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Sophie Shemas
Dr. Jenkins
POL 3062
12 December 2014
Female Figures in Hinduism and Their Implications on Feminism in India
When one considers the topics of feminism and religion together, a harmonious
coexistence is not usually something that comes to mind. The turbulence between the two has
been highlighted within more recent years, as feminism has become a larger issue in the scope of
society and cultures around the world have diverted from traditional roots as countries have
developed (Jain 2011). One could argue that most mainstream religion is based on the very
patriarchal structure that feminists typically reject. This conflict can be seen within Hindu
feminism, and in the fact that some consider Hinduism and feminism to be mutually exclusive
ideologies. Yet, there are still Hindu feminists, and they have utilized much of their religion to
their own advantage, empowering themselves through the goddesses they have so long
worshipped. Unfortunately, Indian Hindu feminism has largely failed to solve the issues of
oppression faced by Indian women in modern society, and this empowerment has not yet reached
Indian Hindu women on a large scale, with the subjugation of women within the country still
unsettlingly rampant. This can also be visualized in Hinduism through mythology and in how
non-goddess women are treated within those stories. There is a gap between the regular, real-life
woman and the goddess within Hinduism, one that might currently be hindering the status of
women in India. Through analyzing these female figures in Hinduism, there is the potential to
create solutions for bridging the gap between the way Hindu goddesses are worshipped and the
way Hindu women in India are treated.
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One must first define what it is to be Hindu and what it is to be a feminist. Hinduism
itself is difficult to define because it encompasses a number of different traditions, has no single
text defining the belief system, and does not involve the employment of strict religious practices
(“Hinduism” 2014). Therefore, in the interest of simplicity, Hinduism will be defined as
honoring the tradition Vedic texts and, importantly, self-identifying as Hindu (“Hinduism”
2014). Feminism is arguable even more difficult to define due to its subjectivity and because it
can only be truly defined by the person who practices or identifies with it. In the modern Western
world, feminism has technically existed in three different waves, each defined by a unique
general set of beliefs and aims (“Third Wave Feminism” 2007). In India, the emergence and
persistence of feminism can’t be defined as clearly as it is in the West. There is not just one
singular feminism at any given time, but in general, feminism in India attempts to recognize the
holistic elements of existence and integrate all three together: body, mind, and soul. The idea
behind this is that the oppression of women has sought to limit them to one of these three
elements and not the others, such as the idea that spiritual women must hide their bodies and be
modest when it comes to their intelligence. The different forms of feminism within India are also
influenced by other social conditions—such as the caste system—due to intersectionality (Jain
2011).
The oppression of Indian women within the realm of Hinduism is a difficult topic to
address, as there is no concrete causal relationship between the texts associated with Hinduism
and the subjugation of women. Many argue that the evidence is clear within texts like the
Manusmriti—or “The Laws of Manu”—which outlines many of the moral expectations for
Hindus, including the obligations women have to their husbands (Hiltebeitel, A., & Erndl 2000).
The text clearly defined the role of a Hindu woman only in relationship to her husband in
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multiple passages, one even saying, “A virtuous wife should constantly serve her husband like a
god, even if he behaves badly, freely indulges his lust, and is devoid of any good qualities […] It
is because a wife obeys her husband that she is exalted in heaven” (Banerji 2012). It is Hindu
tradition that women were created from the feet, considered the least cleanly and pure part of the
body, and a number of texts describe women as being lowly, untrustworthy, and deceitful
(Banerji 2012). Others argue that these texts are rarely taken at face value and interpreted
directly, and that Hinduism itself is not directly the problem (Sugirtharajah 2002). Yet regardless
of any causal relationship between Hindu texts and the mistreatment of Indian women, one thing
is clear: Hinduism has laid a framework that can be utilized to further feminist causes in India
and empower Hindu women.
This is somewhat of a relief for women in a society that faces an increasingly hostile
environment towards them. It is almost undeniable that women in India face greater mistreatment
than men throughout the nation. This differs from region to region, but holds strongest within
rural areas where cultural traditions have yet to be muffled by economic development (Guzder &
Krishna 1991). A number of high profile women’s issues have plagued the country for decades.
Sexual harassment and violence against women, femicide and female feticide, honor killings,
child marriage, and the increasing prevalence of rape—specifically gang rape—of women are
major concerns for the nation, issues that have a great enough impact to even attract attention
from Western media outlets (Banerji 2012). In rural India, literacy rates between men and
women contrast sharply, with many girls not receiving education because they are fated to be
married off at a young age, despite the illegal status of child marriage (Guzder & Krishna 1991).
