Category: Woman

Brahmanism is the branch of the Hindu religion, previously known dominators of the Indian society, the priests. They are considered to be higher class than any other Hindu person. These Brahmans are the ones in the religion who do all the rituals and sacrifices as it is part of their dharma(duty). Some brahmans believe that woman’s role is to procreate, and continue the family lineage. It is said that woman need to be cared for their whole lives by men, before marriage its their father, later their husband and when they are old its their son. Woman’s role in the vedas were different then and now they are totally different. In the vedas they don’t demean, woman but the woman aren’t as important as men. So the role of woman then and now are totally different, Brahmanism has come a long way in the ways of woman. The status od woman started decline with time.

Then, “women should remain stagnate, running the household, rearing the children, and participate in religious rituals as an assistant to their husband.” As a brahmin priest, you would need to be married to perform rituals, even though the woman isn’t involved in any of the rituals she has to assist her husband, as its her duty. According to Mahavidya which is a scholar website on hinduism, they stated that female’s role as a wife to bear her husband’s children and educate them in their traditional practices. To maintain there dominance over the women men have their wives maintain the home and the family that he has made and provided for.

The purpose of the woman is just to be they’re for the husband and family, that they can’t be educated and can’t be gurus. It was believed that the male had power over the female, during this time the woman couldn’t even study the vedas, young girls had to be married when the hit puberty and devote their lives to their husbands, and as for part of the rituals the woman wouldn’t be able to perform it just assist her husband. Life was hard as a woman, if your husband dies and you become a widow, all her status and name is tarnished. The woman go through a lot of trouble, when a woman gives birth to a girl, she feels ashamed, since they saw having a baby girl as a burden.

Previously also if woman decide to go out without their husbands permission, they would amputate their ears and noses according to the Pacatantra and also another punishment for woman if they are guilty of cheating on their husbands, they get death penalty. Woman also have a lot of restrictions such as she the wife can’t own any property, as everything she has belongs to her husband, when her husband isn’t in town, she has to stay with another female relative. So basically the woman doesn’t own anything and just is there to support her family, she has no say in the religious activities and the household decisions as she is a woman. She couldn’t even learn the vedas or become a guru, as she isn’t worthy. They also believe that men control woman since the only purpose of a woman is to procreate, and always assist their husband in the rituals .

Daughters seemed to have more freedom as they can own properties shared with their father, According to rig-veda society, a married daughter has no rights of the property of her father, since now her role is to start a family and take care of her husband, and adhere to his every wish. Some even say woman don’t deserve independence otherwise she’ll be a disappointment to the family by not being chased. It is also said all woman must serve and worship their husband as that is what they were born to do.

This essay focuses on women, goddesses and their freedom and power in the classical world. It will investigate the differences and similarities between them, and attempt to cast a light on why goddesses were very powerful, whilst mortal women spent their lives mostly secluded from society. To achieve this, the position of the woman in society will be examined through the three main Greek periods, and the powers and cults of goddesses will be assessed.

The lives of women in Antiquity

In Ancient Greece, while men were being prepared for war, leadership, and diplomacy, young women were prepared through religious events for adulthood: for marriage and motherhood. Marriage was a symbolic death of youth and the transition to marriage, and therefore, adulthood, was a very important one. For a woman in Archaic Greece, there were two important migrations: one from their family home to their home ,shared with their husband, and one to the grave. An ideal marriage was characterised by a shared mindset between husband and wife, shared social goals, and shared friends and enemies. Marriage, however, was not only characterised by a transition to adulthood, but also by the pain it could cause. The Hymn to Demeter shows how much pain this transition could cause to mother and daughter, who were suddenly ripped apart. This pain is very plain in [quote]. The ideal wife in Archaic Greece would bear and raise their heirs and watch over their household, slaves, and goods, and serve society by performing in religious rites for the gods.

Women were not held in high regard/esteem in Ancient Greece. Hesiod described women as a punishment for men who caused their fall from a golden age into a world full of atrocities. [quote] Semonides described women as lazy, as having uncontrolled appetite, as being adulterous, amongst other insults. He mentions various types of women, none of them being what you would call a “good person”. His seventh poem, for example, starts with:

“χωρὶς γυναικὸς θεὸς ἐποίησεν νόοντὰ πρῶτα. τὴν μὲν ἐξ ὑὸς τανύτριχος,τῇ πάντ᾿ ἀν᾿ οἶκον βορβόρῳ πεφυρμέναἄκοσμα κεῖται καὶ κυλίνδεται χαμαί·5αὐτὴ δ᾿ ἄλουτος ἀπλύτοις ἐν εἵμασινἐν κοπρίῃσιν ἡμένη πιαίνεται.” “In the beginning God made various kinds of women with various minds. He made one from hairy sow, that one whose house is smeared with mud, and all within lies in dishevelment and rolls along the ground, while the pig-woman in unlaundered clothing sits unwashed herself among the dunghills and grows fat.” (Frazer, R. M.; 1983)

This poem clearly shows the disgust Semonides feels towards women, and he is not trying to conceal any of his aversion.

Nonetheless, not all women stayed inside for all their lives. Women fulfilled important roles: they served as mourners of the dead, and older women were often hired by the aristocracy to participate in the lamentation of the dead. Other professions such as nurse, housekeeper and weighing wool were also available to women. It is also known that women dedicated clay plaques to goddesses, which could be another sign that women did not live lives that were completely secluded from the outside world.

At the same time, Sparta was raising their girls quite differently. Spartan girls were the only ones that were prescribed an education by the state. Furthermore, Spartan girls practiced athletics while naked and regularly engaged in such physical activities. They were also, unlike in Athens, not excluded from public space; a circumstance that may have led to the production of two female Spartan poets.

Spartan women were probably quite similar in status to men in other Greek city-states, although they were forbidden to take part in money-making occupations. Even so, some Spartan women remained extremely wealthy. They were, for example, they were the first to win horse races with horses they bought. Just like wealthy men, they did not race themselves, but hired charioteers to do the job for them. The Spartans gained their sustenance from the work of the lower classes on land that was distributed at birth, and given back to the community when the owner died. Still, the woman’s main task remained to be the producer of offspring, although now not to heirs, but to warriors. Also, in contrast to Athens at the time, Spartan women refused to lament over fallen soldiers, but chose to take pride in their fallen sons.

When Sparta’s power started to decline, commentators were quick to point out, as well as at women as the culprit. Some felt that the distorted distribution of wealth between men and women was at least partially responsible for this downfall. Plutarch, however, rejected this.

Views on women in Sparta varied greatly. Aristotle considered Sparta to be a state run by women, and therefore argued that women were for a large part responsible for the downfall of Sparta. Plutarch, however, had an optimistic outlook on women’s morality and intellectual potential, and refuted Aristotle ‘s claim/view.

In Classical Athens the wife should ideally spend her life indoors, unless she were to participate in religious events. Even in household from the lower classes, a female slave was often included so that the wife didn’t have to go outside the house to do chores (where men could impose a threat on her chastity and the legitimacy of her family’s heirs). Their lives might not have been as secluded as we might think they were. Citizen wives would visit neighbours and frequently participate in religious events. Still, Xenophon argued in oeconomicus that there was (or ought to be) a division of labour by sex. Men worked outside of the house, and women inside, once they had been trained by their husband to do this properly [quote?]. Aristotle shares a similar view, arguing that the virtue of the woman consists of her obeying her (morally superior) husband. He also argued that women are naturally inferior to men and hence suited for their role in the household. This view was probably widely accepted, since wives in Classical Athens weren’t allowed to make important social or financial decisions without the supervision of a male guardian.

Women’s rights were well protected. For example, a divorce was easy to obtain, and women were protected in such cases, both legally and financially. Male responsibility has often been cited by court cases for the welfare of their female relatives. Guardians were also available for orphans.

Still, lives of women were largely regulated. Solon’s laws (6th century Athens) were largely restrictive, and may have (among other things) been aimed at controlling public appearances of women, which included public expression of private emotions, like grief. In practice, these laws prevented the aristocracy from hiring female mourners, which, at the same time, denied women a source of income.

The only events where women were truly the men’s equal were religious activities, in which they participated just as much as men. Women even had their own religious festival, which was the Thesmophorid, a ritual for Demeter. Women could acquire some power of sorts by becoming a Priestess, but female priesthood was often hereditary or temporarily bought by the family of a young woman, unlike male priests, who were given a theological education. Other ways for women to mark their contribution to the family were weaving, making clothes, participating in marriages, and, though restricted, in funerals. The responsibility to visit the grave and provide it with offerings also fell primarily to women, which shows how important women were in the lamentation of and caring for the dead.

In more rural parts of Greece, women may have had to work alongside men in agricultural activities, and poor women would also have had to work outside.

Even inside, women did not only weave. Evidence from vase paintings [proof?] suggests that women engaged in intellectual activities, especially reading and playing music. They also had part in and knew about economic exchanges among relatives and matters of inheritance.

Only the Hellenistic period is defined by the reign of a woman, Cleopatra. During this period, multiple legal systems were in action. In Alexandria, women were still required to conduct their legal and economic transitions through the intermediary of a male supervisor, but aristocratic women who chose to use the Egyptian or Jewish legal systems did not have to. It was also during this time that women were allowed honours such as magistracies; sometimes as a result of their relationship with men who were given a similar honour, but also granted as a result of the woman’s generosity. This shows a new autonomy that can also be detected in letters and petitions, sent by women who appear to be widowed or to live without a husband. [proof]

There were also increased opportunities for education as well as a stronger focus on the individual, which contributed to the emergence of female poets, who would sometimes travel to festivals to recite their poetry. Other educated women would sometimes pursue professions that required them to work in public and have dealings with men that were not close family. Other women became artists. These were mostly daughters of male artists, and had learned the profession from their father. A couple of women even began the study of medicine.

With the advances in the study of medicine, men’s and women’s bodies were found to be more and more similar, which may also have contributed to the increased autonomy of women.

Still, society was very much patriarchal. Male infants were strongly preferred, and the Greeks in Egypt even practiced infanticide as to reduce the number of female children.

In short, daily lives of women were mostly secluded, except for religious festivals, in which they participated just as much as men did. As time went by, women were able to obtain more and more freedom, but in reality the daily life of the average woman didn’t change much.

Goddesses

After defeating Kronos, Zeus establishes a patriarchal government, and denies power to females, even taking away their only claim to consideration as bearers of offspring by giving birth to Pallas Athena through his head and Dionysus from his thigh. This thought was brought into mainstream philosophy by Hesiod, who, as stated before, presents his unsympathetic view of women in his story of the creation of the first woman, Pandora, who brought onto the world [whatever that was again]. The box she opened may well have been a metaphor for erotic knowledge of women, which was a source of evil to men.

