Women have forever been shackled by tradition; and the story is the same the globe over, whether it’s in India or in the West. Though, when it comes to presenting grim examples of women being trampled in the name of ‘Customs and Traditions’, our country has perhaps always been in the headlines with its harrowing tales of bride burning for the sake of the damaging tradition of Dowry System, or the inhuman Indian tradition that has given a startling shake to the World Human Rights Commission - the increasing rate of female feticide, especially in rural India.
In the West too women were subverted in many ways though the picture was not as grim as it was in India. There was a strict compartmentalization between the womanly spheres of activities and the male activities and women were not allowed to enter the male domain. For instance, knitting, housekeeping, looking after children, culinary management etc were the woman’s zone and according to the Western traditions women were expected to stick to those alone.
However, time and again, there have been some brave and courageous women who decided to take a stand, and make a difference. These women went down in history, remembered forever for having defied the rules of the society and the traditions that were ingrained in them from childhood. Let’s remember three such brave women today, and salute their courage by finding out what made them so extraordinary.
Take a look into the Pages of History:
If we tread back in time, we can gather quite a few examples from the pages of history where women with their exemplary strength of character have defied traditions. However, we have chosen 3 women who left their mark on the world, and tried to explore what made them beat all odds and make a real difference.
#1 Jhansi ki Rani: An extraordinary warrior queen
Take for example the Jhansi ki Rani, Laxmi Bai. She is a great female figure, rather a feminist icon and martyr who wielded her sword defiantly as a protest against two forms of patriarchal domination: native as well as colonial. She was born into traditions where womanhood; i.e. giving birth to children, nurturing them, keeping within the periphery of the familial house and managing household affairs etc, were duly exalted. But in her case too traditions stood in the way for women to achieve true freedom. When it came to taking major decisions in matters of country and politics, men always ruled the roost.
Lxmi Bai’s real fervour was exposed only after the demise of her husband, Raja Gangadhar Rao. She became subjected to conspiracy and was denied the claim of her adopted child to the ruler’s throne. From that point of time in Indian history started her struggle which upheld before the world her unflappable womanhood. During that era our Country was being ravaged by various issues of gender injustice and was colonized by the British people as well. Even in such a scenario, Rani of Jhansi secretly received her trainings in sword play and scripture reading. These trainings helped her a lot in future and were her first step to defy tradition.
Her prominence as a female liberationist in the Indian anti-colonial movement was established with the vehemence she challenged British Doctrine of Lapse. But apart from fighting for her kingdom even after being a woman, this ‘daredevil wife’ of Jhansi defied traditions in other ways too. She fought against the traditional evil practice of Sati. She asserted that a woman should live even after her husband’s death. She also asserted that a woman too can rule an empire until her underage son or selected heir reaches the age to take over. Furthermore she fought for women’s right to join the battalion and don the soldier’s uniform.
In all these scenarios, she defied traditions a lot establishing the feminist doctrine quite confidently. Thus Jhansi ki Rani is often remember as an ideal feminist icon and that makes her an extraordinary figure in Indian history.
#2 Anne Frank: A young woman who still managed to leave her mark on the world
Anne Frank is another great personality who lost her life in the German Holocaust. She is known for her courage to defy the traditions related to Puritanism. She was a Jewish who suffered tortured by the hands of Nazis. She lived in hiding camps when Germany came under the rule of Nazis and they were trying to destroy the Jewish population altogether. There she contracted the contagious Typhus infection and lost her life at the young age of 15. Adolf Hitler and Nazis were typically racists. They wanted to exterminate Jews because they intended to make German inhabitants a typical ‘master race’. They considered Jews a serious threat to Germany’s strength and purity and thus planned to demolish all Jews.
Anne Frank was barely a woman, very young in age, and was still victimized during this holocaust. Yet she defied the puritan traditions courageously without fearing for her life, and that makes her extraordinary. She goes on to prove that age has nothing to do with courage; even the young can make a real difference and change the world.
#3 Queen Elizabeth I: The queen who changed world history
Queen Elizabeth I will always be remembered in world history as a woman who defied traditions quite noticeably. In her times, it was not easy for a woman to achieve monarchy and be on the throne because it was after all a world dominated by males and thus, she too had to encounter countless challenges.
In the era when Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne it was male primogeniture that mostly governed all laws pertaining to property arrangements plus succession to ruler’s throne. Asserting independent authority was not allowed to women at least in theory and they were considered thoroughly subservient to the male members of the family such as husband, father or brother. In such a social and political milieu, her accession to the throne was indeed a bold attempt on her part to defy traditions and she ruled England successfully for many years and was quite acceptable to her male subjects. This makes her extraordinary, as she was one of the few women who dared to break tradition and make the men of that era take real notice of women and their ability to do more than just household chores.
How could these extraordinary women beat the odds with their specific traits of character?
All the three women figures mentioned above had certain traits in their character that are common. Those are:
- • Strong determination
- • Intense Will power
- • Undaunted Spirit
- • Valour
- • Heroism
- • Limitless Capacity to suffer and yet remain unperturbed
So, these are some great women who defied traditions. The legacy they left behind still is a source of inspiration for many across the world, and we have a lot to learn from these women who dared to stand up for what they believed in, despite all the odds against them.
