An estimated 95 percent of Indian marriages are arranged. Marriage is thus an index of women's status. The most remarkable Indian exceptions to the social norms for women, Bumillar finds, are the off screen lives of Bombay's film actresses. Some other women appear to have done better in their effort to define their own personal and social identities. There is also the exception of Kerala, a state in which birth control has been extremely successful, women's place in society has traditionally been good, and where there is a relatively high ratio of women to men.
Women have many job opportunities, they marry relatively late, and are relatively literate.
Many of these advantages, however, have accrued from the now obsolescent matrilineal system of the region. Bumiller's comparisons of the condition of Indian women with that of American women offer some surprises for the American reader. In 1988, women accounted for 10 percent of the members of the Indian Parliament, while in the US Congress, only 5 percent of the members of both houses were women. Women hold important social positions, and they have complete equality under the Indian Constitution. The 19th century saw efforts on behalf of women by middle-class male reformers such as Rammohan Roy.