Nonetheless, there are female goddesses, although many have characteristics more closely associated to men. Athena is a typically masculine woman who finds success in what is a man’s world by denying her femininity. She always sided with male heroes. Artemis, on the other hand, generally avoided males, but still fulfilled actions that were not considered feminine, since she was a huntress. Her abstinence of marriage is the key to her independence, something that was very much frowned upon in ancient Greece. Aphrodite resembles more closely the view men in ancient Greece had of women (adulterous, sexual, etc.), but was also said to have a dual nature; one fitting the men, and one fitting women (or actually, prostitutes). The first one, Aphrodite Urania, represented intellectual love, which was only achievable between two men. The other one, Aphrodite Pandemos, represented vulgar love, and was more closely related to prostitutes. Demeter was one of the first Olympic goddesses, and held great power, since she was the goddess of one of the most important aspects of human life: agriculture.

Goddesses were typical images of women in a male perspective. The distribution of desirable female characteristics over multiple goddesses instead of concentrating it in a singular one suited the male experience, since wealthy men were able to afford multiple women, each of them playing a different role in his life. Also, a ‘complete’ female goddess could have rendered anxiety in insecure males. Men from antiquity to present have had a hard time not putting females in “either-or” roles. A woman could not be an Aphrodite and an Athena at the same time.

Daily lives of women were mostly characterised by the indoors, but goddesses didn’t have familial matters they had to address, and also didn’t have that constraint. In myths, therefore, goddesses are represented as hostile to women or pursuing activities that mortal women could only dream of doing, or were completely unfamiliar with. In cult however, the goddesses’ qualities that were useful to the public were strongly emphasised.

The cult of Athena was of great importance to Athens, since she was its patroness. Every year at the Panathenaea, the festival dedicated to Athena, men and women mingled with each other. Every four years the greater Panathenaea were held, and for this occasion a new peplos was woven for the statue of Athena, which shows the importance of Athena’s patronage of weaving.

Demeter was also revered in a large cult, and had two festivals dedicated to her: the Mysteries and the Thesmophoria. The latter one was mostly a female matter. Women’s connection with fertility makes it fairly logical to understand their importance to the rituals of the agriculture.

While women lived most of their lives isolated from society, goddesses were, in myth, free to go where they needed or wanted to go. This, however, was of lesser importance to the daily lives of women, who participated actively in cult. Thus, in cult, useful qualities of goddesses, like Demeter’s association with fertility and Athena’s patronage of weaving, were of greater importance.

Goddesses were very powerful, in myth as well as in cult, and since useful qualities, deemed so by men, were heavily emphasised in cult. This reinforced the way of living prescribed by Greek society.

Her objection is ridiculous because there is no reason why a simple visit by a man should necessarily imply sexual encounter. One can imply that as reflection of a neurotic state of a sexually repressed woman. Rose is afraid of the revealing of a guilty past, that of a whore. There are several clue that she might have formerly been a prostitute and is trying to have an honest life now. Her strong denial to Mr. Kidd that she knows other men, her mention of mysterious ‘customers’ in the house ‘Oh those customers. They come in here and stink the place out’ (THE ROOM 123), the change of her name from Sal to Rose and her denial of the former- all these could imply her anxiety to destroy a dishonoring past and a desire to change identity and lifestyle. The name Sal, as a homonym of the French ‘sale’ for dirty, could have the connotation of moral filth according to Cambridge French to English dictionary.

Rose’s feminine vulnerability and shaky position are stressed further in her encounter with the Negro who introduces himself as her father. A mysterious character in Pinter’s dramatic world, Riley, whose being actionless, his words have a tone of authority and terror is being created verbally. Rose, eventually, accept her prepared destiny by admitting the relational and submissive role of a daughter and a wife. “She herself is part of man’s patrimony, first her father’s and then her husband’s. . . . When she is a young girl, the father has total power over her; on her marriage he transmits it entirely to her spouse” (de Beauvoir 117-118). Thus, the killing of the father figure (the Negro), on the symbolic level, means nothing but his replacement by another male, the husband, as the master of the woman in patriarchal society.

When Bert returns, interrupting his wife’s scene with the Negro, he is a changed man. He was no longer a mute passive man of the opening of the play. Here Bert enters and dominates the stage in movement and words just as his wife did at the beginning. Bert sings his triumph over his van, which he addresses as ‘she’, an obvious substitute for his wife:

BERT: Then I drove her back, hard. They got it very icy out.

ROSE: Yes.

BERT: But I drove her.

Pause.

I sped her.

Pause.

I caned her along. She was good. Then I got back. I could see the road all right. There was no cars. One there was. He wouldn’t move. I bumped him. I got my road. I had all my way. There again and back. They shoved out of it. I kept on the straight. There was no mixing it. Not with her. She was good. She went with me. She don’t mix it with me. I use my hand. Like that. I get hold of her. I go where I go. She took me there. She brought me back. (THE ROOM 126)

Esslin touched upon this episode that “The erotic overtones of this impassioned outburst about the van, always referred to in the feminine gender, are unmistakable. Bert’s account of his trip in his van clearly shows that his sexual energy is no longer focused on Rose; the van, which Bert treats as a ‘she’, has ousted her from his affections. The journey into the winter night becomes an act of intercourse with its own triumphant orgasm. No wonder Rose is totally annihilated as the play ends” (1976 65).

Bert’s final outburst of an erotic imagination with his van is an outcome of an oppressed man. It reflects his dream – turning now into a decision – to subordinate and dominate his wife. Here Rose’s ‘quasi-philosophical quest’ which is a pursuit independent from her marital situation is nullified and she is brought back to the ‘normality’ of a dependent feminine existence (Sakellaridou 28). Throughout this scene she is reduced to a theatrical passivity which leads to her final destruction, her blindness. This blindness symbolize her submission to the male power. In the last scene Rose becomes the nonentity that Bert was in the first of the play. In the end it is Bert who takes the lead of the action. First he dominates verbally and then by physical action. Rose in the meantime has lost her basic human ability: liberty, thought, oral competence and last of all she loses her sight. She is turned into a mute and blind subhuman female. As de Beauvoir presents:

This very ambivalence of the Other, of the Female, will be reflected in the rest of her history; until our times she will be subordinated to men’s will. But this will is ambiguous: by total annexation, woman will be lowered to the rank of a thing; of course, man attempts to cover with his own dignity what he conquers and possesses; in his eyes the Other retains some of her primitive magic; one of the problems he will seek to solve is how to make his wife both a servant and a companion; his attitude will evolve throughout the centuries, and this will also entail an evolution in woman’s destiny. . . . Insofar as woman is considered the absolute Other, that is—whatever magic powers she has—as the inessential, it is precisely impossible to regard her as another subject. (115)

Pinter wrote The Hothouse in 1958, right after The Birthday Party and then he discarded it as a ‘useless’ piece. In 1979 he reread it and ‘decided it was worth presenting on the stage’ as Pinter notes in The Hothouse (qtd. in Pinter’s Female Portraits 46). Pinter noted ‘Synopsis for a Play’ which is submitted to the BBC on 12 Nov. 1958 that early draft revolves round a female doctor and her assistant, another woman, who are conducting scientific experiments. Among their human guinea-pigs there are an innocent young man and an experienced old woman. It is clear from this early version of the play that Pinter is trying to make a point, which he summarized himself as ‘the excesses to which scientific investigation can lead when practiced by adherents dedicated to the point of fanaticism’. However, there is much more than this in the draft. The doctor and her assistant are presented as being more absorbed in their female vanity and feminine interests than in the fate of their male guinea-pig. Behind the sinister portrayal of the two female doctors there is a strong malice against woman. When Pinter sat down to write The Hothouse some time later, he strengthened the story-line, which was very thin in the synopsis, and brought radical changes to his set of characters by eliminating the all-too-obvious female dominance and the overt condemnation of women. The female doctor becomes a man, Gibbs, and the old woman disappears. (qtd in Pinter’s Female Portraits 48). By turning the woman doctor into a man and by eliminating the old lady the dramatist certainly moderates his strong message of misogyny. However, there is still a great deal of mixed skepticism and antipathy towards women. Miss Cutts, the head assistant in a mental hospital, is young woman who is sexually attractive and has a highly responsible and specialized job. In reality, however, her professional status is an empty form. On the other hand, the dramatist can give their portrayal greater differentiation by introducing several male characters. Naturally all these men had the same stereotyped views about women and from this aspect they can be seen collectively as symbolizing the male principle in the play. In The Hothouse, Pinter’s women come out of the family picture.

Miss Cutts relationship with Roote, the head of the institution, is presented as being exclusively sexual and her talk to him as erotic. Even when Roote is busied with other thoughts she tries to distract him by drawing his attention to her sexuality. At the same time she has a dual relationship, both erotic and professional, with Gibbs. He who is second in rank after Roote in the institution. Gibbs and Cutts work together on scientific experiments on the human nervous system. However, Miss Cutts’s behaviour in the lab suggests that her dedication to research is not the result of scientific interest but has an erotic motivation. In short she is an incessant sex-machine and pretended to be a loving woman who is ready to comfort the males and satisfy their needs.

Apart from her role as a sexy, manipulative female, again we have an archetypal depiction of woman, Miss Cutts paradoxically takes the role of the substitute mother in her relationship with Lamb, the innocent young man who volunteers as a guinea-pig. Miss Cutts, whose plan is to use Lamb for her experiments, shows a friendly interest in him and thus wins his trust. As she is his superior and hides her sexual nature, he sees her as a mother figure whom he can trust on: ‘Do you know what I mean? I wouldn’t say this to anyone else but you, of course. The fact is, I haven’t made much contact with any of the others.’ (HH, 33). Cutts remains silent at this confession. It seems that Lamb takes this silence as a sign of friendliness which results in revealing all his thoughts and ambitions in an uninterrupted two-page long monologue. Miss Cutts conducts Lamb’s with her own hands. The traits of motherhood are used to stain the image of woman. Here the mother figure is treacherous and completely devoid of human feelings.

In The Hothouse real mothers are stay away from the stage. There are several references to two women, the mother of a male patient and a female patient who has recently had a baby from one of the staff. The audience hears about them but never sees them. The mother figure is more like a phantom than a reality. It is a memory, not a living human being. As such its presence is manifested in the male staff’s recollections of their own mothers, as sentimental and imaginary such as Mr Kidd in The Room.

In a short dialogue with Rose, Mr Kidd expresses his disrespect for certain ‘women round the comer’ (THE ROOM 106) and denies the presence of any women in his house. This remark puts Rose’s own existence in danger. The only women he can accept in his world are the chaste mythical figures of a mother and a sister. If we follow his vision of a split female image, we will see that he loses himself in a long romantic recitation of his confused past life with his phantom mother and sister:

MR KIDD: Oh, I used to count them [i.e. the rooms], once.

Never got tired of it. I used to keep a tack on everything in this house. I had a lot to keep my eye on, then. I was able for it too. That was when my sister was alive. But I lost track a bit, after she died. She’s been dead for some time now, my sister. It was a good house then. She was a capable woman. Yes. Fine size of a woman too. I think she took after my mum. Yes, I think she took after my old mum, from what I can recollect. I think my mum was a Jewess. Yes, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she was a Jewess. She didn’t have many babies.

ROSE: What about your sister, Mr Kidd?

MR KIDD: What about her?

ROSE: Did she have any babies?

MR KIDD: Yes, she had a resemblance to my old mum, I think. Taller of course.

ROSE: When did she die then, your sister?

