What does Hinduism teach about the roles of women?
In the Vedas there is no separate or discriminatory role for women. But almost all societies in the past have been male dominated and Hindu societies have been no exception. In the Smriti texts, particularly Manu Smriti, the role of women is often described as one of running the household, serving the husband and bearing his children, especially sons. In order to enforce this it was often projected as having divine sanction. The best thing that may be said about such thinking is that it may have been socially relevant at the time it was promulgated. Today most Hindus do not believe that such a role has been ordained by God and women today are moving towards equality, though perhaps not as fast as those in the west. Unfortunately some of the more conservative Hindus including women do believe that these roles have divine sanction.