To some, the reasoning behind child marriage is religious; Hindu traditions say that women are
more likely to sin once they begin menstruating, so it is best to have a girl married off before the
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age of twelve in order to keep her from sinning once she hits puberty (Sánchez et al. 2004).
Because of this, almost half of all girls in India are married by age eighteen and India contributes
a third of the world’s child brides (Banerji 2012).
There is also a disturbing trend of violence and the murder of women. Female feticide,
though still horrific, is more widely known to the world and has occurred in a number of other
countries due to worldwide gender biases against women (“Female feticide” 2013). What is less
obvious is the overall prominence of femicide in India. Once women are born, they are still
significantly less likely to survive childhood than their male counterparts, and even if they do
survive childhood, they will likely die at a much earlier age than males (Guzder & Krishna
1991). Domestic violence, rape, and dowry-related murders have been major causes of death for
young girls in rural regions, having led to the deaths of up to 136,000 women and girls by fire in
India each year and 1,800,000 girls under the age of six in the past two decades by domestic
violence (Banerji 2012). The gender ratio in rural regions of India has been lowered to a point
where women are sometimes kidnapped or sold by their families to be brides; these ‘Paros’, as
they are known, can then be bought and resold multiple times depending on a number of factors
(Banerji 2012). Recent statistics have shown that 93 women are raped every day in India, not
including the many possible cases that likely go unreported (Philip 2014). It is clear that women
in India face an alarming number of challenges just to their survival, making it nearly impossible
in many cases—in rural regions, notably—for them to also be successful and to lead enjoyable
lives.
Despite the evidence for oppression of women within Hindu texts and the clear
mistreatment of Indian women today, Hinduism can be seen as possibly the most feminist major
religion. Hinduism is the only major religion, and one of the few commonly known religions at
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all, in which female deities are worshipped. It is even within Hindu tradition to worship and
revere a feminine absolute. Devi, also referred to as Shakti, is the personification of divine
feminine creation, and is arguably the most important feminist aspect of Hinduism. Devi is
responsible for all creation, and without her, there would be no existence (Hiltebeitel & Erndl
2000). Because Devi is the absolute source of all creation, the god Shiva—who is considered the
primary manifestation of masculine energy—simply acts as support for her. While Devi can
stand alone, Shiva must in part contain Devi’s feminine energy, or else he would not be able to
exist.
From the concept of Devi/Shakti there stemmed Shaktism, which is a subset of Hinduism
that focuses on the worship of this divine feminine energy and its importance in creation and
existence (Hiltebeitel & Erndl 2000). Shaktism first emerged in prehistoric times, and was once
fiercely practiced in areas of India by both women and men (“Shaktism” 2004). Shaktas—
followers of Shaktism—adored the goddesses because they saw Devi and her manifestations as
having control over the entire universe (Banerji 2012). To the Shaktas, the gods did not nearly
have the same level of power as Devi and were in a sense dispensable. The Shakta goddesses
asserted their recognition in the three elements of Indian feminism. They were seemingly
immodest, highly spiritual and intelligent, and were unafraid to voice their needs, including those
related to sex (Banerji 2012). This emphasis on the absolute feminine as a source for all things
can be seen as a strong support for the notion of feminism within Hinduism.
Each goddess within Hinduism is therefore a manifestation of Devi, a piece of her being,
and they play an important role in establishing a context for feminism within Hinduism. Two of
the most commonly cited examples of seemingly feminist goddesses within Shakta Hinduism are
Kali and Durga. Kali, whose name translates roughly to “the Dark One”, is known for her love of
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destruction and is portrayed in an almost monstrous way within Hindu imagery (Rose 2007).
Kali is depicted in Hindu iconography with her tongue hanging out and fangs showing, wearing a
necklace of severed heads, and she’s often seen dancing on top of the corpses of those she has
killed (Rose 2007). Durga is portrayed fiercely as well, but to a lesser extent. Durga is “the
invincible”, a goddess known for battling demons, Bengal tiger at her side (Rose 2007). Both of
these goddesses embody physical strength and power while retaining some feminine traits.