MR KIDD: Yes, that’s right, it was after she died that I must have stopped counting. She used to keep things in very good trim. And I gave her a helping hand. She was very grateful, right until her last. She always used to tell me how much she appreciated all the -little things – that I used to do for her. Then she copped it, I was her senior. Yes, I was her senior. She had a lovely boudoir. A beautiful boudoir. (The Room 108-9)

In The Hothouse, the other two women are both mentally defective and are easy victim of male scheme. The female patient is sexually exploited and the other woman is easily deceived about the truth of her son’s death in the asylum. Miss Cutts is the only woman that has a devil’s shrewdness. She disguise her sinister nature by assuming gentler feminine features: She either poses as a tender mistress or she pretends a fake sensitivity to maternity and child-bearing which is again a portrayal of a mother or a whore.

As the play continues, it makes a division between the two aspects of the feminine, the mother and the whore, and there are very few instances when the two interact briefly.

By and large, I have traced in Pinter’s works a progression from the mother figure to the whore figure which is still in the framework of the categories of patriarchy has created for them. They are defined by the men around that are mainly husband and lovers. Pinter investigated woman at the multifaceted center of their essence, described all aspects of the mother and the whore and simultaneously illustrates the treatment of them as the Other in the paternal masculine imagination without any human values as if they are stand in the man’s world.

Women are forced to admit their destiny. What started as an ‘existential confrontation’ of a female human being ends in the replacement of strict patriarchal order. The disintegration of women is the result of the woman’s placement within a patriarchal moral and social order which hinder their development into a full-dimensional human being.

Abstract

The war inside has ever been crucial in human life than the war outside and of course has ever littered sparks for a war. The war within human beings, often paves way to unimaginable internal transformations which may often result in transcendence of behavior and the hallucinations thence may often be of schizophrenia. The novel Pandavapuram of K.S. Sethumadhavan[Sethu] considers the scope of varied dimensions of diversified and creative woman persona or the endless possibilities of complexities in woman mindset, as evolved through the inner conflicts of the character ‘Devi’. The novel extends wholehearted endeavor for the proliferation of independence and equality for women in all respects especially through the relentless war from within. Devi represents the contemporary woman who strives all possible ways to live on an extra ordinary life. The triple facets of the character ‘Devi’, as transcended parallelism, viz., Devi, Draupathi and Durga help the novelist to depict the different demeanours of woman which can often acquire and administer power over the masculinity. The so called cliché on women as hapless, helpless, dependant etc. are quite worthless about Devi. She is not a woman merely striving for survival, instead moves shoulder to shoulder and mostly ahead of the masculine headship. In other words, Devi put forth the new womanhood, quite independent in all terms including sexuality. For instance, the term ‘Jaran’[womanizer] had long been used for men who seek extra-marital relationships. Just like retaliation, Devi proves that the same can be practically done by women if needed. Draupathy who had five husbands at a time is her idol. Masculine power over women had always been based on the sexual ‘limitations’ of the feminine gender which has absolutely been overturned by Devi. One cannot differentiate Devi from a male character. In short, Devi may be considered as a stepping stone to eradicate the inequalities still hidden in between men and women. The war within the woman personae extends outside.

‘Devi’ in Pandavapuram

Devi is the central character of the novel Pandavapuram. She is a school teacher but waiting everyday at the railway platform for someone. She herself make believe that she has been waiting for her Jaran(which means a womanizer). Here begins the schizophrenic thoughts of Devi. Her thoughts were dilapidated ever since her husband Kunjikuttan had abandoned her one day for no reason. It was after she gave birth to a child. She had no idea why he had left her. The only chance was that he had a doubt about the paternity of the child. Anyway, one early morning he was disappeared from his room1 and thereafter no one had seen him.

Devi was shocked and since she could not find any reason for the descent of her husband, she tried to make out her mind with certain frantic thoughts as; the presence of a Jaran in their life might be the reason for her husband to leave her. Hence she is really waiting for a Jaran as retaliation to her husband’s deed. The psychological conflicts within her, to cope up with the extra-marital relations of men in general, gradually take her to change in her demeanors. Devi transforms into Draupathi and Durga or, they are two other facets of Devi.

Devi has been waiting at the railway platform for her Jara., He is long haired; wearing loose and long saffron Jubba[a long and full sleeve loose shirt like kurtha]; black shoes. He has strong black hands with thrusting veins; long fingers with stains of cigarette and penetrating eyes of a Jaran all of which was in fact, the beginning of her hallucinations. But thence the touch of a ‘Magical Realism’ begins with perplexed truth and delusion according to the schizophrenic mindset of Devi. Whatever she thinks and says about her Jaran is quite detached from the external world as it is clear from chapter eighteen of the novel.

In the first paragraph of the novel itself, the author provides a setting for the bewildered thoughts of the heroine. She had been expecting the usual daunting dream as in many nights. The colour that tainted all scenes of her dreams were yellow.2 Some instances are, the yellow coloured roof of small houses; yellow coloured buildings; yellow faced human beings; yellow lights and the dirty yellow smoke spread above the colony of Pandavapuram. The term ‘yellow’ has some negative implications other than colour, in certain contexts in some areas, as when related to stories and news of allegations connected with immoral traffic. Since the whole novel is about immoral traffic, the ‘yellowish attire’ of the background stands close to the theme. In addition, the yellow colourization can also be considered as her mental preparation to accept and reject simultaneously the illegal and immoral relations as a part of her mental conflict.

Devi was gradually becoming in a position to accept mentally an immoral relation as a retaliation of the rejection by her husband Kunjikuttan, who left her for no reason. She was shocked in the beginning to realize that Kunjikuttan would never be with her anymore. Hence she wanted to find out some reason for his abandonment. She thought that Kunjikuttan might have suspected her for having an illegal relation with some womanizer. When she gave birth to a child, he had asked if the child was really his.3 The next morning, he was not found in his room and never came back. Such a heavy mental shock bestowed upon an innocent and sensitive wife could make tremendous internal conflicts and responses within her as of Schizophrenia. The responses may be varied from person to person.

The triple identity of Devi as Devi, Durga and Draupathi may be explained as a part of her hallucinations out of Schizophrenia. Anyway, the mindset of Devi to confront the situation of her husband’s abandonment with an extra-ordinary way of thinking is worth to be mentioned, in place of people who may even commit suicide in a similar context. Devi proves herself an extra ordinary woman and shall be accepted as a model to women in terms of her courageous life in such a dilemma. Whether to lead an immoral life as retaliation to the husband’s or wife’s abandonment is yet another matter of argument. Anyway, the positive aspects of the mental transcendence of the character Devi as from Devi to Draupathi, then Durga and back to Devi again, is considered solely in this Paper for encouraging the women to confront and tackle challenging forces against their equality and virtue.

In a usual nightmare, Devi had been waiting everyday at the railway platform for her Jaran[womanizer but imaginary] whom she had actually been evoking from Pandavapuram, the imaginary village as she claimed of it. She had lost her husband Kunjikkuttan forever. But she wanted to live on in the same status as if nothing had happened in her life which might be a shortcoming of the shock of Kunjikuttan’s retrieval from her life. She tries to balance her life, but with a Jaran as retaliation. She did not want to do it secretly instead, she was openly waiting for ‘him’ at the platform and later ‘receives him’ at her house.

The coinage of Jaran is realistic. Devi recalls that he had distinctive attire and his arrival was not celestial that his legs were always touching the earth. He was borne to dredge conquer and make the young wives in Pandavapuram his slaves.4 Hence each one of them had ever been praying to Durga to save her from him. But, the idea of Devi was to evoke him and dredge to make him her slave. So she is waiting for his arrival. When the young ladies of Pandavapuram live in fear of Jarans, Devi is awaiting to conquer a Jaran as revenge or retaliation. The mental capability that Devi developed in this respect amidst her helplessness is really admirable which is to be encouraged. She is alone in all her activities to make out her plan to deceive and defeat the common foe of the ladies of Pandavapuaram and often seems abnormal5 at some moments.

Here, arises an argument that Devi was fighting against her own fallacies. Psychological perspectives may concede the argument, but the relentless internal fights of Devi against the reality to attain balance in the status of her life were remarkable. She was upset at her husband’s absence. But she tried to maintain her balance by finding a person in place of him at least in mind and continue as if nothing special had happened. Such an attitude so positive she had sustained in spite of her activity, irrespective of its acceptability in the society, can be the key point of the whole theme of the novel. For example, Devi reveals her decision6 with contempt to the relatives and neighbours who dare to interrogate her ‘illicit life’.

The Jaran ‘comes to her house to stay there and reminds her about their life at Pandavapuram’. she does not admit any of his arguments in the beginning. She alleges that he is a liar.7 But after some time, She overturns the context saying that what he had said was true, and that she was actually evoking him to the place to defeat him and all other men likewise, in a similar manner. This time Jaran had to argue that she had been telling lies.8 This major shift in the demeanour of Devi happened remarkably when Jaran reminded her attire in red silk sari with vermillion dot on her temple while they had been visiting the Durga temple on the hill in Pandavapuram. He tells her that she had been looked like the real Durga Devi at the moment.9 It was after this remark, Devi’s mind transcends to that of Durga. Thereafter she assumes the power of Durga Devi, who had conquered and killed Darika. The power to conquer the mankind thus she assumed was being used against the Jaran, who was defeated by Devi by all means even without a little resistance.

Devi, the teacher has fully transcended to Durga at the moment, through Draupathi who had maintained five husbands at a time and later left all of them and became Durga Devi up the hills. The story of Draupathy is told by Jaran himself. The story when progresses in the manner that Draupathi became Durga, transcendence in the same coin had been happening in Devi also. Devi says to the Jaran that he is under her control, or the five fingers in her palm10 controls the net in which he is trapped, and that she is not going to release him thereafter. The implication of five fingers clears her transcendence to Draupathi. At this point itself she has full control over him. Though he tries to escape from the scene, she does not allow her to do so. Instead she reveals him that he will be released only when she decides it.

The transcendence of Draupathi in the story to Durga happens quicker just as Devi transcends to Draupathi and then to Durga and back to Devi. However, when it happens, a complete dominance over Jaran is achieved by Durga Devi. In the beginning he was controlling the mindset of Devi, which in the end got reversed when Devi became Durga, the conqueror. In other words, Durga represents brave women who can enforce power over men when their entire freedom is brutally denied as a part of gender inequality. Devi protests strongly against such an injustice in one of her dialogues to the ‘moral world’ around her. She got very angry when she heard that her husband had left her because of her nature. She suppressed her anger in some way realizing that even if the men committed the mistake, the blame would be upon women11 and they would always be on the safer side. The fights of Devi, being a result of her internal conflicts was really to confront such an injustice which had long been suffered by women. By chapter eighteen of the novel, Devi is seemed to have regained her identity as a teacher, mother and a sister and whatever happened or passed through her mind till the time were proved to be mere hallucinations, even if she herself could not agree with it for some time.

