Marginalization of women a cause of concern in India
India is known for its diverse cultural heritage as well as religious value system, which places girls on as high a pedestal as goddess but the reality is quite contrary. It is a widely known fact that women have been considered vulnerable and treated unfairly at different levels of life.
The impact of diverse cultural and economic conditions is prevalent in almost all the spheres of life and most of the time this leads to gender marginalization. It is evident that female-child experiences greater mortality and foeticide due to sex- selective abortions and lower health status, whereas the some who survive they suffer their own share of problems.
The most common ways of women subjugation are mistreatment of girls by their husbands or brothers and fathers, exploitation of young girls by the groom’s family, early and forced marriages. Besides, over a half a million girls under the age of 18 years are forced into the sex industry because they are easier victims of trafficking.
It is also seen that in times of crisis, girls suffer more than boys because of their secondary status in households. The enrolment and retention of girls in school is lower and their careers are rarely taken seriously. If allowed to work, they have to face poorer work conditions.
The exclusion of women from certain jobs and incorporation into a few others is an influence of specific cultural and religious factors; such marginalization is one of the symptoms of gender inequality, which always ensures women suppression in every culture and country.
This marginalization differs from class to class and caste to caste.
Women belonging to lower classes, castes and poorest region have different levels of marginalization- sometimes they are refused education, equality, cleanliness and other nominal things. While women of middle and upper class face their levels of marginalization that affect their interests, abilities and practices.
The cultural stereotyping and traditional restrictions generate an autonomous authority and control of males upon the female members of the family.
These unequal cultural and traditional norms subjugate the women to the age-old patriarchal system.
Women are divested of any powers in the family, they are therefore treated as child bearing and rearing machines and fulfillers of household needs. It is suggested that changes in property and production rights would automatically resolve some of the gender-inequalities; but there are needs for changing cultural inequalities too.
There is a necessity of multidimensional improvements in cultural norms to enhance the material activity of people and their ideas thereby resulting in promotion of women’s role in the social system.