#india1400s

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Gender Roles: Similarly to many cultures, men dominated over women in many aspects of life in India. For example, parents would pray for a baby boy instead of a daughter for a son could, in theory, pass on the familial legacy. This was very prevalent throughout Indian history including the 15th century. The video above shows a women, wearing beautiful clothing with expensive jewels dancing in front of a group of men. This situation was extremely common in Indian culture especially in times where gender rights were non existent. Women were looked to as entertainment in some regions in India however in other parts women were strictly banned and confined into living only in a house. Another example of the unfair gender roles is in terms of arranged marriages. These unions are decided typically by the parents of the man and woman who will soon remarried off to someone. These situation of parading skills, as seen in the video, is a strategy used my many families with daughters. In a sense, these daughters would be trying to gain the attention and desire of a man. From that, a man may wish to marry that woman dancing solely based on her appearance. The current gender roles in India have been extremely saddening since couples want a baby boy instead of a girl, they are getting abortions whenever the fetus tests positive to being a female. These negative acts have been reducing the male to female ratio in India. There are far more males than females lowering the average amount of marriages per year. 

Gierstorfer, Carl. "Where Have India's Females Gone?" Pulitzer Center. 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/asia-india-new-delhi-rape-women-sex-ratios-culture-sons-education

Desai, Santosh. "The Logic of Arranged Marriage in India - Times of India." The Times of India. 15 Mar. 2009. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/santosh-desai/city-city-bang-bang/The-logic-of-arranged-marriage-in-India/articleshow/4268676.cms

"Umrao Jaan (2006) - Salaam (English Subtitles)." YouTube. YouTube, 8 Aug. 2007. Web. 06 Mar. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0rK7b-yJ1o