt that they were trying to save Chandara. The judge ordered Chandara to death by hanging.

“Punishment” tell a vital story of women’s rights and Indian culture. Indian culture has a significant barrier between the men and women. The Indian culture dictates the right to discriminate against women. The men are the ones who make the rules, they go to work, and have their women take care of the house. Chandara shows how the culture can influence the women’s state of mind. Her lack of rights and desire to escape the culture in which she lived made it more appealing to die by hanging that to continue living as the wife of Chidam. The Indian culture in which Chandara and Radha lived denied the women of their rights and left them captive to their male counterparts. The desire to die instead of returning to her husband provides the reader with a view into the world that women lived.

The women’s oppression in India was shown through a male perspective, Rabindranath Tagore. Women are to listen to their male counterparts, husbands and fathers. Chandara did not defend herself of her innocence because she knew there was no defending herself against what her husband said. For Chandara, the option to die instead of returning to her husband’s controlling and abusive ways was far more appealing. She opted to hang, defying her husband’s instructions to claim self-defense. Her defiance ultimately cost her – her life, but she was free from the oppression that women in the Indian society faced on a daily basis. The story presented by Tagore tells an important underlying story of women’s life under the controlling male dominated society.

Work of Literature

Anindita, Paul and Dr. Anil Sharma. “Women’s Eminence in India.” International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences, Volume 3, Issue 1 (2013): 29-34. Print.

Dr. Anil Sharma and Paul Anindita discuss of the nineteenth-century Indian women’s movement, and the social reform that addressed women’s issues, and the organizations formed. Indian women could consider themselves oppressed, having to comply with their male counterpoints. Women began to form their organization locally and then nationally at the end of the nineteenth century. The main issues addressed were the reform of the personal laws and the political rights. The women who participated in this movement provided an image of the struggles they were facing. The women’s struggle was shown through “Punishment” in many places. For example, “If I ever hear that you’ve been to the ghat on your own, I’ll break every bone in your body … Chidam sprang at her, grabbed her by the hair, dragged her back to the room and locked her in” (Tagore,19). The control inflicted by Chidam showed how women’s rights were virtually nonexistent.

In post-independent India, the majority of the women found themselves challenging the patriarchy and defending themselves from the violence towards women. It generated concern with political decision making and academic considerations. The oppression of the women allowed them to continue to comply with the male rule. The women of India were not allowed to defend themselves against rape, in fact, they were often punished if they were the victim. The women of India, as portrayed in the literature were helpless. Tagore also shows the helplessness of women through his portrayal of Chandara. Her body gestures were strikingly innocent, “Chandara stared at him, stunned; her black eyes burnt him like fire. Then she slowly shrank from him, as if to escape his devilish clutches. She turned her heart and soul quite away” (Tagore, 19). Her attempt to move away from her husband’s powerful clutch were diminished by her obligation to comply with the orders given.

Despite the movement that women made they still have failed to achieve the gender justice and gender equality that they are trying to obtain. The movement was not readily accepted, many fought against by the male dominated society. The position of women being property was shown by Tagore as well. Dukhiram in a fit of rage “like a furious tiger…without thinking, plunged his knife into Radha’s head” (Tagore 16). Radha defying his demands for dinner justified his actions to kill her. The idea of Indian women enjoying equal status with men in all fields of life was readily rejected. The historical background shows that controlling education, political involvement, and social interactions prevented women from finding their position in society.

The historical study of women in India’s culture has become increasingly important for understanding the oppression and struggle these women have faced. The literature provides substantial knowledge about women who live their life under India’s male-dominated culture. The article provides important development strategies of the past and how the change have that evolved to aid women in their fight towards a better life. Women’s are not equal even in today’s society; however, they have progressed significantly. The women have fought the actions of the government but has failed to resolve all of their issues as desired. The human index has failed to value all genders equally. It shows the progress of women and the lives they live in India. The equal rights initiative is an ongoing process, and despite their efforts still have a significant way to go.

Art

Kulkarni, Dipti. “Empowering Women Though Art.” 8 Oct. 2014. Web. 15 Jun. 2015

The Brown Girl has published art regarding the hardship that women face in India. The struggle has been made publically visible in their sub par position in society in contrast to their male counterpart. Tagore showed the struggle that women faced in many situations. Chandara was told to say: “The elder wife was about to attack me with the vegetable slicer. I picked up a farm-knife to stop her, and it somehow cut into her” (Chandara, 20). As the story is told, despite the directives given to by her husband, she decided the best option was to defy the instructions and face death instead of the dictating and abusive life she suffered otherwise.