Conclusion

The novel Pandavapuram and the central character Devi deals with the possibilities of inner conflicts in the minds of human beings. It also refers to the probability of distortion of thoughts in human minds as a result of crucial and mind blowing incidents in life. Devi tries to maintain her mental balance on her big lose in the form of husband. Many other women may think differently in the same context. But the attitude of Devi to cope up with the situation through conquering it is quite remarkable. A remarkable thing is that the equality in gender even in the contemporary world stands still under suspicion or rather became a matter to fight and win. The story of Devi could be modeled in this context as a beginning for a ‘real emancipation of feminine world’.

Reference

1. Sethu, Pandavapuram, D.C. Books, Kottayam. 1979. P.27.

The scenario

Pregnancy is an important period in the life of a woman; it is the period when two lives share the same body. During this time, the physical, emotional and mental health is very important and it can affect the well being of the mother and the child. In this paper, abuses to women during pregnancy are discussed in detail and possible solutions are given that can be adapted for the well being of the women, children and the society. This paper also sheds light on the Canadian rights and laws that protect pregnant women. All the opinions are drawn based on the research on women in Canada (Canadian Human Rights Commission).

Abuse has been defined as threats or acts of harm that are physically, sexually or emotionally harmful. Pregnancy brings a lot of physical and emotional commitment. The women are expected to stay very careful during this period; any harmful effects during this period can result in temporary or permanent damages to the mother and the baby. A lot of care has to be taken so as to avoid any kind of stress from work or home environment. It is the duty of every human being to show care and empathy for the pregnant women around them.

In real life, this is not the situation; pregnant women face a lot of abuse and harm (baby center). A simple example of everyday life can be a pregnant woman who uses public transport. They find it very difficult to on board the vehicles and off-board the vehicles, everyone is at a rush and nobody gives preference to the pregnant woman. In some cases, the person doesn’t get the opportunity to board the vehicle and has to wait for a vehicle with a lesser crowd. In other situations where a queue is maintained, there is no separate counter for pregnant women and this causes them to depend on others to get their work done. The top of the list is in workplaces. Women are always subjected to some sort of abuse in workplaces. People have a general notion that pregnant women don’t deliver the work since they are undergoing such a physical transformation. Even if a task is impossible to complete under normal circumstances, a pregnant woman is blamed for being incompetent due to their physical condition. So when they try to reason out their problems in work, it is correlated with their personal condition and often disregarded as a physical inability or excuse (Canadian Human Rights Commission).

Due to irregularity in laws pertaining to pregnant women, we can observe that some organizations provide benefits to women during pregnancy and some organizations don’t provide any sort of benefits to women during pregnancy. Some other organizations want to extract maximum work from the women without making any law breaches, keeping themselves on the safer side. Even though pregnant women work their best for the most part of the period, bosses have a mentality that pregnant women often hide under the shadow of pregnancy to evade work and see them as a liability until the pregnancy is over. This is reflected in their conversations to the pregnant women and others in the office, this puts a stress on the women to extra perform so as to overcome this misconception. It really takes a toll on the mental health of the pregnant women (baby center).

Kingston et al(2016) states that most of the women put themselves in a lot of stress and this also affects the unborn child. Also, other than harm at workplaces, conditions in the family and home surrounding must be considered. We have to throw light on the domestic issues that bother pregnant women as well. Some women face a lot of abuse and eventually end up being single mothers who go through the process all on their own and have to raise the child themselves. Problems between couples arise during pregnancy because of their spouses not taking care of them. Women feeling lonely during pregnancy leads to major problems affecting both the mother and the child.

Women’s Rights and Laws

In recent times, a lot of light has been shed to protect women’s rights. The Canadian human rights act (The Act) protects pregnant women against all discrimination due to gender and their pregnancy (Canadian Human Rights Commission). As we have seen in the scenario, the discrimination still stays in the society, we cannot completely rule out the discrimination to women during pregnancy. However, we can see the improved condition in organized workforces and government offices. Under the act, women are protected from all kinds of discrimination, it includes negative treatment, refusal to hire or promote, termination of employment, or harassment. Employers must accommodate pregnancy-related needs, such as maternity leave. Women face discrimination all the time, during pregnancy especially, by not getting promoted or allowed benefits, the companies feel that an increase in pay during pregnancy followed by maternity leave is an unwanted expense as the employee will not be giving their best during this time. Some women are asked to guide their peers or subordinates from home until they get back, to keep the work moving in the organization.

Termination of employment is strictly frowned upon, apart from the law. Still, the law protects women again termination of employment without any reason (Canadian Human Rights Commission). Pregnant women often rely on their pregnancy benefits from their employer to cope with expenses and carry on with life. It acts as a lifeline and plays an important role for women choosing their workplaces. However, this becomes tragic, if they are fired during pregnancy. If the employer is aware of the pregnancy while hiring and is doubtful of the candidate, then they should respectfully convey the same to the person. They shouldn’t hire the candidate. If the candidate is working from a long time and is found inefficient, then proper notice has to be given prior to firing and allowed a relaxation period of time to find another job or just relieve from their position. They should also be given a chance to improve themselves. Termination without reason can be punished under the law.

Negative treatment is so common in workplaces, especially to women. Men are better paid than women, men are considered to work more than women, even though the performance of the person is irrelevant to gender and women work equally to men. Some work even better than men while receiving lesser wages than their male co-workers. This thought becomes worse when the women employee is pregnant. Employers think women hide under their pregnancy to escape from work. This results in the negative treatment of women employees under pregnancy. (Canadian Human Rights Commission)

Poor treatment includes not allowing flexible hours, harsh deadlines, overload of work, cutting off of benefits and so on. Leave towards medical checkups and treatments are not welcomed. Some organizations do not provide a lot of maternity benefits to their female employees. Harsh work environments are also observed where it is not suitable for a pregnant woman to work. Long hours of work without breaks, and extended work hours are also observed. Though the law protects women against these, women are hesitant to step forward and report these, since they have the fear of losing their job. These are not directly enforced but indirectly laid upon the employees in the form of increased targets and goals to be achieved. Eventually, the women have to force themselves to work extra hours, else it will reflect on their overall performance and indicate them as poor performing employees(Kohl,2015). The scenario has also changed in public places, where pregnant women and differently-abled persons are given top priority. Under the Act, pregnancy is not considered as a disability, but care should be taken to accommodate them as well (Canadian Human Rights Commission). Nowadays, civil constructions are designed to support this section of people by providing separate pathways and specially designed toilets.

In the end, this scenario has reviews and the women’s rights and laws pertaining to them are analyzed. When pregnant women are subjected to any form of discrimination, they don’t have to put up with it, they can confidently file a complaint against the person/persons discriminating them (Canadian Human Rights Commission).

Even if it their workplace discrimination, including cases where women are denied maternity leave and maternity allowances, they can file a complaint against their employer. Before filing a formal complaint, reporting any form of first information at the time of discrimination incident is crucial. Women are asked to report rude behavior and negative treatment immediately to the law officials. It is necessary they also hold some kind of evidence to support them. The most important thing is that women should analyze their situation before taking a decision to have a child. Favorable family and economic conditions should be their top priority. This can be taken as a step of caution, to avoid any mishaps during pregnancy. Women must think if they are fully equipped to have the child or they can consider pregnancy at a later period of time. Proper food must be taken during pregnancy to cope with the physical and emotional changes that women go through during this period. In order to fight against discrimination, staying strong is important and good nutrition plays an important aspect in it. The mother is the first role model for the unborn child; it is very important that they set the standards high and care for their baby even under unusual circumstances. Social help groups and the government have come forward to establish very many programmes for pregnant women, including awareness events, health checkups, and medical aids.

Pregnant women must take this opportunity to build themselves and make the pregnancy a memorable period of their lives. Fear is the enemy, the law protects women and any form of the challenge must be faced without fear. There are a lot of un laws in the streets who do not care for anything other than money. They see pregnant women as an easily liable person who they can attack and take away their things. In such dangerous situations, the law comes second only to personal bravery and safety. In such dire situations, women have to equip themselves with items such as pepper sprays or mini knives to protect them. Informing a close relative or a friend about their whereabouts and actions can be very helpful during times of distress and discrimination. During the pregnancy period, sharing their workload and emotions as well as an important deal. The human rights and the law favor the pregnant women in all circumstances. But, special precaution must be taken from the individual as well. Being a responsible citizen and staying alert at all times is very important. Pregnant women must have all emergency contacts and social service numbers with them at all times, for example, ambulance, police, fire, etc.. They can save their spouse’s name under ICE (In Case of Emergency) so that if they are unable to contact anyone, it will be easier for the others to assist them.

Canada has emerged to be one of the best nations in the world. The Canadian law gives spaces of all kinds of people to live peacefully and get justice. The Act gives women, especially pregnant women all the rights to lead a safe life in the country. No one can discriminate against them in their workplaces or even at home. The law covers a variety of social surroundings and situations, so women can move around freely and not bother about their safety. Any kind of discrimination is punishable under law and forfeiters of law will be brought to justice (Canadian Human Rights Commission).

References

1. BabyCenter. Retrieved from https://www.babycenter.ca/a537568/your–pregnancy- rights-in-Canada.
2. Canadianhumanrightscommission.Retrievedfromhttps://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/policy-and-best-practices-page-1.
3. Kingston, D., Heaman, M., Urquia, M., O’Campo, P., Janssen, P., Thiessen, K., & Smylie, J. (2016). Correlates of abuse around the time of pregnancy: Results from a national survey of Canadian women. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 20(4), 778–789. https://doi-org.libaccess.fdu.edu/10.1007/s10995-015-1908-6
4. Kohl, J. P., & Greenlaw, P. S. (2015). The Pregnancy Discrimination Act: A Twenty Year Retrospect. Labor Law Journal, 50(1), 71–76. Retrieved from https://libaccess.fdu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.fdu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=1817015&site=ehost-live&scope=site

American modern literature starts in the late 19th century and takes many different forms throughout the period, such as seen with impressionism and imagism. While the former is often based on impressions coming from different characters’ perspectives, the latter proposes an opposed vision to impressionism by using clear-cut natural images instead of abstractions. In his manifesto, “A Few Don’ts by the Imagiste,” Ezra Pound highlights what the imagist movement is by writing about what it is not. Similarly, Hilda ‘H.D.’ Doolittle’s poem “Sea Rose” uses opposed images of flowers—the sea rose and the spice-rose—to depict two types of women, who are respectively the New Woman and the Angel in the house. H.D.’s poem brings together many imagist elements highlighted by Pound in his manifesto, but also offers a larger commentary about women of the late 19th and early 20th century. Her poem acts as an ode to the liberated woman, who remains strong despite external agents that try to push her down.

In “A few Don’ts by an Imagiste,” Ezra Pound highlights what poets should avoid doing in order to fit the imagist criteria without clearly stating what these criteria are. The reader must therefore deduce by himself or herself what imagism really is. Similarly, H.D.’s “Sea Rose” is about two flowers that symbolize the new and the traditional woman, which is something the reader must deduce from descriptions. Hence, Pound’s criteria are key elements in the understanding of the piece because they follow the same structure and, also, because it allows one to associate imagism with Doolittle. Pound first claims that an image “is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time” (130), which means that the poem forces one to use his or her intellect to understand the piece. There are also emotions associated with it. It is therefore a complex because the poem necessitates attention to be understood. Pound also insists on the use of “no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something” (131) as he claims that these are abstractions that take the reader away from what is concrete (131). Finally, the imagist poem does not need to be metered and there is no need for end rhymes (Pound 132). In other words, the music usually created through rhymes can be made with the use of assonance and alliteration. A rigid structure is not mandatory.

