WOMEN IN RELIGION

 INTRODUCTION

The status of women differs in various sectors worldwide. The traits which are linked with the institution of gender inequality among them one is “religion”. Religion is itself a fluid concept which consists of several interpretations, practices and it differs by different cultural and historical relations. Most of the religions sustain the patriarchal structure and require the women to be submissive in nature. Therefore, there are numerous norms and traditions present in several religion which contribute to raising gender inequality and decreasing the role of women in society.

In this article, I am going to present a critical study over the history of women status in different religions and how they have affected women in political, social, and economic sectors.

Hinduism

In the Hindu religion, once women considerably enjoyed a good amount of freedom, and privileges in spheres of family, public assembly, religion etc. But as the centuries rolled down the situation started converting adversely. Forgoing through the clear image of the status of women under Hindu civilisation, the time period is divided into four different divisions:

The Age of Rig Ved (2500-1500)

During this age the position of women was very efficient. Even from the point of view of religion women were treated equal to men and they occupied equal status in the public assemblies and social gatherings. Women were not restricted to perform any religious rituals or sacrifices during that period.

The ideal marriages during Vedic period were a religious segment which created both men and women, equal owners of the house, though the role of women was subordinate they had equal participation in the process of decision making. The ideal age of marriage for women was not less then 16and they were provided equal opportunities to achieve literacy, there are many hymns present in Rig Ved which were pronounced by the women poets. Sati Pratha, child marriage was not performed, in contrast to that right of divorce, widow remarriage was highly prevalent at this period.

The disturbing factors of this age were the property rights, Where women were not allowed to hold or inherit any property and at this period as well women were considered as property for men, the evidence of this present in the hymns of the Vedas which signifies during gambling men had the right to put their wives as a strike.

The Age of Brahmana And Of Upanishads(1500-500 BC)

The alteration which occurred in the position of women was gradual. The property rights remain unrecognised and the favourable modification for the women was the wedding gifts as there property. Among the higher sections, second emancipation “Upnayan” was widespread, under this, women subsequently went through a course of education. Some women tried to maintain the distinction from philosophy and theology which resulted in gradual decrease among the literacy of women. The tradition of going to seek knowledge from popular teachers Got diminished, and required the near relations like father, brother or uncle should teach. As a consequence women from higher and cultured families had the privilege to acquire education which also results, the tendency of performing sacrifices and rituals by women itself, started curtailing.

The ideal age of women remained 16 for marriage. The marriage continued providing mutual share in responsibilities, resources etc to both the parties. In this age, the position or women remained satisfactory because of the influence of the religion and under the religion sacrifices were indispensable in which women played a vital role during the holy sacrifices and rituals.

The Age Of Sutras, Epics And Early Smrities (500 BC-500AD)

The status of women was considerably deteriorating during this period. Before some centuries of this age, Aryan rule got well established in whole over India. The introduction of “non-aryan wifes” was the key factor which was responsible for the deteriorating the status of women. “Non-aryan wifes” were not permitted by the orthodox priest to take part in the sacrifices. In order to restrict the non-aryan wives to take part in the whole class of women were considered as illegible for performing sacrifices. This was criticised by the people, but on the other hand at this period, the ideal age of women for marriage was considered 10-12 or in other words, a girl should be married after attaining her puberty.

The tradition of “Upnayan” got discouraged which reduced the literacy level of women. The brides were less in age therefore they did not have any effective voice for themselves, which resulted in overall deteriorating the status of women. The right of remarriage was granted to women only in exceptional cases, and women did not have any right to discard her husband. The men were given all the rights to leave his wife for the simple reason of not being sufficiently submissive towards him. Women could not take a single step to remarry whereas the husband was allowed to have several wives. These all unequal differences developed between men women as a result of women were not highly educated and they were not able to discard these cruel theories prevailed over them by the patriarchs.

The Age Of Latest Smritis, Commentators (AD 500-1850AD)

During this period many foreign invasions had occurred in the region of India such as greeks, sithyans , parthyans etc this resulted in the decline of Hindu population by death and inslavement. Similar to the last age, the status of women continued degrading. Firstly, sati pratha was among the khatriya class but it got widespread in all the sections of the society and it was considered as holy relegious sacrifice by the people, though it was criticised by the school of the rationalist. The age of women for marriage continued decreasing and asked the parents to marry their daughters before they attain puberty(8-10).

In all the levels status of women was deteriorating but only on the grounds of property rights somewhat improvement had occurred. Widow had the right to inherit the property of her husband even if she is not in a joint union of the family by 1200 AD. Besides the property rights in all the level the position of women in the society was decreasing, Upnayan got completely diminished and the causes responsible for incalculable harm to the prestige of women continued during this period as well.