The artist traveled through many cities in India and was saddened by the environment in which her women lived. News of a horrible gang rape that took place in Delhi in 2012 swept the nation. It was called the Nirbhaya case, and it allowed the world to see how much women’s rights were being challenged in India. The artist began to reflect on how the struggle of her fellow women and the oppression that still occurred in India. The artist tells the stories through her portrayal of art and through stories she observed as she traveled the world. The picture below shows a very clear view of the society. A man was seeming find and a woman with tears running down her face. A male dominated society which has lasting effects on the women and their rights.

Women facilitate many roles within the family. They give birth, care for the children, take care of the home and their husbands, earns money, and has to be the best at all of these roles. Women who become victims of rape or abuse cannot seek help. They have to protect their family name within society and to speak out will cause their family shame. Tagore shows in his writing that the men love their women, they just have their role in society. He stated that Chidam had strong feelings towards his wife. “Although he was not unresponsive to the beauty of other women in the village, and was keen to make himself charming in their eyes, his real love was for his young wife” (Tagore, 18). Men may not have respect for women as a gender, but that does not minimalize their feelings.

The artist felt strong about supporting women. She knew that she was only one person; however, she felt strongly that she needed to do something. The artist provided a voice for Indian women. The paintings express emotions that are shown from women throughout their community. Tagore taught that women have some power, despite their rights and voices being stolen from them. Prior to Chandara’s hanging the Civil Surgeon asked ‘Do you want to see anyone?’ ‘I’d like to see my mother,’ she replied. ‘Shall I call your husband?’ asked the doctor. ‘He wants to see you.’ ‘Not him,’ said Chandara (Tagore, 24). Chandara’s final comment was directed to her husband “to hell with him” (Tagore, 24). The last opportunity to defy her husband and show her anger towards his treatment. The paintings provided by the artist show emotions and experiences that the women can relate to. It allows for the expression of oppression through artistic measures and allows others to see the struggle that they are facing on a daily basis.

Music

Taibi, Catherine. VProud Teams With Female Rap Duo ‘BomBaebs’ To Combat India’s Rape Culture. Huff Post. 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 Jun. 2015.

With all the effort to change or support causes through music, it is no surprise that musicians are speaking out against the Indian culture and the lack of women’s rights. Two Indian women who are known as “BomBaebs” have gained global attention with their three-minutes video that speaks out against the rape that is going on in India. The video can be viewed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/24/bombaebs-vproud-sexual-assault-india-video_n_7137922.html. Upon publication, Uppekha Jain and Pankhuri Awasthi gained over a million view quickly. The video addressed many issues that are taking place in India such as domestic violence, freedom of speech and expression, rape, and the importance of young women getting an education in India.

The women have taken a strong stand on the issues they have faced in India for centuries. Tagore showed the mentality of the community when he explained the screaming of the wife for help. “When they heard the shrill of the screams of the women, they would say ‘They’re at it again’… no one asks why… [and] no one was at all curious to investigate the cause” (Tagore, 16). The men can beat their women, and no one will stop to help. The society in which these women live is oppressive at best. VProud, which is a video-based platform has joined a partnership with BomBaebs to promote the necessary women’s rights and gender equality in India. The artists will continue their efforts to promote conversation and awareness about the rape culture and inequality that women face in their community.

Tagore painted a picture for the readers to see as well. He explained the gloom that surrounded the brother’s house. The reader can see the uneasiness through “flat and sinister under the mounting clouds. It had flooded most of the grain-fields and had come close to the houses” (Tagore, 16). The events that took place in the house, the abuse, the killing of his wife, it is a common event in the Indian culture. Women cannot defend themselves, they have no rights, and at times, no value. When the brothers decided to allow Chandara take the fall for the murder, the reader would almost have to ask why he would give up his wife. Chidam’s response was that: “if I lose my wife I can get another, but if my brother is hanged, how can I replace him?” (Tagore, P1695). The value of men’s lives is far more prevalent in value than that of the women.

The musicians are fighting the change the direction of their society. They are providing a voice for their women and allowing all of the world to see the inequality that they are still fighting to date. It is a voice the India has needed for some time. For the time of 2012 to 2013, crimes against women increased 26.7 percent. A 2006 report shows just how disposable the females in India are. Over 10 million baby girls were killed by their parents in India, which is extremely alarming and just absurd. Even more alarming, 35 percent of all women have experienced some type of physical or sexual abuse. The artists are taking these factors and using music as a voice for education.

BomBaeb is the voice for women in India. They have experienced firsthand the life that women live. Their oppression, neglect, and even abuse that is acceptable as termed by their government. The mission of cultivating education and speaking against their oppressors has been successfully done through their musical avenues. BomBaeb’s work is growing in popularity, and it allowing the community to understand that they will no longer tolerate sexual violence, gender discrimination, and inequality.