Saaria Sultan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Saaria Sultan

A lady is regarded well settled and complete in the Indian society only when she has her better-h... more A lady is regarded well settled and complete in the Indian society only when she has her better-half with her. On the other hand, if for any reason she is not staying with her husband or she loses her spouse to death, even then instead of sympathy the society holds her responsible for the misfortune. This society where women are worshipped in the names of Goddesses on one hand, while on the other it is said that paradise is under her feet, are kept out of religious ceremonies the reason being that they don't have a man by their side. 2. WIDOWS: Widows don't only suffer the loss of their spouse but they also get trapped into a life full of turmoil and transitions. Mastey (2009) described widowhood in India as a moment in a woman's life that is definitive and tragic, where the death of her spouse strips away her own identity. As these women are not very well educated due to low literacy rate in India, they are not left with many options in terms of occupation. Thousands of widows are disowned by their relatives and thrown out of their homes in the context of land and inheritance disputes. Their options, given a lack of education and training, are mostly limited to becoming exploited, unregulated, domestic labourers (often as house slaves within the husband's family), or turning to begging or prostitution (Bill I, 2006). Indian widows are often regarded as "evil eyes," the purveyors of ill fortune and unwanted burdens on poor families (UN Division for the Advancement of Women, 2000). Widows are still considered inauspicious, looked down upon and many a times shunned out of their homes, Vrindavan is a good example of this where widows reside trying to adjust with the wrath of the society. In scenarios like these, the persons sufferings tend to decrease as religious beliefs and practices leads to the formation of a cognitive framework that in turn strengthens the persons purpose and meaning to face the trauma (Pargament, 1997). Specific prayers, behaviours and funeral ceremonies are prescribed in all religious traditions in order to deal with death. This not only gives them a sense of belonging to a broader community but also comforts the mourners (Wuthnow et al., 1980). 3. DIVORCE: Divorce as an end to an unhappy union is becoming more acceptable. There is ample evidence which indicates that divorce is becoming less of a stigma and that couples as well as society are accepting that marriages can break. Studies show that it is mostly women who suffer physical and emotional abuse from their spouse and his family. Today's woman is no longer willing to tolerate any kind of physical and mental abuse and thus divorce is considered as a relief for them from an unfortunate relationship (Siganporia, 1993). From a large number of potential life events, divorce has been rated as one of the most stressful, with a large general impact on the life situation of those who experience it (Dohrenwend et al., 1978; Holmes and Rahe, 1967; Gahler, 2006). It is mostly women who post-divorce undergo the feelings of loneliness, depression and social rejection. Recent data shows that this scenario is fast changing and divorce rates are on an increase in India. A survey shows that over the past four years, the divorce rate in Delhi has almost doubled. Metro cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai are also showing similar trends. Kerala, known to be the state with the highest literacy levels has experienced an increase of divorce rate by 350% in the last 10 years 1. Women post-divorce tend to get less support Abstract: For a woman, losing a spouse either to death or separation, affects her mentally and emotionally leading to feelings of loneliness and many more. The physical presence of one's better-half gets completely lost and this affects women in many ways. The overall purpose of the present study is to comprehend the phenomenon of divorce and widowhood in Indian context and examine its impact on loneliness among women belonging to Hindu and Muslim community. The sample of the study comprised of 128 women (32 Hindu widows, 32 Muslim widows, 32 Hindu divorcees & 32 Muslim divorcees). The statistical measures of mean, SD and ANOVA were applied to analyse the data. The results revealed no significant difference among the groups regardless of their religious beliefs; except for the Muslim widows, who reported significantly lesser degree of loneliness.

A lady is regarded well settled and complete in the Indian society only when she has her better-h... more A lady is regarded well settled and complete in the Indian society only when she has her better-half with her. On the other hand, if for any reason she is not staying with her husband or she loses her spouse to death, even then instead of sympathy the society holds her responsible for the misfortune. This society where women are worshipped in the names of Goddesses on one hand, while on the other it is said that paradise is under her feet, are kept out of religious ceremonies the reason being that they don't have a man by their side. 2. WIDOWS: Widows don't only suffer the loss of their spouse but they also get trapped into a life full of turmoil and transitions. Mastey (2009) described widowhood in India as a moment in a woman's life that is definitive and tragic, where the death of her spouse strips away her own identity. As these women are not very well educated due to low literacy rate in India, they are not left with many options in terms of occupation. Thousands of widows are disowned by their relatives and thrown out of their homes in the context of land and inheritance disputes. Their options, given a lack of education and training, are mostly limited to becoming exploited, unregulated, domestic labourers (often as house slaves within the husband's family), or turning to begging or prostitution (Bill I, 2006). Indian widows are often regarded as "evil eyes," the purveyors of ill fortune and unwanted burdens on poor families (UN Division for the Advancement of Women, 2000). Widows are still considered inauspicious, looked down upon and many a times shunned out of their homes, Vrindavan is a good example of this where widows reside trying to adjust with the wrath of the society. In scenarios like these, the persons sufferings tend to decrease as religious beliefs and practices leads to the formation of a cognitive framework that in turn strengthens the persons purpose and meaning to face the trauma (Pargament, 1997). Specific prayers, behaviours and funeral ceremonies are prescribed in all religious traditions in order to deal with death. This not only gives them a sense of belonging to a broader community but also comforts the mourners (Wuthnow et al., 1980). 3. DIVORCE: Divorce as an end to an unhappy union is becoming more acceptable. There is ample evidence which indicates that divorce is becoming less of a stigma and that couples as well as society are accepting that marriages can break. Studies show that it is mostly women who suffer physical and emotional abuse from their spouse and his family. Today's woman is no longer willing to tolerate any kind of physical and mental abuse and thus divorce is considered as a relief for them from an unfortunate relationship (Siganporia, 1993). From a large number of potential life events, divorce has been rated as one of the most stressful, with a large general impact on the life situation of those who experience it (Dohrenwend et al., 1978; Holmes and Rahe, 1967; Gahler, 2006). It is mostly women who post-divorce undergo the feelings of loneliness, depression and social rejection. Recent data shows that this scenario is fast changing and divorce rates are on an increase in India. A survey shows that over the past four years, the divorce rate in Delhi has almost doubled. Metro cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai are also showing similar trends. Kerala, known to be the state with the highest literacy levels has experienced an increase of divorce rate by 350% in the last 10 years 1. Women post-divorce tend to get less support Abstract: For a woman, losing a spouse either to death or separation, affects her mentally and emotionally leading to feelings of loneliness and many more. The physical presence of one's better-half gets completely lost and this affects women in many ways. The overall purpose of the present study is to comprehend the phenomenon of divorce and widowhood in Indian context and examine its impact on loneliness among women belonging to Hindu and Muslim community. The sample of the study comprised of 128 women (32 Hindu widows, 32 Muslim widows, 32 Hindu divorcees & 32 Muslim divorcees). The statistical measures of mean, SD and ANOVA were applied to analyse the data. The results revealed no significant difference among the groups regardless of their religious beliefs; except for the Muslim widows, who reported significantly lesser degree of loneliness.