Sivakami's Roles And Gender Aspects Of Women In South India

First of all, for a married couple, especially in South India, men are the ones who are supposed to be the dominant partner compared to their female counterpart since equality is only a dream that is far from being a reality. Catastrophically, this power restricts women from living as they please as they must always ask their spouses for permission before anything else. Moreover, women are shunned for setting personal goals and trying to create a life of their own, causing them to be permanently trapped within their confining culture. In the South Indian culture, women are unfortunately stripped of what is rightfully theirs by men looking to take advantage as females are not considered to be people despite the fact that they are equally as …show more content…
Similarly, Sivakami is also constrained to the gender expectations of her own culture, even more heavily, because she is a married woman. Despite the fact that Sivakami’s mother has recently passed away and she has been mourning deeply, Sivakami’s brothers do not hesitate to inform her that she must let them take control of her husband’s property. Besides this, her brothers all agreed, without Sivakami, that it is best if she let them “take care” of her yellow money, also known as inherited money given from daughter to daughter. In spite of these nefarious actions, Sivakami catches on and “she informs her brothers that she is legally entitled to the income from that land and that if they do not observe this entitlement, she will find some means of enforcing her right… reminds her on behalf of their side that she is a woman. She has no legal entitlement. Her legal identity resided in her husband and they are very regretful to have to remind her that he is no more. Poof went her legal existence, up in smoke and ash” (Viswanathan …show more content…
As a result, these expectations restrict females as their main focus is on the household entirely, leaving no room for wives to have their attention on themselves once in awhile. Knowing that only men work and women do not, a wife’s daily routine is hectic, nonetheless as multiple chores and responsibilities are forced into the wife 's hands. No matter where in South India, there are several rural areas that say that women are only there to accept their role as mothers, caregivers, and housewives (“Gender Issues”) and expected to take care of the household (“Sri Lanka”). Most importantly, all women as well as girls prepare food and perform household chores (“Sri Lanka”). It is unquestionable that South Indian women are required to first listen to their fathers, then their husbands, and lastly, their sons (“India”). Despite the fact that women already sacrifice so much to establish a respectable household, they are still positioned well underneath men since men are deemed to be the more superior gender. Furthermore, many rural areas try to convince many females that their sole purpose is to become accountable for taking care of more than just