The classical art and literature describe femininity in most unpalatable language. Attempts, to reverse this trend very early turned into Woman's Liberation movement. As a result a feeling that the social and political conditions hitherto operating around women should change assumes a meaning. In order to usher in a area of social equality men and women nourish a feeling wide to redefine woman's rules at contemporary times. As a result two distinct trends may be ostensibly discerned. Firstly it is realized that gender equality might not be achieved unless the rights of women are delineated and guaranteed at various visible levels of social life. Secondly, the plethora of enactments that have remained in circulation irrespective of geographic, communal and ethical considerations, if are manifestations of status efforts to ameliorate general conditions of woman, should be implemented at the earliest. But the fact is that it is difficult to read masculine intentions behind these legislations, because most of the times they have proved to be opaqe, as a result, in pluralist societies the bounties of freedom remains denied to women.
At home, equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex may sound foreign to the cross section of women because unlike Christina west, the Indian society is more male dominated. Indian males conveniently follow double standards regarding women. On the one hand they call her Durga and Kali and go to worship her and the other, she is raped in public like Drupadi, given up like Sita and appease other, burnt like Roop Kanwar amidst the beat of drums and rejoicing. Indian women continue to hold in one hand rattle to amuse her weeping child continue to hold in one hand rattle to amuse her weeping chid and a cup of tea to please her husband and yet in another hand a broom to clean up the house. Thus she does to prove herself to be facimile of the multi hand goddess. He hands multiply too as and when new roles are assigned to her. This condition by large remaining unchanged on account of Indian man's vision of femininity is geared around imprudence and inability of women to cater to needs of the times.
When might the dawn of freedom break upon Indian women albeit wife assumes great significance? They may legitimately doubt the gender intentions because by merely propagating equal rights and equity the miseries and sufferings of women have been candidly covered up by men, and this policy continues to flourish at ad infinitum. The fact is that men have historically been reluctant to rub their shoulders with women. They have been even denied the right to life and the State has failed to take note of their miserable plight in real life. Atrocities on women have become a regular feature of life, which attract press spotlights, yet fail to generate any public remorse. If their life is unsafe, so have been the Constitutional Promises - right to life and liberty, equality and non discrimination on the basis of sex, Woman, for example for no fault of here's is deprived of her property rights under various personal laws. She is burnt alive in case of her failure to bring dowry to her in laws. It is common for the courts to restitute her against will no matter the wife may have to remain away from matrimonial home for a reasonable cause. Within the precincts of home she receives beating in gift for wedlock. The sex based discriminatory provisions as such continue to remain on statute books irrespective of any communal considerations. The confusion is multiplied where courts come forward and weave elaborations favoring male interests than female needs, that too in the teeth of constitutional promises and guarantees like right to equality. In the face of such nontraditional any talk about equality, in particular, in the nook and corner of the bench and bar, is nothing less than exaggeration if not illusion. It is bound to breed perpetual discrimination, which may wreck a catastrophe because woman have already provided their strength to impose prohibition through Arrack movement- and forced the Andhra Pradesh to go dry. No nation shall progress if it suffers pain in the neck nor might it claim honor among galaxy of nations if half of its population is cowed down officially or unofficial by the rest half.
