Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-25
Revolt of India's Women


denounced with special vehemence Tor
having considered a resolution 1avor-
ing divorce where that step Is caneo
for" It shocks men of the old school
of orthodoxy that this was discussed,
although 1t was defeated. Hindu nus
bands who have long regarded marriage
as a sacrament an ind1Ssoluble tie re-
gardless of their own conduct toward
their wives, now begin to fear that the
halcyon responsibility of the male is
doomed. They sense the approach OF
iniouitous alimony from the West.
But the women have got beyond
pother over the outcrieS OF the cha-
grined husband jailers and the Wife
beaters. They feel confident now OF
the support of the more enlightened
men OF India, though at present they
are admittedly in the minority. AT the
annual meeting of the Indiai National
Congress in Karachi last March the
women'S delegation secured from this
unofficial but puissant political organi-
zation some vastly significant conces-
sions. In the Bill of Fundamental
Rights adopted at that meeting these
reforms are promised under any form
of self-government established in India:
Equal privileges and obligations Of all
citizens, with no discrimination against
either sex: adult franchise for both
male and female citizens; free primary
education for both sexes, protection OF
women workers, especially with regard
to adequate provision for leave during
the period Of maternity; total prohi-
bition of child marriage and equal OPP
portunity for men and women to hold
public Office or to engage in any leg1tl-
mate trade or profession.
Considering the low percentage OF
literacy among midas women under
the present educational system, it is
remarkable to find them already repre-
Sented in all the professions and in
public Offices. Teaching has called
many: there are now women professors
in most of the large colleges and uni
versitieS and in hundreds of rural and
primary schools. In other cases women
have launched educational experiments
of their own, such as brilliant Mrinalini
Chattopadhyaya'S school in Bombay.
There are many women doctors and
hundreds of Western trained nurses.
In one city met a woman dentist who
had been educated in America.
Many women barristers prosper In
the courts OF Bombay and other cities;
some of them have told me they earn
as much as from 5000 to 10000 rupees
annually. In some Indian states and
in seven OF the nine provinces of Brit
ish India, women members now sit with
men in the councils of state. There
are women magistrates and judges.
Recently a woman was elected preSi-
dent of the Madras Legislature. The
neutrality-suspicious. the most in
f1uential daily paper of Madras-is
edited by spirited little Hindu lady,
Mrs. Alumelurn Animal. Women may
be found in the chiefs chair in several
other Indian journals and magazines,
and at least one important publishing
house is owned and managed by a
woman who runs a school as well. In
both the English language and the
vernacular press female contributors
are frequent. MANY publications run
regular features written by and for
women, although as class the "re-
porteress' scarcely exists.
incidentally, despite its social back
wardneSS in other respects, India does
not restrict the free publication and
dissemination of information on birth
control and other sex subjects. Scien-
tiflc sex knowledge, much Of it in the
form of books written by Indian
| medical men and women, is now
abundantly available But its benefits
are confined largely to the literate
classes. although there are now sew
eral agencies through which such
knowledge is given to wives of workers
and peasants.
Lord Irwin, former Viceroy of India,
recently placed solemn blame on the
cinema as one of the chief factors
contributing to the rapid growth of
political revolution In India. The
movies" are also responsible, in a
large measure, for the rebellion of
women. Western social ideas, given
wide currency through the silver screen,
have worked at the undermining of
midas medieval social structure. This
1 fY1Io ~
in Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Calcutta
and other large towns.
Apparent Domestic Freedom,
The American or European visitor
who has carefully schooled himself by
reading Mother India" and its SEQUEL
is usually confused to discover that in
most OF the cities mothers and virgins
(easIy distinguished from each other
by the way they wear their ornaments)
mmgle with men in the streets and
| oazarS and appear to enjoy consider
able domestic freedom.
AS was the case until recently in
China and Japan, women in India were
barred from the theater Men imper-
Sonated them, but they never developed
much genius in the art-a fact which
probably accounts for the poor quality
or the Indian theater and, latterly, its
decline. Thus, when movie" directors
searched for feminine players. they got
no help from the stage. They next
turned to the singing girls and Nautch
dancers But here there were strong
social objections. These professional
courteSans were skilled enough in MIS-
trionics, but many HinduS disapproved
Of their appearance in movies" which
their wives and children could see. The
flower women" OF India enjoy no such
prestige here as they are given in coun-
tries farther East; they are members Of
a low and depressed class which in
cludeS magicianS, acrobats, musicians,
| prostitutes. gypSieS and so en-. Once, in
Udaipur, I watched a favorite Indian
dancing girl present a petition to her
highneSS the Maharana, in WHICH she
humbly begged the right to BUILD a
stone house-a privilege generally de-
MED to her profession!
To circumscribe these difficulties
| young Indian directors enterprisingly
appealed to the public for new at
titude toward artists of song, dance
and pantomime. They succeeded in
interesting several prominent families
in the utility of the cinema in India
for spreading education. Sons and
daughters from middle-claSS and up
per-claSs families were induced to enter
the films
Within the last three years a mum
Der of pictures have been produced
with what are described as all society
casts, which in India means AL
Brahmin" castles. Among these was
the life of Buddha, filmed as "The
Light Of Asia" which was greeted with
enthusiasm when shown in America
| That and subsequent pictures such as
"Shiraz." "Shirin Farhad," "Swamy.'
"Vasantasena" and one or two others
have done much to popularize Indian