Week 6: Reading Diary A: The Female Perspective

As I continue to read The Ramayana I also continue to learn new things about the Indian culture, and I believe there is much to be gained from their culture that Americans and other cultures do not value. For one, the women in these epics are sometimes portrayed as being very supportive of one another. In today's society I feel that women too much of the time try to tear each other down, instead of lifting each other up. We face enough disadvantages, the last thing we need to do is busy ourselves with making each other fail. I feel that the epics are sexist, and I do not approve of most perceptions of women found throughout this epic, but that one I do. Buck states, "And as they left, behind Ravana's back his other wives, daughters of gods and of great kings, consoled Sita with their eyes." This to me is pretty cool. Instead of being jealous of one another and especially the woman who their master is begging to be his mistress, they support her and feel sympathy for her. That is beautiful. Now, there is SO much wrong with this picture that I cannot even comprehend it. For one, the fact that Ravana has hundreds, maybe thousands of wives, is disgusting. They all sleep on one another on the floor in his bedroom waiting to pleasure him. Nothing is mentioned of these wives except for their beauty, because that is all that matters, right? Secondly, his "Head Mistress" or whatever she is feeds him sips of wine as he goes to swoon another woman, begging to make her mistress. Then, when Sita rejects him she takes him back to his bedroom cooing the entire time. All of this is so wrong, and not what any woman today would do


Mandodari and Ravana
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