Women is Pakistan has equal facilities for education and an effective
voice in the selection of their life partners. There are also a great number
of love marriages. Women are participating in social and religious
gatherings and has an absolute equality in the eyes of religion. In the
family the status of wife and mother is highly respected.
Women are now in much better position in Indonesia than before,
Muslim women in Indonesia are faring much better than their counterparts
in South Asia; literacy among women is 88% (1992); girls enrollment in
primary school 97% (1990). Above all, an gender empowerment measure
(GEM) indicator, that concentrates on economic, political and professional
participation of women, Indonesia ranks 56th among 116 countries: a
definitely better rank than Pakistan which stands at 114 (Human
Development Report, 1995), Indonesian women have a strong sense of
their Muslim identity and through the prism of this identity, they respond
to socioeconomic forces in their own way. Though number of highly
educated women in the professions is still low compared to the developing
countries. Though Indonesia is a patriarchal society and the state ideology
emphasises the domestic role of women as mother and wife, yet women in
Indonesia have achieved remarkable progress during the last three
decades. They have better access to labour markets, education and health
facilities, compared to their Muslim counterparts in South Asia, and they
are confident of their future. It is time we looked to our South-East Asian
counterparts for a sharing of experience and of cultural exchange.
During the Vedic period girls who went through a course of
education were commonly from the higher sections of society in which
some of the women attained distinction in the real of theology and
philosophy and a considerable number of them took up teaching career.
The age of marriage for girls continued to be about 16 and they had som
voice in the selection of their life partners. Divorce was permitted to the
wife though it was not extensively utilised. Since Independence, the pace of change in the role and status of
women in Pakistan has been greatly accelerated. By virtue of various
Acts, the role and status of women has resin quite high. How the basic
attitude of society and specially of men towards the new role and status of
woman has not kept pace with this change, leaving a wide gap and time
lag. This gap is particularly noteworthy when it comes for recognition by
other family members of the husband, Moreover, there is still a large gap
between the legal rights and the social attitude and beliefs. This gap is
continuing to retard the actual emancipation of ‘woman, particularly in
smaller cities and villages.
Although legally and theoretically women is now recognised as the
social-equal of man, the institutions of caste, the patriarchal family,
religious mores and the prevailing values systems are still surcharged with
the spirit of male dominance.
The social attitude towards working married woman who mostly
belong to the middle class educated families has changed considerably. It
is no longer derogatory for the wife or the daughter-in-law to hold a role
with the passage of time, even elderly women of the family not only adjust
to their daughter-in-law taking up gainful employment but also appreciate
it. But while the attitude towards employment of woman has changed, the
attitude of the husband or of the in-law towards her role and relationships
in the family or towards her status, rights and privileges remains
comparatively unchanged. This puts the working women in a predicament.
In spite of the added role she undertakes as a working woman and the
additional income she brings to the family, she is expected to carry out the
role of traditional housewife and do many household chores with the help
of other members or a servant. Men usually consider household roles
below their dignity. All this leads to martial maladjustment and in family
squabbles.
Conflicting attitude of women towards their role and status as wife
affects their relationship adversely even when she is educated and is an
earning member of the family. the husband’s attitude towards his
employed wife’s status or rights in the family with respect to her privilege
or right to spend her hard earned money has become a source of tension in
a number of cases. The wife is expected to hand over all her salary to the
husband or in-laws and is supposed to ask for her pocket money. The
observation goes that even as an earning member of the family the wife is deprived of the privilege like her husband to spend the money earned
her the way she wants without his pride permission.
by
Thus there is a lag between changes in the attitude and behaviour
patterns and roles educated urban middle class women want and expect to
play as members of the family as well as members of the society and the
role that other members of their family and society want them to play.
There is also a gap between the status that women desire and expect,
feeling strongly that they deserve it and the status and the family and
society actually given to them. Thus, in the social structure of the tradition
oriented family, the typical patterns of husband wife relationship, namely
male dominance and female dependence, continues unabated. The husband
enjoy the superior position over his wife and the major decision-making
role continues to be the prerogative of the husband. The wife has to tacitly
accept the subservient position in the family and her role in domestic
sphere continues to be assumed. The Pakistani society is going through a
process of re-adjustment in the already existing complex of `role sets’ on
each person’s traditionally-assigned status-set’. The working wife has
new expectations of ending her marital frustration and disappointment and
is struggle for the same. Society’s attitude in general is changing slowly
towards women’s due role and status, although the pattern of male
superiority in all fields is still a dominating factor. The women is still
considered to be inferior and the weaker sex, although theoretically she
has the right to divorce if her husband tortures her. There is still so much
of social ostracism attached to divorced women that she seldom dares to
have recourse to divorce on her own initiative, even when she is capable
of being economically and financially independent.
The position of women after independence has greatly impressed.
The authorities were correct in appreciating the need for the active
cooperation of women to have the way for national progress. Our
constitution accordingly lays down that our women shall have equal
opportunities with men in the fields of education, employment and social,
economic and political opportunities. They shall be entitles to equal wages
with men for equal work. They have also been given the right to seen
business, to take up progressive occupations and professions and enjoy the
right to note in the political field. While the position may still not have
improved in village communities, in urban areas womenfolk are today
enjoying high position in every walk of life. They are taking to all careers
which were previously the preserve of men like the police and Administrative Service. They hold executive and management posts. They
can become Ministers. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto remained Prime Minister
of Pakistan for long time.
Today Pakistani Women are trying to become economically self-
sufficient and do not want to be slaves to their husbands in the old style.
They have thrown overboard the purdah system. In Indian Sati system has
nearly abolished and now claim a share in the property. The women are
demanding more facilities for education and are farming very well in the
examination, sometimes topping in the Universities.
However, the position is still for from satisfactory. Literacy rate
among rural women is still very low. In some cases the girls are sold by
the parents like commodities against their will, in India.