It is true that Doolittle uses many adjectives within her poem. One could claim that it does not follow Pound’s idea of the “concrete” (131). In other words, Pound claims that abstractions or adjectives dull “the image [which] comes from the writer’s not realizing that the natural object is always the adequate symbol” (131). What he means is that there is no need for adjectives when the image is already straightforward. In his manifesto, he gives the example of a “dim land of peace” (Pound 131). For him, the addition of the peaceful aspect to the land is useless, since the natural image itself is already adequate in that it carries the meaning of the peacefulness. Hence, Doolittle’s overuse of adjectives can be considered as shifting away from imagism.

Nevertheless, her adjectives are still valuable, since they emphasize a binary about two flowers, the sea rose and the spice-rose. In the first line, H.D. repeats the word “rose” (Pound 1) twice, which seems to be a useless repetition. However, following the logical structure of a grammatically well-constructed sentence, the first “rose” (Pound 1) is used as an adjective, whereas the second “rose” (Pound 1) is used as a noun. The flower that is the rose is therefore pink. The addition of the colour makes it clear for the reader that she is writing about the sea rose, and not of the spice-rose that comes later in the poem. In other words, one can understand from the adjective that the sea rose is the principal element of the poem and not the spice-rose, which is of a paler colour (“spice” para.1). Thus, the adjective highlights the main focus of the writer. This creates a contrast with the spice-rose and sets up the notion of binary between two flowers.

The other adjectives she uses within the first stanza connote fragility and strength. These adjectives emphasize the binary within the sea rose itself. Indeed, Doolittle’s rose is “marred” (2), “meagre” (3), and “thin” (3). If it is marred, it suggests that it is damaged. If it is thin and meagre, the rose does not get all the nutrients it needs to be strong. This suggests that the flower is affected negatively by an environment that is unfavourable for its growth. Hence, it is rather negative for the flower which is weakened by outside agents. However, because H.D. puts the emphasis on the adjective “harsh” (1) in the first line by writing it alongside the noun “rose” (1), she counterbalances the fragility with strength. In essence, what one first notices when reading the poem is the toughness and strength of the flower and not its weakness. H.D.’s use of adjectives is consequently not superfluous in the first stanza as she shows the frailty, but, most importantly, the richness of the flower. The second and third stanza continue in the same vein. When H.D. writes that the flower is “precious” (5), it suggests that it has a great value despite its fragility; it needs to be preserved. Yet, in the third stanza, she uses words such as “stunted” and “small” (Doolittle 8). Again, Doolittle clearly pictures the rose as not fully developed. The poet focuses on keeping the dichotomy of weakness and strength associated with the rose.

Additionally, she uses the passive voice in the second and third stanza. The use of passive structures is significant, since it places the flower in the position of the victim, an image the poet wants to convey. For example, she writes that the flower is “caught in the drift” (Doolittle 8), “flung on the sand” (Doolittle 10), and “lifted” (Doolittle 10). The use of the passive instead of the active voice shows that the flower has no agency. It suffers from the effects of the environment. The effects of the sand are particularly highlighted, since Doolittle refers to a “crisp sand” (1), suggesting that it is sharp. Since the rose is flung on this element, the sand can be damaging to the delicate flower. One can consequently claim that H.D.’s use of the passive voice keeps the binary in place. Not only is she creating a dichotomy within the sea rose as a flower that is strong and weak, but also between the sea rose as the victim and the sand as the persecutor.

In the same order of ideas, H.D. creates a rhythm and conveys her message by mixing assonances, alliterations, fricatives, and stops, which is part of imagism. There are many /s/ and /z/ sounds in the poem, which are also called fricatives. For example, Doolittle writes “stint” (2), “sparse” (4), “single” (7), “stem” (7), and “stunted” (9). These words are all alliterations, because of the repetition of the same sound at the beginning (“Alliteration” para. 1). The word “rose” (Doolittle 1) “precious” (Doolittle 5), and “fragrance” (Doolittle 15) also contain the /s/ and /z/ sound. The fricatives not only create music, but also gives a sweetness to the flower, while emphasizing its delicacy. Indeed, the fricatives are rather soft sounds. On the other hand, H.D. uses stops when she writes about the effect of the environment on the flower. Indeed, the words “crisp” (Doolittle 12) and “caught” (Doolittle 8) are /k/ sounds, which are harder than the fricatives. She also uses assonances, which is the repetition of the same internal vowel sounds, such as when H.D. writes “lifted” (11), “crisp” (12), and “drift” (8) (“Assonance” para. 1). Doolittle consequently plays with sounds. This creates music and emphasizes the image of the rose that has to face obstacles. The stops suggest aggressiveness, whereas the fricatives emphasize the flower’s delicacy.

The binary between two flowers is finally rendered clear in the last stanza, when H.D. writes about a spice-rose. One knows that the spice-rose is not the sea rose, since H.D. asks the questions whether the former can “drip such acrid fragrance hardened in a leaf?” (15), which insinuates that the latter possesses the strong fragrance. The word “such” (Doolittle 15) implies to the reader the idea of a comparison between the two flowers. In other words, Doolittle is asking if the spice-rose has the capacity to liberate the same fragrance as the sea rose. Since Doolittle spends the entire poem noticing the hardship of the sea rose despite the hard conditions it is a victim of, one can claim that the sea rose, indeed, has the acrid fragrance, whereas the spice-rose does not. Hence, it suggests that the sea rose is more valuable than the spice-rose.

Politically speaking, H.D.’s poem is not just about a sea rose and a spice-rose. As mentioned previously, there is an underlying message within the poem that is carried through the images. When Pound explains what imagism is not, he also indirectly points out to what the movement actually is. H.D. does the same. She writes about a flower, while indirectly meaning something else. Here, the flower can be associated with the female figure. As explained by Wheeler, the flower is the “emblem of poetic and feminine beauty” (496). By extension, the two roses described within the poem can represent women as they are directly linked to femininity. Moreover, nature is often feminized in literature when one refers to mother nature, for example. Hence, here a clear link can be drawn between the image of the flowers and women.

If Doolittle’s flowers represent women, one can wonder what kind of women the sea rose and the spice-rose represent. There is one difference that is obvious between the two flowers. The sea rose grows in wilderness surrounded by wind, sand, and other elements that make it fragile, whereas the spice-rose is most commonly found around houses (“spice” para. 2). The binary can consequently be between a wild flower and a garden flower, or between a liberated woman and a domestic woman. In the 19th century and at the time Doolittle was writing her poem, the English term used for describing the feminine figure who tried to emancipate herself was the New Woman. As explained by Bell, this New Woman was trying to get away from “the public and domestic disabilities with which patriarchal systems had always burdened [her], and [her] struggle to claim, eventually, all the civil and political rights enjoyed by men” (80). In other words, the New Woman was one who tried to gain agency notably by going to work instead of staying in the house and taking care of the chores and children. She was a character who rejected patriarchal systems such as the marriage (Bell 89). These New Women were criticized in the 19th and 20th century, since they were seen as “signs of degeneracy” (Bell 90) as opposed to the traditional woman, who represented the Angel in the house or the example to follow. In that vein, it is not hard to associate H.D.’s wild sea rose to the New Woman and the spice-rose to the domestic woman, because of the environment in which they grow and because of their depiction.

In sum, Doolittle’s poem focuses on creating a binary between a sea rose and a spice-rose. The poet creates this dichotomy through her use of adjectives and passive voice. She also renders her poem imagist by her use of rhythm. At the end of the day, Doolittle follows Pound’s idea of the intellectual and emotional complex, since she creates an intellectual and emotional exercise that forces the reader to understand a complex link between flowers and women. In essence, since Doolittle’s poem is titled “Sea Rose,” and since the author focuses on highlighting the preciousness of that flower which is only a victim of its environment, one can conclude that the poem acts as an ode to the wild woman. The spice-rose is associated to the woman who follows the societal expectations, stays at home and, consequently, remains protected by the forces of the environment, since she is in the shelter of the domestic sphere. On the other hand, the wild flower is not protected by its surroundings. It is affected by the sand and the wind, which can represent the forces that are opposed to women who turn their backs to societal expectations. The sand and the wind can be extensions of the sources of opposition to changes, such as men, religion, and other women. Yet, the sea rose is still depicted as strong despite its fragility. The strength that is conveyed through the images shows Doolittle’s respect for the wild woman.

Gita Mehta occupies a prestigious place in Indian Writing in English whose writing mainly investigates Indian culture, tradition and political condition of India. Being a female author, her tendency of writing issues pertaining women could certainly be common to detect the identity of women in the society. Women are trapped in the circle of religion, culture, tradition and all social taboos. The heroines of Mehta break the shell of such taboo and emerge themselves as new individuals in the society. This paper will show how the novel Raj is viewed as a wide scope for a feminist analysis. Her debut novel Raj sets in India where male supremacy is glorified in many perspectives. Mehta’s text not only depicts women’s hardship but also it reveals the need for change with regards to the status of women in today’s world.

Gita Mehta is a well-known writer in Indian Writing in English. Her novel, Raj reveals the issues of Hindu women in Pre-independent and Post-independent India in a realistic manner. Raj can be read as a historical text where we can discover a royal woman who is the sufferer of the patriarchal society and the victim of the male chauvinism. The story covers the progression of a female protagonist born into Indian nobility under the British Raj. The article focuses on the transformation of the protagonist Jaya who dismisses her identity as an Indian Princess and struggles hard to emerge as new women politician in the democratic India. This historical fiction traces some facts about early Indian struggle for independence.

In Raj, the novelist covers all the threads of Indian history between 1857 and 1950 with political background to explore human relationships in a colonial society. The novel Raj is structurally divided into four books in which the life journey of Jaya is revealed with a historic dimensions. The first book titled ‘Balmer’ which is the name of a small state in Rajasthan where Jaya is born to the king Jai Singh and the Maharani of the state in the time of Indian renaissance. Maharaja Jai Singh does not celebrate the birth of his female child in a traditional manner. While Jaya cries in her childhood, Jai Singh comments: “This is not the sound of a crying baby. That is a battle cry. If the name is auspicious, let’s call her Jaya, victory” (Raj 44).

For Jai Singh, Jaya is an indication of victory. Maharani wants her daughter to be educated in the traditional manner. Following her mother’s instruction, Jaya is trained to imbibe some virtuous qualities of woman who is meant to be very submissive and very pleasing to their husband in a traditional way so that she could adjust in her marital life. After the death of her brother Tikka and her father Maharaja Jai Singh, Jaya’s mother becomes a sati mata. Jaya’s uncle usurps the kingdom and he finalises Jaya’s marriage with Prince Pratap Singh of Sirpur.

