Status of women

I will discuss some ways in which the Malankara church and Kottayam society treat women unequally. Women have very little say in church matters. The local community is very happy to keep talking about the various achievements such as the hundred percent literacy rate of Kottayam and some other metrics of economic and social success. The relatively better status of women when compared to some other parts of India is also repeatedly pointed out. However, there isn't much of an effort to turn the harsh light of scrutiny on some of the more unpleasant facts in the church lest it reveals some of the rot that lies underneath this society.

Women certainly have a lesser status in the Orthodox Church in Kerala. It is not just a question of "separate but equal". This is without even entering into the matter of ordination of women as priests which is not even on the horizon for a very long time ahead. I will restrict myself to the discriminatory dealings of the church with the laiety. In every aspect of separateness, there is inequality and in every aspect of inequality, women have a lower status than men. I will not even talk about the covert and unspoken forms of inequality and will restrict myself to actions that are overt. Everything is publicly done and young girls know what exactly their position will be when they grow up as do the boys. Children are expected to learn the ways of the church.

Even the symbolism is quite clear. Let's take the instance of what happens at the end of the service. People stream out in a single file past the priest who blesses them with a cross. In some churches, this is also the time when people contribute money to the church. When this happens, all the males in the church file by first, starting with the small boys, progressing to the teenagers and then the adults. Only after every single male has left, do the females start filing by, including the smallest of girls. The message sent by this to the boys and girls is very clear.

Women are supposed to have a voice in the the decisions of how the church is run. There is a steering committee that deals with the various aspects of running the church. While women run for political office in Kerala all the time, I'm yet to see a single women who ran for elected office in any church in the Kottayam area. The treasurer, secretary etc. are always men. Every so often there is a general body meeting, in which every adult member of the church is a entitled to speak. Sometimes disagreements on the issues of the church can get strong and acrimonious scenes may occur with people blaming each other. But, never in a single GBM, have I witnessed a woman stand up and speak on any issue. Are they supposed to be ignorant of the matters or do they simply not care even as the passionate discussions among the menfolk are getting out of hand? No, it is simply not a woman's place to speak in such gatherings.

Property rights for Christian women are still less than those for men. For an excellent write-up on practical inequality of property division when a property owner dies intestate (without leaving a will) see this link. This is despite the famous Mary Roy case of 1986 which resulting in the courts ruling in support of equal property rights for men and women.

All official communication between the church and its married members is addressed to the man. This is true even of an orthodox syrian church within the United States. Even if the man and woman live at different addresses, the woman "may sign up to receive the electronic newsletter if she likes", but nothing more. All discussions with the church authorities must be through the man.

The only forum in the church where women can have a voice is the "Mahila Samajam". No one else hears what's happening there!

Some discriminatory practices that might be shared with other churches: During weddings, among other things, the woman is asked to OBEY her husband. Clearly, this is not applied symmetrically to men. While in the church, women must cover their hair with the edge of their sari or some other piece of cloth. This is ostensibly to make sure everybody in church is focussed on the deity and not having sexual thoughts. The responsibility for avoiding this sort of transgression in thought has been placed entirely on the women.

Outside of the church too, but within the Kerala christian society there is a clearly an unequal status of women, but that is not the subject of this post.