Case Blog - (2017) Volume 6, Issue 2
From the ancient era, everyday there are different examples of men’s hypocrisy and terrible violence beside women in India but every time women are to blame by society, void conventions of society and religion supports men and not the women. In 19th century, one woman among them, who raised voice against patriarchy, Tarabai Shinde is the one of the name among them. The main objective of research hypothesis is to provide the research guideline and finding which have not been yet now unrevealed about the Tarabai Shinde. Further, it would be provided a research guideline to the researcher to know how much is mysterious yet now about the real condition of women in 19th century and what is the impact of Tarabai writing on present era.
Keywords: Tarabai Shinde, Research hypothesis, Maharashtra, Patriarchy
Tarabai Shinde was born in 1850-1910 in Maratha family, Buldhana, Berar province, British India, in presently day in Maharashtra. She was studied in Marathi, Sanskrit and English. She was a feminist, women’s rights activist and writer [1]. She was a founding member of the Satyashodhak Samaj at Pune. Jotirao and Savitribai Phule was also a member of their organization. The Phules started first school in 1848 for the Untouchable caste girls and a shelter for upper caste widows in 1854, joint with Shinde an awareness of separate axes of oppression that constitute gender and caste [2,3]. Caste widows who faced intimate violence ranging from physical abuse to impregnation, they were criticizing a Brahminical order that sanctioned such practices, even as they were challenging upper castes’ capacity to protect “their women.” Ambedkar, who had been greatly influenced by Phule’s ideas and activism, relentlessly exposed the links between patriarchal and caste oppression. This explains his famous characterization of Hindu women as “the gateway to the caste system” As independent India’s Law Minister, he also strove to reorganization Hindu own law along gender-just lines. Tarabai protested caste and patriarchy in 19 centuries in India [4,5]. Tarabai Shinde extended critique in Stri-Purush Tulana (A Comparison between Women and Men), short forty pages’ assay, written in 1882 thereby remain unknown till 1975. Malshe found this essay and he republished it in 1975. Shinde attacked the hypocritical stance of criminalizing women rather than challenging the sexual excesses of men and argued that all men, not merely Brahmins, were implicated in the ill treatment of women [6].
In this book, she gave excellent advice to men, for most of them behave as they will and sinfully in the presence of their women. Naturally their respectable women feel bad, but since they are powerless and ignorant they are infuriated and great storms of bad deeds arise in their imagination. She (Tarabai) therefore decided to advise the menfolk. Her advice is a little stern and pungent, and an adamant editor of a newspaper did not like it. Tarabai Shinde was a social reformer and women’s condition in which she blamed men for the pathetic conditions of women. She said that man conspired against women to maintain his dominance. Some reformers criticized her view. Amongst them were Phule’s colleagues. Therefore, in 1883 when Krushnarao Bhalekar and Narayanrao Lokhande criticized Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai, at that time Phule strongly criticized Bhalekar and Lokhande in his book Satsar part 1 and 2, which he wrote in 1885. According to Phule, there is darkness all over the world because human being lost truth, and treated the women as a Dasi and blame on their sister, wife, mother, daughter and sister in law that all women are fraudulent. Therefore, due to this patriarchic system, society is degrading.
Bhandarkar was concerned about women’s problems. According to him, women can change the society if they were educated and they ought to be. They would be powerful instruments for advancing the general condition of our country. They will bring up every new generation in such a manner that it performs its duties efficiently. Bhandarkar also raised the problems of widow women in terms of human rights.
From ancient, Sita and Savitri are ideal image for the Indian woman's. Everyday there are different examples of men’s hypocrisy and terrible violence against women in India but every time women are blamed by society; hollow conventions of society and religion supports men and not the women. Victim never becomes the cause of crime. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries has witnessed women in the Indian subcontinent have resisted forced widowhood, the denial of education, forced marriage, sexual violence within and outside the family, and moralistic definitions of the private and public which disabled possibilities for building solidarity and fragmented common concerns. “At her pleasure, let her (i.e. widow) enunciate her body by living voluntarily on pure flowers, roots, and fruits, but let her not, when her lord is deceased, even pronounce the name of another man’ (Manu V. 157). Indian women’s life was controlled by such rules and regulations where she is not even free to do anything.
Tarabai differentiate born a woman and becoming a woman and gender bias in Indian society, even today Indian woman not dare to write in such language where she wrote in nineteenth century. In the introduction of her essay she clarifies the purpose of writing, “God brought this amazing universe into being, and he it was also who created men and women both. So, is it true that only women’s bodies are home to all kinds of wicked vices? Or have men got just the same faults as we find in women?
She agreed that a woman also has vices but everywhere and every time she judged based on vices and not on the virtues. She said, “Granted, women are as stupid as buffaloes in the cow pen! They are ignorant and do not grant them even an iota of intelligence?
Throughout her essay, Tarabai Shinde argued for women's equal share with men. She refused to accept the superiority of men in gender relation. She said, “What’s good for a man ought to be good for woman as well”. Tarabai Shinde found the privileges enjoyed by men to be cause of the degradation of women.
Adultery is not the crime for men and for women it is considered as greatest crime. Society judge men and women through different parameters and unfair treatment is given for women.
She has presented many points in her book in support of argument how a woman’s life has become meaningless in the male dominated system of patriarchy. Tarabai suggest that remarriage is better than having illicit relation with other man. Tarabai focused on the miserable condition of women is nothing but the output of men’s attitude towards women [6,7].
