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Social Status of Women in the 19th Century Tamil Society

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Post Graduate and Research Department of History, Vellalar College for Women, Erode-12, Tamil Nadu, India
  • 2Post Graduate and Research Department of History,Vellalar College for Women, Erode-12, Tamil Nadu, India

Int. Res. J. Social Sci., Volume 5, Issue (9), Pages 29-34, September,14 (2016)

Abstract

In Tamil Nadu, Women consist of fifty percent of the total population occupies a very low status in medieval and early modern society in Tamil. Lack of educational facilities, child marriages, prohibition of widow remarriages, prevalence of Devadasi system etc., were some of the social factors responsible for the low status and misery of women who were reduced to the position of glorified slaves. The women of weaker sections and low strata of society enjoyed comparatively more freedom since both husband and wife had to work to earn their livelihood, but their general condition was no better. Social barriers, Conservatism and female ignorance reigned supreme. Their economic position was pitiable. Therefore, the crusade for the emancipation of women became the first objective of the social reform movement, in the nineteenth centuries.

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