During the 19th century, Indian women and their position within the households was looked upon and described by western world through metaphors like as a bird captured in a cage, shackled in chains etc. Many women’s issues came to light during the mid nineteenth century and reforms were initiated. Though these early reforms were started by men but by the late nineteenth century they were joined in their efforts by their women folks.
Since India was under the British rule, the concerns of reformists in colonial era were influenced by political and legal superstructures and their most notable reforms were in suffrage, education, legal and civil rights. They differed from their contemporaries in the west in their ideology and goals. Detailed …show more content…
One of the prominent leaders of the organisation was Sarojini Naidu. The mandate of the women’s groups was to get freedom from restrictive customs that would allow them to contribute to the regeneration of India. Sarojini Naidu with other women leaders worked against the customs that posed challenges to women’s development and worked towards changing the legal framework that affected women’s lives. During the same time, there was huge outrage against the colonial rule and the wave of nationalism was spreading throughout the country. The participation of women in the struggle of women became important for the nationalists and women participation was welcomed, but they denounced Western feminism as pitting women against men. A number of issues like education for females, right to vote, legislation to protect women in mines, employment for women, and the amelioration of the condition of women did not pose much problem compared to other concerns like child marriage, property rights, and purdah. One of the successes of the women’s movement was the passing of The Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1929 as they believed one of the impediments to women’s eduction and health of the women in India was early marriage. Indian women’s organisation also attacked the purdah system and seclusion in the family as roadblocks in the path to women’s
Since India was under the British rule, the concerns of reformists in colonial era were influenced by political and legal superstructures and their most notable reforms were in suffrage, education, legal and civil rights. They differed from their contemporaries in the west in their ideology and goals. Detailed …show more content…
One of the prominent leaders of the organisation was Sarojini Naidu. The mandate of the women’s groups was to get freedom from restrictive customs that would allow them to contribute to the regeneration of India. Sarojini Naidu with other women leaders worked against the customs that posed challenges to women’s development and worked towards changing the legal framework that affected women’s lives. During the same time, there was huge outrage against the colonial rule and the wave of nationalism was spreading throughout the country. The participation of women in the struggle of women became important for the nationalists and women participation was welcomed, but they denounced Western feminism as pitting women against men. A number of issues like education for females, right to vote, legislation to protect women in mines, employment for women, and the amelioration of the condition of women did not pose much problem compared to other concerns like child marriage, property rights, and purdah. One of the successes of the women’s movement was the passing of The Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1929 as they believed one of the impediments to women’s eduction and health of the women in India was early marriage. Indian women’s organisation also attacked the purdah system and seclusion in the family as roadblocks in the path to women’s