My deep concern is to try to explore the significant role of Tarabai Shinde in the history and find few impact of her thought on the present women social life in modern India. This could be helping us to define the real social development of feminism and equality between men and women. As without studying the contribution of Tarabai Shinde in Maharashtra as well as throughout the India for the rebel against Patriarchy and Caste in 19th century, we cannot get real answers of what in real condition was? Our all study based on the significance contribution and analyse the role of the Tarabai Shinde in Indian feminism, who fights for the unfair treatment for women and equal rights for men and women.
The condition of women was not better in 19th century due to patriarchy and caste. The study of the contribution of Tarabai Shinde would be exposed the continuously fought towards patriarchy and caste system and feminism and inequality between men and women. Yet not much has been written about the Shinde. The study would also argue that Shinde was the social reformer and women’s condition in which she blamed men for the pathetic conditions of women. She said that man conspired against women to maintain his dominance. Moreover, she fought against the female infanticide, worked for window and female education. She exposed the women condition in 19th century.
There are some issues which the study shall consider. These are:
What was the real condition of women and how was their social status? According to our observation society was not treated women as subordinate to men. Is it enough to state anything about the role of Tarabai for the women humiliations, exploitations, oppressions, control and violence. We need more authentic finding to analyse the role of Tarabai in Indian feminism, who fights for the unfair treatment for women and equal rights for men and women. I want to put all details by understanding.
In the 19th century, what was the contribution and significance of Tarabai in the history? To find out the impact in present.
Review of the literature provides a guideline to understand the different variables related to a research area. It not only provides some knowledge but also guides the researcher to innovate new dimensions related to the area of research. It also provides a base to formulate the conceptual framework.
Many of the researchers have given the details about Tarabai Shinde which can help us to make a progressive outlook to go ahead with our better plans.
Manisha Kale [6] described the comparison of men and women in Indian feminism. In her article, she exposed few fact related to Tarabai in Indian feminism. Who fights for the unfair treatment for women and equal rights for men and women.
Anupama Rao [7] was represented the overview in the article gender and caste for the Woman in 2003. In which, she described and little focused on the historical life of Phules and Tarabai Shinde. Where, Phule, along with the radical Tarabai Shinde, though they expressed caste oppression as something experienced by both lower and upper-caste women, focused on the far greater burdens of chastity and caste purity that regulated upper-caste women.
In Shinde's text the sexual depravity of men was held responsible for women's sexual misadventures, and male cunning and lust were held responsible for women's misfortune. What is more, Shinde's ability to view the sexual economies of marriage and prostitution as reflecting two sides of the same coin showed a keen sense of how the logics of the good wife and the loose woman constituted each other. It is no coincidence that descriptions of upper-caste restrictions on widow remarriage and the ensuing torment of widows within families inaugurate Shinde's account of the effects of caste and gender ideologies.
Research Questions or Hypotheses
• What was the real condition of women and how was their social status?
• What did make by her to fight against patriarchal system?
• In the 19th century, what was the contribution and significance of Tarabai in the history? To find out the impact in present.
Our study is generally proposed to reveal the significant contribution of Tarabai Shinde in the in history as well as biography of her, which would be achieved to be approached in the various sources and methods of study. The Methodology of the Study at first, I will classify the contents of the significance role of Shinde in history. This can be used as my basic and principal source to create a table of contents. In my study these contents will be divided into four categories as to classification. In Second content, to focus on the study of birth and childhood of Tarabai as well as historical and cultural unfairness for the women in 19th century, will be followed. This point of study may be the same as the others but the sources used are brightly different. When, I will study the history of Tarabai in India. I will discuss the historical traditions for women which I dislike. My study will deal with the second one which is fully related to impact of her essay “a comparison between women and men” in modern India. The third and the last, describe the significant role of Tarabai Shinde writing and feminism which pivotal the historian. After the critical study of history, I will continue my work with the study of social or cultural grounds of 19th century. In this study I will, with a critical point of view, present the modern architecture of women in India. At last, I will discuss the patriarchy and caste as per point of view of Tarabai. However, from the complied hand lines of research, I will provide an overview to significant contribution of Shinde and continuously fought towards patriarchy and the caste system.
All data would be used for compiling our finding, based on secondary data sources such as previous literature review, library, internet etc. as well as Literary criticism and philological criticism shall be used.
The study would be helped in providing insight to the historians about the facts that why did the Tarabai fight for the unfair treatment for women and equal rights for men and women. It would be also helped historians to get better details of Tarabai Shinde by knowing about many unexplored impact in the history for feminism. These explorations will help us to gather more details about significant role of Tarabai. As if anyone want to know the contribution of him in history then will be easier and authentic fact get. These details would be helped to know about social and educational development of women in modern India. This would not only change our today’s thinking about them but also help is to get real social contribution of women in the development of our country. This research can be used to provide the comprehensive and significant role of Tarabai. This comprehensive study on Tarabai Shinde would be milestone in the path of historian in future prospective.
This study would be concluded to explore the role of Tarabai Shinde in history and would be helped in providing insight to the historians about the facts that why did the Tarabai fight for the unfair treatment for women and equal rights for men and women.
It would be also helped historians to get better details of Tarabai Shinde by knowing about many unexplored impact in the history for feminism. These explorations will help us to gather more details about significant role of Tarabai. As if anyone want to know the contribution of him in history then will be easier and authentic fact get. These details would be helped to know about social and educational development of women in modern India. This would not only change our today’s thinking about them but also help is to get real social contribution of women in the development of our country.