Though Kali and Durga seem to exemplify feminist values within Hinduism, they are
also often critiqued in the scope of feminism. This is especially true for Western feminists who
are accustomed to the third wave of feminism, which is inherently focused on inclusivity and the
idea that the complexity and dimensionality of women should be emphasized. The third wave is
often very focused on destroying the second wave ideas that feminism shouldn’t be feminine and
that women who identify themselves as feminist should aim to blur gender lines by becoming
more masculine (“Third Wave Feminism” 2007). These criticisms mainly fall on Kali, who is
arguably the most masculine and vicious goddess. She is critiqued for being too one-sided and
only expressing that masculine energy to a point where she is often perceived as being
monstrous. But these criticisms are typically only given with a Western feminist context in mind
and without consideration of Devi. If all of the goddesses within Hinduism are manifestations of
Devi, it is understandable that they would be incomplete, in a sense, on their own. Devi is the
absolute feminine, and each goddess is only a piece of her, so it is reasonable that each goddess
would not be as complex and well-rounded as Devi is as a whole. They are each only responsible
for being the goddess of one characteristic, similar to the goddesses of Greek and Roman
mythology, so they each will naturally contribute only one strong characteristic to Hindu
mythology.
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Within the mythology associated with Hinduism, goddess power does not always stem
from masculinity or physical violence and destruction. Lakshmi is the goddess of light as well as
material and spiritual wealth and prosperity and is also highly regarded within Shaktism;
Sarasvati is a worshipped as the goddess of wisdom (Sugirtharajah 2002). These goddesses still
withhold their feminine qualities, but are never questioned in regards to how much power they
hold. It should also be noted that these goddesses are worshipped as the goddesses of qualities
typically reserved for males, which is clear when one compared the way these goddesses are
portrayed with the way women are portrayed in Hindu texts in general—mainly, the Manusmriti
(Sugirtharajah 2002). This is especially the case for Kali and Durga who are both physically very
powerful, but are not seen in a negative light by Hindu males.
Unfortunately, the power of Hindu goddesses still doesn’t translate over well into other
Hindu myths with female characters that aren’t deities. Two of the most famous Hindu
mythological epics—the Ramayana and the Mahabharata—tell the stories of women who are
consistently and unfairly mistreated by others in their lives, most prominently men. The
Ramayana follows the story of Sita, who represents the ideal Hindu wife due to her purity and
her loyalty to her husband, Rama. Though she is devoted in her entirety to her husband, he
distrusts her and questions her purity after she returns from being held captive by a king. Rama
decides to test her through the ritual of sati, self-immolation from which only the pure can
emerge unharmed. Since she is in fact pure, Sita returns, but eventually rumors conjure up
further doubt from Rama about her purity. Eventually, he banishes her to the forest where she is
so stricken with grief that she takes her own life. This is in some ways an echo of the
Manusmriti, which emphasizes the distrust that men should have of women in their lives, no
matter how innocent they may seem.
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The Mahabharata tells a similarly depressing story for the main female character. One
piece of this story focuses on Draupadi, another devoted wife—this time married to a set of five
princes who are brothers. One of her husbands is consumed by gambling with dice, and when he
has lost everything else, including his own brothers, due to the dice being loaded, he bets
Draupadi. Unable to see that he is being tricked, Draupadi is lost to servitude. She is dragged to
the court, and in an attempt to humiliate and dishonor her, the characters who arranged the rigged
dice game try to disrobe Draupadi in front of everyone. Her honor is saved when a prayer to
Krishna allows her a sari that can never fully be unraveled. Despite this, she is not saved from
exile and servitude along with her husbands and suffers greatly due to her husband’s shortsighted
nature.
These stories share a number of similarities that reflect cultural norms still present in
Indian society today. The biggest theme within them is the importance of purity and honor for
women. Though in both stories men are also made to be humiliated, women share most of the
burden of this. Their conduct and purity speak to the reputation of the rest of the family and are
therefore a concern for others, leading often to their mistreatment and possession by their
husbands and family. This emphasis on purity is silencing for women and is reflected today in
the reasoning behind child marriages. Girls are married young much of the time due to their
aforementioned purity and because it is easier to ‘tame’ a young girl than it is to force a woman
into obedience, or at least that is the general idea (Banerji 2012). Both Sita and Draupadi are
tamed and silenced by circumstance, leading ultimately to long-term suffering in both cases.
They are both victims to a hierarchy that places women, particularly young women, below all
else and which is still present today in rural Indian societies that are dominated by Hinduism
(Banerji 2012).
