NEW DELHI: A majority of Indians completely or mostly agree with the notion that "a wife must always obey her husband" and support traditional gender roles, according to a recent study by Pew Research Center.
The report titled, How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society, was released on Wednesday and looks into how Indians view gender roles at home and in society. The report is based on a face-to-face survey of 29,999 Indian adults carried out between late 2019 and early 2020.
The survey revealed that nearly nine-in-ten Indians (87%) completely or mostly agree with the notion that "a wife must always obey her husband." This includes a majority of Indians (64%) who completely agree with this sentiment.
"Women are only modestly less likely than men to say that wives should obey their husbands in all situations, and most Indian women express total agreement with this sentiment (61% vs. 67% among men)," it said.
The study further showed that 56% of Indian adults 'completely agree' and a further 23% 'mostly agree' with the idea that "when there are few jobs, men should have more rights to a job than women".
The survey results, however, reflect a comfort with women in politics.
Most adults say that women and men make equally good political leaders (55%) or that women generally make better leaders than men (14%). Only a quarter of Indian adults take the position that men tend to make better political leaders than women, the study noted.
The report also highlighted that even though most Indians say that men and women should share some family responsibilities, many still support traditional gender roles.
When it comes to children, Indians are united in the view that it is very important for a family to have at least one son (94%) and, separately, a daughter (90%).
Most Indians (63%) say sons should be primarily responsible for parents' last rites or burial rituals, although attitudes differ significantly across religious groups.
Most Muslims (74%), Jains (67%) and Hindus (63%) say sons should be primarily responsible for funeral rituals, but far fewer Sikhs (29%), Christians (44%) and Buddhists (46%) expect this from sons and are more likely to say that both sons and daughters should be responsible for their parents' last rites.
Muslims are more likely than other Indians to support traditional gender roles in families, while Sikhs are often the least likely community to hold such views.
(With inputs from agencies)
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