Expectations regarding the role of women by their families in India - Essay Example

Expectations regarding the role of women by their families in India The families of the bride as well as the groom have a lot of expectations from the bride. Women are expected to be submissive, understanding, cooperative, compromising, and skilled in every household matter. Women in India are expected to depend upon men in almost every matter of life. Although roaming about of women on their own is considered a sign of modernity and perceived as self-confidence on the part of the women, yet it is translated negatively when it comes to considering such independent women for marriage.

One of the families searching for a bride for their son expressed their perception about such independent women in these words, “A girl who ‘roams about’ the city by herself is not the girl for our family” (Nanda 429). In order for the married couple to live a prosperous life, it is considered imperative that the bride is below the groom in a variety of matters that include but are not limited to height, education, and professional status. Although the people of India are generally very optimistic about getting their daughters educated especially in the contemporary age, yet when it comes to marriage, too much education is a demerit rather than a merit because the boys on average themselves are not very highly educated.

The Indian society has established family as the first and the foremost priority for women and everything else including profession falls secondary to it. Girls are expected to have their marriage arranged by their parents rather than searching for their husbands themselves. Girls are expected to be obedient to their parents and place confidence in them while they search for their daughters’ grooms. Girls are considered too inexperienced and mentally immature to find out their life-partners themselves.

Women in India are expected to fall in love after their marriage and only with their husbands. Love and especially affair before marriage is considered highly objectionable. When women get married, they are expected to take care of the whole family of the groom in addition to the groom. This can be attributed to the fact that a vast majority of Indians dwell in the joint family system in which a bride has to interact and deal with the family of the groom regularly. Therefore, she is expected to serve the groom’s parents as well as his married and unmarried siblings.

The daughters-in-law are expected to adapt to the culture of the groom’s family and adopt the values, norms, trends and traditions of the groom’s family. Expectations regarding the role of women by their families in ancient China Families in ancient China expected their daughters to do labor for the family and provide for the family. This was an important reason why poorer families in ancient China had to wait longer than the richer families to engage their daughters in the practice of foot-binding.

The ancient Chinese society adopted bizarre ways of differentiating between men and women. The foot-binding practice that limited the growth of feet in women and modified their shape was done to lend their feet a different look from those of the men’s. Families in ancient China expected their women to take strong measures to preserve their national identity while the country was frequently invaded by the foreigners. Again, foot-binding was used as a means of preservation of national identity.

Chinese women in ancient China were expected to go to any length to satisfy men; the foot-binding was also done since it made them look sexually more attractive. Families in ancient China expected their women to take measures to enhance their beauty and prestige and most of the women thus voluntarily engaged in the practice of foot-binding. Good mothers were expected to bind the feet of their daughters in order to prepare her for a good husband since foot-binding symbolized beauty as well as understanding of the culture and customs of the ancient Chinese society on the part of the women.

Women in ancient China were expected to be very hard-working and contributing to the family in domestic affairs, yet they were expected not to roam about on their own. The ancient Chinese society was conservative and women were expected to endorse arranged marriages in which the husbands for them were found by the parents. Perceptions of foot-binding as well as the role of women in the society changed considerably over the passage of time and foot-binding today is no more viewed as a symbol of beauty or prestige in the society.

Works Cited: Nanda, Serena. “Arranging a marriage in India.” Customs, rituals, and values.