Status of Women in Polyandrous Families in Tamil Nadu

The social structures cultural norms and value systems influence social expectations regarding the behavior of both men and women and determine women’s role and her position in society to a great extent. The most important of these institutions are the systems of descent family and kinship marriage and religious traditions. They provide the ideology and moral basis for men’s and women’s notions about their rights and duties. The normative standards do not change at the same pace as changes in other forms of social organizations brought about by such factors as technological and educational advance urbanization increasing population and changing costs and standard of living. This gap explains the frequent failure of law and educational policy to produce the desired impact on social attitudes (ICSSR- 1975). Indian society is always dominated by men which placed the women at second and lower rank. All classes of society in India suffer from many cramping customs and traditions both among the rich and the poor. Many social and religious evils i.e. child marriage prohibitions against widow remarriage dowry system purdah system sati custom etc. are common in Indian society.