Question 5 Suggest reasons why women in nineteenth century India were obliged to continue wearing traditional Indian dress even when men switched over to the more convenient Western clothing. What does this show about the position of women in society?
Class 9 - Social science - Clothing: A Social History Page 178
Answers
We know that in India in the 19th century women continued wearing Indian dresses whereas man switched over to convenient Western clothing. Some of the reasons for this are given below:
a) In the 19th Century Indian women were confined to four walls of the house. In many places the purdah system was prevalent. Hence the women continued to wear traditional dresses.
b)The position of women in the society was not equal. Women work mainly expected to take care of the households.Most of them were illiterate and did not went to schools or colleges. Hence, there was no need to change the style of clothing.
c) The Upper class Indians mostly received western education and picked up many Western habits. The Businessman and civil servants copy the British style of clothing for the sake of comfort and modernity and self respect. Women were not employed and did not set up in the public places. Thus , there was no need of changing in the style of dressing.
So it is clear from the above examples that the men switched over to the more convenient Western clothing but the women continued their traditional dresses. This shows the lower position of the women in the society.
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Hope this will help you....
Explanation:
In the 19th century, Indian men switched over to more convenient Western clothing but women were obliged to continue wearing traditional Indian dress because they were bound by the traditions, customs and social values of India.