I've attempted to show that women in south and southeast Asia do have agency as managers of households, and they have a great deal of authority in the home. After all, India has had a woman head of state, Indira Gandhi, and Benazir Bhutto served as prime minister of Pakistan. Harims place women in a solely sexual role. Ramusack points out that harims, or zenanas , are sites where women exert significant influence. They shape children's lives in terms of education and also in the area of their children's marriages.
Women walk around with their heads veiled and bowed.
Prior to the 20th century, this was true among some groups, but in recent decades few women, especially in urban areas, are wearing veils. All marriages are arranged by parents, not based on mutual love. Ramusack said arranged marriages are common, but not as common as they once were. There is a lot of variation, however, with some couples matched by parents but allowed to meet frequently before marriage or couples who have fallen in love and ask their parents to arrange a marriage. Hindu widows must commit sati, or ritual suicide, by throwing themselves onto the funeral pyre of their dead husbands.