The second book named ‘Sirpur’ deals with the marital life of Jaya and Pratap Singh. Jaya faces the conflict between tradition and modernity in her marital life. Jaya is shocked to learn that Pratap is forced to marry her. Though she is unable to receive love, she performs her duty as a wife regularly. Jaya longs to earn love, human dignity and affection from her husband. In order to transform her traditional look into a fashionable lady, Pratap instructs Lady Modi to cut the long hair of Jaya into short. Even in these circumstances, she laments: “Long hair is one of the emblems of a married woman. It would be inauspicious for my husband” (Raj 195).

The novel Raj examines how man-woman relationship is on the verge of modernity. A sense of male dominance, misunderstanding and continuous search for identity are prevalent in Raj in the delineation of husband-wife relationship. Pratap’s numerous visits to England and his desire towards westernization have driven him infatuated with a fashionable Anglo-Indian dancer named Esme Moore. Pratap finds his wife too traditional and not acquiring any western style. Being a traditional woman, she remains obedient, submissive and loyal to her husband. Here, Mehta exposes Indian tradition by which a woman is trained to play her submissive role in the family whereas for men, even the marriage would not prevent them from wooing with another woman. Kate Millett, an American feminist and activist in her work Sexual Politics, asserts that in the patriarchal society, women “could neither own nor earn in their own rights” and are regarded as “non-person without legal status” (Millet 39).

In the third book named ‘Maharani’, Mehta attempts to showcase the horrible condition of Jaya for being an upholder of a traditional woman who endures her suffering even when her role of motherhood is prohibited by her husband. After the demise of Maharaja Victor, Prince Pratap takes over throne as a king of Sirpur. When Jaya gives birth to a male-child named Arjun, she feels secured. As Pratap is in a male-dominated world, he fails to realize the value of motherhood. He wounds the heart of Jaya profoundly by preventing her from feeding his own child. He employs a wet nurse to feed his child. Maharajah Pratap has not only robbed her of the dignity of being a wife, but also makes her to loss the rights of maternity. Though Jaya gets angry over his atrocities, as a traditional wife she subdues her anger in the depth of her heart. This kind of male domination is observed by Millett in Sexual Politics who states that men considers his life partner as “who is nothing but an object to him in the most literal sense” (Millett 20). Mehta portrays the pathetic condition of the children who are forced into prostitution. Jaya visits a brothel in Calcutta where she discovers many children whom are the victims of masculinist methods and attitudes. These children are the mere products of rape in the eyes of the British.

The fourth book titled ‘Regent’ reveals how Jaya is evolved as an individual. Jaya predicts that her husband’s perverse and rebellious nature would be a boundless threat to her position in Sirpur. She realizes that it is the time to demand her rights as Regent of Sirpur from Pratap. She earns the title ‘the Regent’ until Arjun is of an age to take the throne. Soon after her husband’s death, she hears the news of her son’s death in a plane crash which is the biggest tragedy that she encounters in her life.

As a widow, Jaya and her mother have been subjected to discrimination and social taboos. Hindu society follows the practice of sati by which a widowed woman either voluntarily or by force a woman burns to death on her husband’s funeral pyre. Many communities in India shun widows. They are abandoned by their families. Their presence in ritual, celebration and ceremonies are perceived as inauspicious. They must renounce all worldly pleasures. They face a variety of societal taboos. Mehta attempts to explore how widows are treated as inhuman and discriminatory through the hardship faced by Jaya and her mother after they have lost their husbands.

When Jaya’s mother becomes a widow, she expels herself from her position as Maharani and becomes a ‘Sati Mata’. On the other hand, Jaya is humiliated as an unlucky and unclean woman. Raj Guru of Sirpur uses Jaya’s widowhood as an advantage and he tries to keep Jaya away from the administration and from her son Arjun. Raj Guru boldly informs her son that Jaya is unclean. He says to Maharaja Arjun: “Your mother cannot be with you at this time. She is unclean” (Raj 399).

Here Mehta pathetically presents the painful condition of widowhood in a pre-independent India. Jaya is isolated and treated as unclean. After her husband’s death, she has been confined to the airless puja room for thirteen days. She is not even permitted to enter into her own apartment during the period. In the eyes of the Hindu society, her widowhood is a curse on her. Mehta observes the treatment of widowhood in the olden India. Her novel Raj reflects those observations by describing Jaya’s condition in the society as a widow in the pathetical manner: “There were no glass bangles to be slipped onto her wrists, no long minutes spend combing the thick hair that had fallen to her knees, no sindoor to mark the circle of matrimony on her forehead. She did not even have to cover her shaved head. A widow was not considered desirable, only unlucky” (Raj 355).

After the series of mishaps, Jaya’s mother inculcates hope in Jaya by saying that ‘True Sati’ is not a solution after the death of her husband but continues to survive by enduring all the hardships and ordeals. Jaya recalls the words of Raj Guru who provokes Jaya’s mind with nationalism and the ideology of the Nationalists of India. Raj Guru’s provoking lines about the nationalists intensifies Jaya’s confidence. Amidst all these mental pressure, she grips her life to survive as the guardian of the people. Though a chain of tragedies struck her, Jaya does not like to get herself submerged into the wasteland of despair, depression and bewilderment. She endures all her struggle with indomitable will. After realizing that she cannot escape from destiny, the words of the Raj Guru comes to her mind: “your dharma is protection Bai- Sa. You cannot escape your destiny” (Raj 460).

By the time the novel ends, Jaya gradually develops and emerges as a matured woman who identifies her space in the society. As Simone de Beauvoir in her work The Second Sex quotes: “A woman who is not afraid of men frightens them” (Beauvoir 698). As the novel proceeds further, Jaya undergoes the process of self-analysis and self-realization. She transforms herself as a courageous woman in the midst of all troubles being still there in her life. After India attained independence, she leads a meaningful life by serving her people not as Maharani, but as one of them. True to her name Jaya which means victory, she succeeds in general election. She is projected as a free, self-confident, self-reliant woman of free India.

Though Jaya is from the royal family, she suffers like an ordinary Hindu woman. The lessons of Rajaniti which she learnt from her childhood strengthen her in her critical period. The novel Raj is designed with double focus: firstly, it is a historical fiction. Secondly, it explores the story of Jaya’s transformation to set her identity as a human being. Thematically, the novel overcomes the following binary thinking such as detachment vs attachment, modernity vs tradition, and finally submission to empowerment.

A drastic change comes in the life of Jaya in two significant ways: through a chain of deaths in her family (It comprises the death of her brother and father and after her marriage, her brother in law, her husband and her beloved son Arjun) and through changes in the political condition of India. As Regent, she has contributed to the improvement of the kingdom of Sirpur. As progressive thinker, Jaya achieves various tasks for the welfare of the society. Gita Mehta’s narrative in Raj deals with the social hypocrisies and the identity of Jaya that interwoven with anguish and conflict in order to depict today’s world. Jaya is evolved as a strong freedom fighter who empowers herself to win over her husband and the society in her personal and political life.

In the 19th century women and men were not equal, women were the weaker sex, inferior, while men were seen as superior. A home maker in the 19th century was seen to be the “angel of the house” as she would support her husband, care for the children, and carry out the domestic work. The “Angel in the House” myth represents the ideal woman as obedient, submissive and above all, willing to sacrifice her own happiness for that of her husband (Angel in the House, Weebly, 2014). Women would become property of their husbands once married, they would take their husbands surname and fulfil their stereotypical roles. If the wives did not fulfil their household duties their husbands would divorce them due to not looking after their needs properly (BBC Bitesize, 2020). Even though many shared the view that women should not work, many women before marriage, would work in textile factories or in coal mining, although, any earning made would go to the husband once married, as the men would manage all the money and spending.

It appears society was in favour of men compared to women; this was evident in all areas of society. An example of this is in politics and government, this was supposedly only mattering for the men. Many people though that women did not have the brain capacity to understand such things and were excluded from the voting process, this meant that women could not vote, no matter who they were. (BBC Bitesize, 2020) However, “the Angel in the House” was now more than ever becoming a myth rather than reality. Women began to break the stereotypical mould of the perfect wife. Half-way through the 19th century, women could divorce an abusive husband, before this, women would not have been able to divorce their husband for any reason.

In terms of politics, women began to protest their rights to vote. The protests from women and the support from male key figures, things began to gradually change for women. In 1857, the Matrimonial Causes Act gave women the right to divorce their husband, for reasons other than abuse (BBC Bitesize, 2020). In 1881, the Married Women’s Property Act gave married women the rights over her own earnings and property and then in 1894, the Local Government Act gave married women the right to vote in local elections (BBC Bitesize, 2020). The merge of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies led by Millicent Fawcett, believed in peaceful lobbying and campaigning. This union gathered to give women the power they needed to win votes and be of the same equality as men. Those against women fighting for their rights believed that women should remain at home and not become involved in matters that did not affect them directly, and that they would be accepted as advisors when needed. Further on, in 1918, the Representation of the People Act had given the vote to all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 who were householders or at least married to a householder (BBC Bitesize, 2020). Then, in 1928, women over the age of 21 were given the same voting rights as men, but its obvious that women had to fight for this luxury as it was basically a birth right for men. However, to conclude, women were never obedient from the beginning they fought for a better life instead of serving their life for men, this shows that there never really was “the Angel of the House” and it was in fact more of a myth than reality.

The “Pro-women’s suffrage poster, c.1912” pictured above shows the differences between men and women in the fight they both had to being able to vote. The poster was designed and published by the Suffrage Atelier, the poster contrasts “worthy” women, mayors, teachers, mothers, doctors, nurses, factory hands denied the vote while “unworthy” male convicts, lunatics, white slave traders, drunkards and those unfit for service who might have the right to vote (artsandculture, 1912). The women arguing for suffrage took to the streets by 1912, to convince other Americans, mostly men, that their cause had merit and support. This source backs up our previous question, it shows the change in laws and the fact that women had to fight for access to voting, rather than sitting at home and acting the stereotypical “Angel of the House”, showing it was more a myth than reality. The picture signifies what women could have excelled in, such as careers in nursing or teaching, if they had been able to vote.

On the other hand, it shows what men turn out to be while having the access to voting, such as criminals, drunks or unfit for many jobs. It is a clear reflection of the inequalities between men and women in the 19th century. The “Angel of the House” was probably a reality for some women before the 19th century, however, from the 19th century onwards it was more myth than anything, as that’s when things began to change for women. The change in divorce laws, enabling women to divorce their husbands and the movements within politics and the government, slowly giving women more freedom to vote and slowing changing women’s lives. The poster sides with women, encouraging others to support the change in the women’s movement. It shows the positive impact women can have in society while putting the men down for thinking they are more superior compared to women, when in fact, they think women can do a better job in running society and taking care of civilians.

A woman who was seen fighting for women’s rights also relates to this source, as she fought until women had the right to vote and make a difference. Millicent Garrett Fawcett was a suffragist who campaigned for women’s suffrage from 1866 until the passing of the Equal Franchise Act in 1928 when women over 21 gained equal voting rights with men (Thought Co, 2020). She played a part in enabling women to live better lives, because of this, women went on to plan careers and manage their own finances. This proves once again that, “The Angel of the House”, turned to be more myth than reality as most women weren’t living up the typical “home-maker” role. Even though the source backs up the statement of the “The Angel of the House”, some women still voluntarily chose the home-maker role, even today in the 21st century, therefore, the statement isn’t completely untrue as there is still evidence of the so-called “Angel in the House”, its just not as significant as it was in the 18th-19th century.