However, in this age Widow remarriage was completely prohibited, girls were married at a very lower age, sati pratha was widespread. By this time Buddhism also got diminished who had given security to all the women but by the orthodox priest, women were not allowed to readmit and they were considered illegible for there own religion.

Source- Unsplash By-Mateus Campos Felipe

BUDDHISM AND JAINISM

Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism flourished in the region of India for about 1000 years. Hinduism, Jainism continued flourishing and Buddhism got diminished but it developed in other parts of central Asia. From beginning only, women had a particular space in both Buddhism and Jainism And their efforts had played a vital role in propagating the norms of there religions to different sectors of India. Senior leaders of both religions provided preachings to the younger nuns which helped them to achieve spirituality. Both the religions were based on the norm of equality between gender, caste, class etc therefore women enjoyed a peaceful space under these religions. Both Jainism and Buddhism raised against the intellectual monopoly raised by the Hindu brahmans and Kshatriya men.

Despite, women had space in both the religions, still the Indian patriarchal norms were present among them. As the founder and the leaders of both the religions were men so the structure of patriarchy is seen among these religions as well.

Women In Buddhism

Women who followed Buddhism were known as “nuns” they were taught by the senior leaders of there clan but women did not have the right to teach monks. Though there were several learned “acharies” they taught the younger nuns but they were also not allowed to teach the monks even monks never accepted women as there preachers. All the authorities for making the decisions and constructing policies were vested with the monks and maybe this could be the way adopted by the monks to keep the power with themselves. The subordination of women in Buddhism could be considered as the reason for the decline of nuns in India.

In the Buddhist literature, there are only a few texts which give reference to the position of women so it could be possible that women were kept out from maintaining the doctrine for there Bhikhus and Bhikhunies. But there are some records which represent that women were scholars and preachers during the period of Buddhism. Now also in the tradition of Buddhism, women are bounded by the social norms and traditions of Buddhism which are not stated in the norms but several interpretations are done by other leaders from different centuries, it also resultedd in a certain level of gender inequality among Buddhist.

Women In Jainism

In Jainism, two clans were developed named as shwetambars known as white clan and the other is Digambars known as sky clan. Gender discrimination can clearly represent through different ideologies followed by these clans.

Jainism is based on three principles right faith, right knowledge and five principles. Both sets of Jainism are based on these principles despite the biological ones. Digambars believe in complete renunciation and this wow could only be fulfilled by the men therefore women could take salvation by taking another birth as a man. Whereas, Shwetambars believe that salvation could be attained by simple clothing and both women and men can achieve spirituality in various high levels. This critical view of jains is the crucial factor in the history of Jainism, and many beliefs of this religion reflects the norms of other religion present in India and prooves that jains also believed that women were inferior to men.

The ancient texts which are available were written by men and for the men listeners, the voice of women in Jainism is heard since twenty century. There are several texts which celebrate there female leaders and teachers. Though nun preacher did not have the right to teach men and frequently very little rights than the monks. In the religious activities, women had a keen role and probably they involved with the singing hymns. Hence, presently, the main objective of this religion is to prefer women and promote the literacy of women.

POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS

Religion plays a vital role in the cultural life of different spaces, it is deeply rooted in the individual’s experiences and influences the socio-economic and political directions in society(Stump,2008). Similar to that Religion also affects women in all the directions of political, economic and social spheres. This we can examine through the rate of employment, political participation of women in different countries

India

Women rate of employment – 23.6%

Women rate of political participation- 65.3%

Rate of Women literacy- 46.647%

China

Rate of Women employment –68.2%

Rate of Literacy – 95.16%

IRAN

Rate of women Literacy – 80.79

Rate of women politically active- 15.2%

Rate of women employability- 14.9%

By examining different rates on different grounds signifies average gender equality in China as its literacy, employability rate are much higher than the other countries. India whose citizens are mostly followers of Hinduism, the women of this Religion lacks in literacy and employable rate and there is some improvement in the political sector.

Iran through the literacy level of women is better but according to the rate, women are not actively participating in the economy as well as political grounds.

CONCLUSION

We have gone through the history of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism we had seen how several patriarchal structures were present which had contributed in deteriorating the status of women and the effects of those norms are still effecting women presently as well which we have also examined by the examples of China, India and Iran. Because of the presence of high gender inequality India is lacking behind in development, for coming forward and raising as a developed country India needs to break the constrain of gender inequality for which many government policies are also running to empower the women of the country.

REFERENCES

A S Arthika(Class11 history)

WRITTEN BY KASHISH GUPTA