The genesis of Indian Patriarchal Mindset.

Women Empowerment! This phrase per say may have become famous after the Rahul Gandhi’s breakthrough interview on Times Now.  I wanted to write this Article to address the issue of the status of women, in particular and Indian patriarchal society, in general. Things that we don’t know but we should. We say about the greatness of Indian culture and we position it in one of the most ancient cultures of India. The patriarchal aspect of our personality is the reflection of the same Indian culture. My intention is to exemplify this very aspect of Indian culture and enrich you with the conceptual understanding by getting into the roots of the problem.

Right from the childhood, we experience such things at our home or our social sphere but we do not understand why this is so. So I thought I should write a comprehensive Article about the How the Status of Women got to such a situation; Why are we patriarchal; Why do some people say that Women should do all the household works and cook at home and men should not; Why do some people defend the plight of women with historical precedence that historically, Women were supposed to do what they have been doing all their lives. We want to work towards Women Empowerment and talk heights about it but we are okay with the fact that our mothers or wives should do the household chores (even if they are working) and we do not even intend to help them out in their chores. Some of us do not intend to share the work.

Such negative aspects of our personality are prevalent because of our exposure to the lack of conceptual understanding about history or our exposure to a distorted version of history and our Indian society. This has led us towards a patriarchal mindset. At a personal level, most of us are still patriarchal. This Article would enrich you intellectually for your step towards Women Empowerment. I have comprehended most of the conceptual things that one must know in order to increase the effectiveness of the noble deeds which many of us do in our daily lives. My appeal is just to spread the word to as many people as you can.

Historical legacy – It answers: How was the status of Women declined in our Indian society?

Some of us get bored with the history as a subject. But let me bring this to you that ‘If you have to find a solution to any problem of our society, proper understanding of the history is necessary. Every issue that we have in our society has its roots in History’. Indian History is divided into 4 major parts: 1) Ancient India 2) Medieval India 3) Modern India 4) Post Independent India. Don’t worry we are not going to go in depth. But the major changes that took with respect to the position of Women in the society and their gradual decline have its answers in Ancient History. It will all make sense at the end of this Article. So I would request you to have patience.

The Vedic period is divided into Rig Vedic society (1400-600 BC when the Rigveda was written by Aryans) and Later Vedic society (1000 BC – 600 BC when Atharvaveda, Upanishads were written and at the end of this period Buddhism and Jainism evolved). Rig Vedic period is the period of the coming of the Aryans from the Central Asia into the areas of (present day) Punjab, Haryana, Indus river etc. At that time the Vedic society was an almost egalitarian society. They were a tribal society basically nomads moving from here to there. They did not settle at one place for long time.

Status of Women was much better in that period. They were respected. In Rigveda there have been instances where women were participated in d writings f Vedas, in the politics of the Aryan tribes. Even Polyandry was in vogue. They had the Right to choose husband. Marriages before puberty were unheard. Dowry system was absent. Widow Remarriages were allowed. It was such a society where Sons were named after mother Ex. There is a word in Rigveda named Mamateya. All the above instances are given in Rigveda. The basic economic activity was pastoralism. Agriculture was the secondary economic activity. It was practiced with wooden ploughs as there was no introduction of Iron at that time (Iron was introduced only at the end of Rigvedic period and the start of Later Vedic period).  A person will settle at a single place only if he is sure that he will have enough to eat, survive and save (This is known as Surplus). But for Pastoral nomads like Aryans, this was not an option. Agriculture did not generate surplus, so they could not think of settling down at one place and live their lives.

But the introduction of Iron changed all that. It was the turning point of the history of India. Don’t worry I will demonstrate how!

Iron plough, tools, weapons, etc. were introduced. Now they could effectively practice agriculture on a large scale. They could cultivate crops at a large scale and also save it for them and their cattle. There was no need of going here and there for the search of water or to feed their animals. Thus, now they could settle at one place and live their lives.

This is the point where the position of Women in the history of India took a major turning point. The economic activity of Pastoralism was continued. But gradually, Agriculture became their prime economic activity. Agriculture is a physically intensive activity. There started a gradual trend for women – as they were not able to participate in the physical labor, their importance started to decline. As the society settled and multiplied, Women were involved in Household work. Gradually, they were not allowed in political institutions. There was ban on education. Despite presence f some Women philosophers & queens in coronation rituals, it was consolidated as a patriarchal family. According to me, this was one of the worst things that happened in the Indian society. Not only that, this is also the reason for the following

1) Evolution of Varnashrama system (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras).

2) The evolution of untouchability.

3) Class inequalities intensified.

4) Evolution of Religion (Not Hindu religion or Hinduism but ‘The concept Religion’).

5) In short, the major issues of today’s society can be traced back to this.

I could elaborate on hundreds of such things in Indian culture but It would take ages to complete it because there are so many misconceptions that we have in our contemporary society and the things in the actual sense need to be conceptually understood in order to find a solution for that. In the later period of Indian history, the situation for Women turned worse. Practices like sati, jauhar, early marriage, etc became more widespread. But the roots lay here. This is the most negative element of our Indian culture which led to all the contemporary issues that we have.

And on the top of that, without a conceptual understanding of the history, some of the sections of the society defend the inferior status of women saying that ‘Ye toh saalo se chalta aa raha hain. It is our Indian culture and we have to follow it. Women are supposed to be at home. (Well! If we this is Indian culture then ‘this aspect’ of Indian culture is definitely wrong and we should definitely not follow it)’. It is the intensification of such regressive customs of Indian culture which has led to an unintentionally ignorant patriarchal mindset of Indians. This happens because of the lack of conceptual understanding of our history and its dissemination.

When we talk about Women Empowerment, we should know this aspect of our society. This would highlight the need of emancipation of Women before empowering them. Emancipation from our own regressive thoughts of patriarchy, gender inferiority, ignorance and indifference to such negative thoughts and mindset. Only then we can talk about Women Empowerment. This could only be realized when we are clear about the moral standards of our Indian society. When we stand against such unnoticed aspects of our personality instead of blindly following the conventions.