Although, I state how it is more a myth in 19th century, which it was, compared to reality. The 19th century was infamous in starting the women’s movement and giving them the chance to vote, therefore, there was anything but traditions, the 19th century changed everything for both men and women, as it was a start to equality (BBC Bitesize, 2020). This source analysis has provided information that helped the structure of my essay, and provide the necessary information, through a picture, to help prove that the “Angel in the House” is more a myth than a reality. However, it may be slightly biased due to the fact a woman created this poster, fighting for women’s rights, therefore, they were not in the favour of male dominance. I believe this is a reliable source as the poster is shown in the Museum of London, therefore is legitimate.

This paper will utilize an empirical lens to examine the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in higher education. In most of India’s higher education policy documents, it has been observed that gender was a negligent category of analysis. Realizing the significance of the issue, Sustainable Development Goals have included the issue of gender parity as one among seventeen goals by the policymakers (United Nations Development Programme, 2017). This paper will argue that while women in higher education leadership in India is of paramount importance, there are a plethora of barriers for the absence of women in leadership. In the largest societal context, the barriers found are social, orthodox, and cultural-religious stereotypes such as gender bias, family constraints, child care, domestic violence, cultural identity, and marginalization of an ethnic minority. Because of traditional male hegemony at the macro level, patriarchal ethos governs women’s perceived lack of self-esteem. These barriers must be understood in order to improve current practice. The major barriers of this deep-rooted patriarchy are 1) Family roles and gender inequality, 2) Constraints engrained in culture and religion, and 3), Career development challenges i.e. lack of leadership preparation and inequality of opportunity also impacts the representation of women in leadership positions.

Background

India has an extensive history of higher education and has had the most ancient (since 500 BCE) international learning centres, Takshashila, Nalanda and Vikramshila with students from all over the world, mainly from Asia and Africa (Surendra & Anjali, 2017).

India’s history of women leaders in education is of paramount importance, as leadership can be defined in many ways. Before 1947, prior to independence from The British, there were several women leaders who carved a niche for themselves. The women leaders who laid the foundation for educational reforms in India are Savitribai Phule, was one of the first women in modern India to publish her work on important subjects such as discrimination based on caste, child welfare, and social reforms, in the form of poems in 1854 (Pandey, 2015). Another, an insightful Calcutta based woman educator, Rajeshwari Chatterjee, was a well-known organic chemist with a keen interest in natural products and their use as medicines. She paved the way for women in India to participate outside their households in order to empower them to perform multiple roles with the balance of personal as well as work life (Basak, 2015).

The first woman engineers from Karnataka, Mysore, Rajeswari Chatterjee having astonishing potential, went to the USA to pursue higher education (Sen, 2010). She joined IISc, Bangalore as a faculty member after completion of Ph.D. from the USA in 1952 and her passion and achievements in education ranging from microwave engineering to science, and to social engineering, played a revolutionary role in social reform and women empowerment (Bhat, 2010). While another woman leader, Durgabai Deshmukh, dedicated her life for uplifting underprivileged women (Suguna, 2002).

There is a tremendous increase in the number of affiliated colleges and universities since independence yet the absence of women in leadership positions has detrimental ripple effects across communities and countries.

Perspective on Leadership from Around the World

Various studies in recent years have revealed the absence of women in a leadership role from an international perspective. The path to leadership is more often blocked or slower for women. Thus, the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) and Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030) have a strong focus on empowering women and improving gender equalities. Notably, the research in various countries indicated the strong need for movement towards support for women in higher education leadership.

For example, Lamia and Helen (2017) from the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK discussed the under-represented role of women as a leader within higher education in Bangladesh. The authors presented the findings from the study that the number of women academics is about a quarter in comparison to male academics and Bangladesh. This article reported that out of 37 public universities and 91 private universities in Bangladesh, only two female vice-chancellors were appointed in 2014 as per 2015 data from The University Grants Commission. The data examined the barriers as a male-dominated society, women cannot always get the minimum qualification for the post and the education system being politicized to a greater extent. The authors concluded that leadership positions in Bangladesh are still seen preserve for men and revealed the dire need for empowering women irrespective of conservative, social, political, cultural and economic traditions.

The article “Women’s leadership in the Asian Century: does expansion mean inclusion,” (2016) presented the findings on women’s absence from senior leadership positions in higher education in South Asia. This research clearly specified that leadership was frequently not an object of desire for women. Delving into the results of the power of Asian Century in the knowledge economy, the authors examined that South Asian universities currently do not have any universities in the top 100 in international rankings, the countries where the population size account for 25% of the world’s population. Exploring the HE in six countries, the authors summarized the key frameworks for women’s absence from leadership in the global academy that includes the gendered division of labor, gender bias and misrecognition, management and masculinity and greedy organizations. The authors revealed that many women academics are reluctant to aspire for senior leadership in terms of navigating a range of ugly feelings and toxicities except a few in the number who are struggling hard to integrate into masculine communities. This article highlighted the urgent need for re-vision leadership.

Turning to the importance of women mentoring, an article “The Case for Women Mentoring Women” explored the current situation of women in leadership positions specifically touching on the importance of women in higher education administration as mentors for other women aspirants to guide in their careers. Supported by relational-cultural theory and narrative practice, the authors mentioned a plethora of benefits from focused and quality mentoring in terms of satisfaction, grants, improved skills, and rewards. The authors utilized a decade’s data and revealed that women have earned over half of all baccalaureate degrees and doctoral degrees but still underrepresented and hold only 31% of the full professor rank positions. This article outlined the barriers navigating the women’s career path are work-family balance and lack of women’s voices on governing boards. The authors critically analyzed the importance of mentoring in leadership roles in not only for the university but for society. This article recognized and acknowledged the women’s mentoring capacity to change the lives of other women to support the next generation.

Another interesting article from the Australian perspective, “Fixing the Women or Fixing Universities: Women in HE Leadership, “. The authors, researchers at the University of Leeds, UK and Federation University, Australia explained the gendered power relations at play in universities that often hold women back. This article depicted that there is a lack of women in leadership across higher education by arguing that it is universities themselves that need fixing, not the women. The authors utilized two different case studies – the first study involved qualitative interviews of a sample (18) of senior women at top leadership positions in the UK and the second drew data from a quantitative survey with younger women who completed a professional leadership development program in an Australian university, to examine the increasing job insecurity and continuous organizational restructuring that affected gender power relations at work. The authors found significant similarities in their experience of the gendered organizational culture in two different countries. The authors outlined the perception of educational leaders that women are not meeting the demands of educational leadership and have identified women as “the problem”. The article clearly illustrated that the women in leadership positions struggle in their career progression and propose the need for further research to explore this resistance thoroughly as it leaves the readers with many unanswered questions.

The next section of this paper will break down the three major limitations of the absence of women leadership within higher education: 1) Family roles and gender inequality, 2) Constraints engrained in culture and religion, and 3), Career development challenges i.e. lack of leadership preparation and inequality of opportunity.

Family Roles and Gender Inequality

In India, women’s representation in leadership positions is meagre 3% to 5.8 % as compared to 15% in the West (Catalyst, 2011). In reviewing the research, it appears that women’s progress laid on one’s family and family roles that create a major hindrance in career progress irrespective of progressive policies being undertaken by the Government of India. Wyszynski et al. (2016) revealed about India as a deep-rooted patriarchal country with diverse cultures, multiple religions with varied languages, and uneven dispersal of economic wealth and resources. These resources, in turn, has perpetuated the increasing gap between rural and urban India. As a result, the women in Urban India only have benefitted from the Government policies. While in rural India there has been patriarchal norms/ ideologies that have shaped gendered roles. These ideologies categorize men and women with their roles in a family where men being accountable in the domain of work and financial matters, but on the other hand, women being responsible for taking care of the family and household chores (Ahmed & Carrim, 2016). This dominating patriarchy system was a potential threat, stopping the women to contribute actively in leadership roles. Now, the women have come a long way and as per the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, girls constitute 44.4% of total enrollment in education. All India Survey on Higher Education (2013) revealed that the enrolment for Ph.D. in science subjects is 22.97 percent for women in comparison to 21.60 percent for men but lagging in engineering and management studies. Gupta (2007) reflected in his study on doctoral students, gender discrimination and revealed that men were more likely to have informal interactions with their supervisors. As a result, women felt that women must work harder than men to prove themselves. It has been noted by Bal (2004), that even in sciences, the number of research publications by women and academic representations in prestigious groups and permanent positions is low in number than men. I question where are all women in higher education leadership? More interestingly, despite more enrollment in higher education than men, why do women not become involved when it comes to a leadership role? As noted in Chanana (2003), 26% married women reported career disruptions due to the demands of their husband’s career and 26% had frequent job changes due to other family responsibilities indicated women’s low participation rate in a leadership role. This clearly reflects inequalities and raised questions about gender bias in the process.

Constraints engrained in culture and religion

I will discuss the cultural challenges associated with the poor presence of women in leadership role in India, even though the ratio of men and women in the population is almost 50:50 (9.4 women for every 10 men) (Census, 2011). Flood (2012) stated that “religions are cultural forms within which people live meaningful lives, that religions mediate the human encounter with mystery and fill the world with meaning, and that these cultural forms of meaning-making have political and social ramifications that should be taken seriously” (p. 3). India is a diversified culture with many religious constraints, beliefs, and value systems that poses difficulties for women to get a leadership role. The dominating religion is Hinduism (80%), while the other significant minority religions are Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism. As a cultural practice, the role of Indian women remained as simply supporting male members of the family. As noted by Anita et al. (2009), National Family Health Survey-3 data revealed the prevalence of child marriage among rural Indian women having education less than secondary education. Further awkward and challenging practices of for Indian women includes widow burning, and polygamy, since the later Vedic period (1100–500 BCE). The Hinduism portrays the religion where women have been marginalized and are not seen, as important as men and moreover, her identity and caste changes post-marriage. The effect of patriarchy, stereotypical portraying of women, based on religious laws and socially constructed commitments makes women acquiescent in this male dominating society.

However, this view of women being treated as property is slowly changing in order to push for more equality. But as per Nath (2000), women are constantly reminded of their fragile nature, in the workplace that forces women to feel weak and low in self-confidence. I understand that, although the patriarchy is deep-rooted in the culture of India but support from family can help women to achieve success in their career, make them financially independent which, in turn, decreases domestic violence and increases respect in the society (Pande & Moore, 2015).

Career development challenges

Altbach (2013) revealed that India is one of the global economic rising powers in the higher education sector. As noted by EIU (2013), India had a nine-fold increase in planned higher education expenditure between 2007-12. However, in most Indian universities, the representation of female academics is less than 40%. The barriers hindering the career path of women are dual work i.e. balancing work and family life, extra long hours, absence of women leader mentors, and reluctance to promote themselves.

