Introduction
In her chapter, The Married Life, Pundita Ramabai Sarasvati illuminates the issues of child marriages and the violation of women’s rights, exposing them to early traumatic experiences and constraining them in their independence and autonomy. Through the narrative, the author illustrates how young girls are prepared from a young age to perform wifely duties and serve the family of the husband. Thus, through her writing, although depicting the practices of India in the 19th century, Ramabai Sarasvati shows the discrimination of women and how traumatizing these experiences can be.
Child Marriages
From the beginning, the author sheds light on the blurred lines between the innocent childhood of a child and maturation. As Ramabai Sarasvati puts it, “It is not easy to determine when the childhood of a Hindu girl ends and the married life begins” (Ramabai Sarasvati para.1). The writer then accentuates that young girls from the high caste are usually married between the ages of eight and twelve, with the latter being the maximum.
While one might think that there must be at least some form of consent, the author rushes to show the reader that “in this form of marriage there is no religious ceremony, nor even a third party to witness and confirm the agreement and relationship” (Ramabai Sarasvati para.1). Still, older Indian traditions viewed this as a legal act. Still, while some parents might choose to communicate with the potential husband prior to the ritual, many parents or guardians were satisfied with the union as long as the man had money. The author emphasizes that “their minds are not much troubled concerning the girl’s fate,” if the suitor has a well-known name and wealth (Ramabai Sarasvati para.7). Therefore, Ramabai Sarasvati implies that at this time, child marriages were not seen as unlawful, and a man of any age could marry an eight-year-old girl.
Constraints of Women’s Rights
Another lesson learned from the chapter involves the constraints in terms of women’s rights. Firstly, Indian law “allows some men to remain unmarried, but woe to the maiden and to her family if she is so unfortunate as to remain single after the marriageable age” (Ramabai Sarasvati para.7). Moreover, the writer accentuates the fact that women had no voice when it came to decisions in marriages and “it not unfrequently happens that fathers give away their daughters in marriage to strangers without exercising care in making inquiry concerning the suitor’s character and social position” (Ramabai Sarasvati para.9).
Lastly, it is mentioned that as the young child enters the new family, she is recognized as the lowest of the members and is taught by the mother-in-law how to do household work, providing the wife with “a thorough knowledge of domestic duties” (Ramabai Sarasvati para.24). Thus, a young child had no autonomy regarding her actions and decisions, every decision was made by the parents prior to the marriage and then she became a part of a new family, where her duty was to satisfy the needs of her husband and his family.
The given lessons can be applied to present-day America when discussing the rights of women and child marriages. As seen from the narration of the author, she does not precisely agree with such ideas and, at times, disagrees with such approaches. Similarly, when it comes to the policies related to women, it is necessary to view them from the perspective of the stakeholders and how they would influence female well-being and autonomy, which can be applicable to the case of Roe v. Wade overturning.
Conclusion
Hence, in her work, Ramabai Sarasvati illuminates the traumatizing experiences of young girls in 19th-century India, who were exposed to the traditions of child marriages and the violation of women’s rights. Through the first lesson, the author depicts how young girls between the ages of eight and twelve are forced to be married, with the twelve-year-old girls being especially pressured. In the second lesson, the writer shows how young girls do not have a voice when it comes to decision-making in marriage.
Work Cited
Ramabai Sarasvati, Pundita. “The Married Life.” In The High Caste of Hindu Women, Press of the J. B. Rodgers Print Company, 1888. Web.