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Some argue though that the actions of Sita and Draupadi even in these stories laced with
female oppression can be appropriated to fit the feminist mindset and utilized for the
empowerment of women overall. Though it may be controversial to say, Sita demonstrates
strength in her unwavering devotion to her husband and her refusal to bow to accusations of
impurity; she is fearless in the face of sati and reemerges powerfully from the flames (Guzder &
Krishna 1991). She doesn’t confront her husband about his ridiculous distrust of her, but in some
ways her final renunciation of him and subsequent suicide can be seen as her finally speaking out
against her oppression. Draupadi is the one chiefly referred to when discussing feminist themes
in these epics though, mainly because of one question she asks her husband upon discovering she
has been gambled away into servitude, which some argue is the woman’s question (Hiltebeitel &
Erndl 2000). In the face of her embarrassment and her husband’s idiocy, Draupadi causes a scene
in the court, asking her husband, “Whom did you lose first, yourself or me?” (Hiltebeitel & Erndl
2000). To this, Draupadi’s husband remains silent, left dazed by his own actions. Some interpret
this question as one that is echoed in other Hindu myths, one where women subject to
subjugation must ask their oppressors, “Is it really you who is doing this to me?” (Hiltebeitel &
Erndl 2000). It is in some aspects a call to men for respect, for them to realize that they, the
women, are not at fault and have done nothing to deserve the treatment they are receiving.
Ultimately, though she is able to utilize her voice and demand these answers from her husband,
she is silenced and faces her ruin regardless (Kahlon 2011). She faces many of the same barriers
that women in real life face when attempting to confront oppression.
This seems to hold true to a great extent in Indian society, where the hierarchy that places
women of low importance has sustained its presence in cultural norms. This is arguably the
largest problem that Hindu Indian women face within feminism (Banerji 2012). This system is so
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engrained into Indian and Hindu cultures that it is a colossal task to dismantle this hierarchy and
the norms associated with it. But it is a task that has become of much importance. Though this
research is considered from solely a Western perspective and statistics have only been analyzed
with this bias in mind, it seems fairly obvious that women in India face greater subjugation than
women in many parts of the world. Maybe their oppression is simply much more obvious and
violent than in other regions, but that violence is the reason that addressing the oppression of
women in India has become so important. Whether or not the oppression of women within the
country can be directly tied to how women are treated and described in Hindu texts is seemingly
unimportant when tackling the issue because regardless of the causal relationship, it is clear that
culture is the primary culprit behind the mistreatment of women, most remarkably in rural
regions of the country where traditional values are most prevailing.
In considering this and the importance of Hinduism in Indian culture, it seems fairly
reasonable that culture could and should be fought with culture. The negative culture that
threatens the overall safety and rights of Indian women may be best countered with the positive
cultural aspects of women portrayed in Hinduism. This oppression may be best tackled with a
reemergence of the values behind Shaktism and goddess worship combined with the
appropriation and integration of the strength and persistence displayed by other female characters
in Hindu mythology, such as Sita and Draupadi. Some suggest that the key to accomplishing this
revitalization and popularization of Hindu feminism in India is in the establishment of
relationships between Hindu women and female divinity to a point where Hindu women feel that
they can identify with female characters in Hinduism—goddesses or not (Hiltebeitel & Erndl
2000). Within this, there is a genuine capability for change, seeing as there is a constant presence
of women and feminine energy within Hinduism.
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Others suggest that the biggest challenge for the efficacy of a Hindu feminist movement
is the ability of the women involved to feel that they can be vocal about the issues they face and
to feel that they are allowed to be angry (Banerji 2012). This hesitance to speak out could be
attributed to that cultural hierarchy that has established that women will always be under and
subservient to someone else, most likely a man. Whatever the reason for the apparent quietness
of Hindu feminists, it is clear that change is necessary. The state of women in India is arguably
one of global concern—though it is not nearly the only nation where women are mistreated on a
large scale. The reason it is of such global concern is that India is becoming increasingly present
as a force on the world stage and is continuing to develop quickly (Banerji 2012). The issues
facing women in India have seeped out into the view of the rest of the world, as a number of
international visitors to the country have been exposed to sexual violence while in the country
(Banerji 2012). As mentioned before, there are a number of other factors that play into Hindu
feminism, prominently the lingering effects of the caste system, but Hinduism itself is something
that all Hindu feminists can identify with. All female Hindu feminists can feel empowered by the
strength of feminine characters in their religion as long as an emphasis is placed on this strength.
Perhaps within the presence and importance of the divine feminine in Hinduism lie a solution to
the setbacks and lack of progress faced by Hindu feminists as well as a way to unite all Hindu
women in solidarity to face the seemingly insurmountable challenge of their oppression.
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