Meena (2015) emphasized on the importance of supportive family to help the women to build their career in a leadership role, as the balance of work life along with the responsibilities of the home is difficult without their cooperation. I understand that the family understand one’s limitations and always encourage to do the best at professional end. As per the study by Deota (2014), 53 percent of women are struggling to balance work-home life and sacrificing their sleep, in the absence of support of family members. The second, working extra hours, most of the families do not support women to do the same from the gender perspective. Vanderkam (2015) revealed the importance of working late hours for a leader and stated as mandatory to be successful in a leadership role. The third, absence of women mentors, focussed on the dire need of women leaders who can become a role model and set an example for the younger woman to follow and achieve leadership positions. Jain (2016) emphasized that most of the men are not comfortable working under women’s leadership. Absence of women in top management positions pointing out the strong cultural root of gender inequality in the workplace and society. The last barrier, emphasizing on women’s reluctance to promote themselves due to a lack of confidence and motivation. Goyal & Prakash (2011) revealed the common issues in a leadership role as lack of information, fear of career setback and ability to comprehend themselves right. I understand that it is not the women’s reluctance in promoting themselves but on the part of workplaces, to understand and address the organizational as well as cultural issues that cause hindrance in the path of women’s career development and success (Suessmuth-Dyckerhoff et al., 2012).

Conclusion

The number of women in higher education leadership in India is very less than their male counterpart. Mahapatra and Gupta (2016) revealed stereotyping and socio-cultural rules as barriers depicting that 60 % of women leaders perceived apprehension about themselves, family responsibilities, culture and male ego. In India, women’s work has been associated with the private domain of household with the interplay of various identities, while on the other hand men’s work has been associated with authority and productivity, despite of efforts by the government to these apprehensions (Kameshwara & Shukla, 2017). In tackling gender disparity and inequality in higher education context, I understand that there is a need to address the status quo and the women must be fortified with captivating self-esteem to develop decision-making administrative skills and capacities.

I observed that women are capable and competent and are effective decision-makers but need to accept the reality that they are multi talented. In Indian family systems, women play multiple roles and balance work-family life. Women are gifted with skills of bringing people together, encourage dialogue and to understand the social as well as emotional needs of others. They only need to explore their own language and goals, to develop these skills into professional strengths to become effective educational administrators/leaders.

Introduction

It is safe to say that we currently live in a time that fights for gender equality. The “norm” is no longer the idea that men are superior to women in any way. There are now multiple genders and each one is becoming more widely accepted throughout our world. These are key things that cultivate humanity. The acceptance of others is key to ensuring a society functions at an optimal level. Although people are trying to push for equality, gender inequality is still very prevalent in the sports world. Since time began, it was very obvious that there were only two genders. Male and female. This is the way people lived for a very long time which is why this idea is still stressed even today. It separated men and women into two categories. Male being masculine and female being feminine. There is a traditional gender binary that clearly states that men are set out to be leaders, aggressive, powerful, strong, and superior along with many other things. It’s also clear that women are supposed to be passive, powerless, emotional, weak, followers and many other things (Lecture 5 Slides). This places a ceiling on both genders but mainly impacts the limitations on females.

You always see male athletes typically playing more physically demanding sports. These sports include rugby, football, UFC, hockey, and boxing. Although these sports primarily focus on physical contact between the athletes, there are many other sports that don’t necessarily require a lot physical contact. The level of physical activity in sports like basketball, baseball, and soccer doesn’t even compare to its counterparts that I mentioned above. But somehow it always seems that men find a way to make it physical even in sports that don’t require physicality. For women, often times the sports that are offered focus on elegance, expression, poise, and objectivity. As mentioned by Roth and Basow (2004), In sports like cheerleading, dance, figure skating, and gymnastics femininity seems to be engraved into the rulebook. In most of these sports, each competitor seems almost identical in their expressions, physical size, and their appearance. Even though their sports require them to have a lot of muscles and strength, their outfits still show their true femininity. The sparkles on their uniforms, the full faces of make-up, uniforms that reveal skin, these are all things that are used to show that the women are feminine.

Abstract

Before I go too in depth about how instrumental sports challenge emphasized femininity, let me start by explaining some key terms that I will be discussing throughout this essay. There is this traditional ideology of femininity that all women should be beautiful, thin, small, and weak. This physically constricts female bodies and causes them to shape themselves based off of this idea that women must all be feminine. When watching female sports, emphasized femininity is very prevalent. How they are dressed, how much they exercise in order to keep a specific body figure, the removal of hair on certain areas of their bodies, the amount of make-up they put on, each of these things clearly shows how a woman is “supposed” to be but what they don’t realize is that all of these things can potentially have a negative effect on their sport performance.

Over time we have seen a rise in females participating in rather masculine sports. They are changing the game and how people view females in sport. Sports such as boxing, wrestling, rugby, weightlifting, and hockey are all seen as dominantly male sports. But each of these sports helps women truly show that regardless of their biological sex, they are equally as capable of participating in these sports as men are. The traditional feminine norms and values then become irrelevant and the focus shifts towards instrumental sporting femininities. The instrumental femininities focus more on the effectiveness of the body in a given situation rather than the emphasized femininities that focus on how the body looks. This allows women to showcase their true potential instead of letting femininity mask them (Lecture 6 Slides).

Femininity in Sport

In order for gender equality to become normal in sport, small changes must be made starting from the ground up that help this movement proceed in the right direction. One thing I’ve never given much of my attention to is the name of the mascots for each school. Whenever I was in high school, each school we visited for sporting events always had a big sign with the name of their school on it and then underneath it read something like, “Home of the Yellow Jackets.” At first you don’t think anything of it but whenever I really began to think about it seems like each high school also has another mascot for its women’s teams. Instead of just using the same name as the school’s mascot, they make it Lady Jackets. According to Roth and Basow (2004), 38% to 56% of college and university sports teams used some sort of sexism in their team name, logo, or mascot. With the school mascot being associated with the men’s teams, it gives an idea that the women’s teams are not normal and are superior to the men’s teams. For example, there was a school whose mascot was the Blue Hawks. Instead of referring to both the men’s and women’s teams as the Blue Hawks, they called the women’s team the Blue Chicks. Another school in the same situation were the bears and they referred to their women’s team as the teddy bears. This relates to the traditional gender binaries that are placed on men and women because Hawks and Bears are perceived as powerful, dominant, and aggressive while Chicks and Teddy Bears are perceived as cute and nurturing (Roth & Basow, 2004).

Even in sports that aren’t traditionally feminine (Bodybuilding and weightlifting), you can see that although the purpose of these sports is to gain muscle it is still important to maintain your appearance and look as a female should like. First of all, when females first started bodybuilding, I’m sure it didn’t get a lot of recognition and people probably weren’t very accepting/welcoming to the idea of a woman lifting weights and gaining muscles. As stated by Dworkin (2001), Women’s bodybuilding is a pretty contradicting sport. It challenges emphasized femininity but it also incorporates some ideas to emphasize femininity because “the increasing size of the female bodybuilder is only acceptable once ‘tamed’ by beauty.” If you have ever seen a female bodybuilding competition you’ll notice that this is why the women still have make-up on, their hair is done, and they are wearing a tiny bikini that reveals a lot of skin. Even though the competition is supposed to be based on their muscle mass, size, and symmetry, the judges have been known to reward the women for their feminine attributes. This includes the way their hair is dyed, breast implants, their make-up, and even their painted nails. This proves that even during a competition where the goal is to have the biggest, most muscular looking body out there, they are still being sexualized and judged based on their feminism (Dworkin, 2001).

The Media and Femininity

One of the main reasons why emphasized femininity is included in sports is because it is influences by the media. Since one of the purposes of media is to inform, people often take this information and incorporate it into their own opinions. This is how the media ultimately shapes one’s ideas or views about someone or something. According to Hagerman (2001), the relationship between the media and sports is not a one-way street. Instead, this relationship is reciprocated by both parties and they both feed off of each other. Hagerman (2001), also tapped in on the relationship between the media and the female athlete and later mentions that,

“although women were receiving more coverage than before, the type of coverage they receive reinforces all of the ancient, oppressive stereotypes. By spending an inordinate amount of coverage equating the modern female athlete with traditional notions of femininity (e.g., the female athlete as physically attractive or sexy) the media serve to trivialize and thus downgrade the importance of the female as a serious athletic competitor.” (p. 49)

Although the media can be very helpful in getting people the information and entertainment that they need, it is also detrimental to women’s involvement in sports. In order to get views and publicity, the media portrays women as sex objects and focuses mainly on their attractiveness. Whenever there is an article written about a female athlete or a video about them, there are always pictures included of them playing their sport. These may look like normal pictures but the photographer’s main objective is to get a picture that shows off the woman’s body in a sexual way. They do this so that it will catch the attention of the viewers which not only helps the media, but it also helps the sport as well. More viewers bring in more revenue. Even though it almost seems unethical to use this as a way to get business, it goes to show that the media and sports do have a two-way relationship.

A woman having an attractive appearance almost gives them an advantage over their competition as far as “TV time” is concerned. Big brand name companies often times look for athletes that aren’t only good at what they do but ones that also look good while doing it. Thinking back to lecture, there was a female weight lifter that we briefly discussed and there were two things to take into consideration. The first being that, although in my opinion everyone is beautiful in their own ways, she wasn’t necessarily pleasing to look at through societies spectacles and the second thing is that she is a female who is weight lifting. Even though she was breaking records and completely dominating her sport, no one gave her the recognition that she deserved because she didn’t fit the mold of a feminine athlete. With this being the case, it almost makes women feel like they must be feminine in order to be successful in sports and feel appreciated.

Physicality in sport

Since people associate women with being nurturing, passive, and weak, we automatically assume that they should not participate in the same sports that men do and if they do participate in these sports they should be feminized in one way or another. But women are also very emotional and sometimes need to show their emotion through the same things that men do. Women don’t get a lot of opportunities to be aggressive in sport. That’s why some women choose to do boxing or rugby or weight lifting. They use these sports to let out some of their feelings and emotions the same way that men do. Going back to topic 6 in the lecture, there is a video of a teenager who uses rugby as a way to express herself. She has always been “big boned” and she never really knew how to use the talents that she had. Once she got older she decided to try out for the rugby team. Before she was on the team she thought of herself as fat and did everything she could to lose weight. She was bulimic and would purposefully regurgitate and food that she consumed. She also tried to overdose on Aspirin and Tylenol because she wasn’t happy with her life. She saw rugby as a way out and a way to get all of those built up emotions out. By doing this she uses her body in an instrumental way rather than it being judged or seen as an object. She was able to be herself and not have to worry about putting make-up on and looking good for this sport. She just used what she had and used her body in an effective way.

Conclusion

The idea that women should be feminine is completely detrimental to their careers in sports. They should be able to be who they want to be without taking any of their recognition away. The focus should not be about judging the women on their performance or making sure they fit the feminine norm, but rather their effectiveness in their sport and how good they are at it. By having a standard of what women should be like puts a limit on their true potential. Once all gender is accepted regardless of their biological sex, we will truly see who some of these women and men really are. The glass ceiling that was once over the gender norms and traditional gender binaries will then become limitless. The only way for this to happen is for women to keep following their hearts and dreams and to not let an idea or norm get in their way of achieving those dreams. The number of women that are playing more masculine sports has risen drastically and by doing this it will eventually eliminate the idea that women must be feminine while participating in sport.