While women in Kashmir have always been an active component of the society, but the fact remains that much of their social, educational and professional growth has seen a steady increase over the period of years and undeniably most of it can also be attributed to the benign patriarchal norms of the Kashmiri society. Barring the elite and clergy classes where the womenfolk lived an orthodox and sheltered life, often because they could afford such “non-visible” lifestyles (although there are exceptions); common Kashmiri women from middleclass and the lower strata’s have always been a part of a bustling social and economic scenario. Most of the women across the valley have always been engaged with the historic cottage industry of spinning (Pashmina and other famous yarns). This vocation was pursued within the confines of their homes, in tandem with tending to house and children, never leaving the premises except to procure raw material. Within the trader and artisan class there existed a unique form of gender equity, born of a complementary relation between the men and women as they pursued their family trade. While fisherwomen took care of selling the catch after men procured it, as the male bakers did the actual baking, women were responsible for selling. It is not unusual to find numerous eulogies to the unique contributions of the tradeswomen, tributes to their beauty, industriousness, and wit in Kashmiri literature and folklore are replete. In rural areas, women have always been counted as sturdy worker, tending farms, cultivating rice, and raising cattle. Other professions that women have been historically involved in are embroidering, carpet weaving, and vegetable vending besides being the traditional birth attendants as well. The recent years have seen an increase in visibility of women in professional fields, as well as a swift change in their conventional roles has come by.
There have been disparate attempts towards studying the multidimensional issues concerning the empowerment of women forced and catalyzed by the circumstances and situations prevailing in Jammu & Kashmir today, but the issues confronting women are yet to be addressed by the government in Jammu & Kashmir . These are the factors which have generated a perception that the overall picture of the emergence of women in Kashmir has been elusive.
While economy, globalization and media can be the factors responsible, the catalytic effects of the ills of governance on the lives of women cannot be negated. The failures of governance by all standards of understandabilities can “push women into the public sphere, nudging them to carve out a space for themselves and their humanitarian demands. There is indeed an apparent and tragic correlation between women’s increased participation in the workforce (from white-collar jobs and high-end careers. The absence of adequate financial resources are forcing hapless women into finding financial sustenance and other spaces of responsibility which were left gaping open in their small close-knit society. As more and more Kashmiri women are getting education and jobs, there are indications of a heightened clamor for their participation, as a new vision for addressing the issues concerning the empowerment of women has not been unfolded as yet. While on one hand women in Kashmir have become more visible in a deeply patriarchal society, but on the other hand they have rarely been the pivot of a sustained and constructive documentation and discussion in media or academia. There have been desperate attempts towards studying the multidimensional issues concerning the empowerment of women forced and catalyzed by the circumstances and situations prevailing in Jammu & Kashmir today, but the issues confronting women are yet to be addressed by the government in Jammu & Kashmir. These are the factors which have generated a perception that the overall picture of the emergence of women in Kashmir has been elusive.
