Tori Biggs

Topic: Womens Status in India Compared to in the United States

Speech goal: I want to inform my audience about the different roles, challenges, societal
pressures, and statuses women in the United States and India face.
Thesis: Although, not many people are aware of the ways women are treated in United
States and in India, this essay digs deeper into the differences and similarities.
I.

Introduction
A. Attention Getter:
Not only are men seen as superior to women but also women are seen as
lower than second-class citizens, and for that they are treated like it.
Parents in India are petrified to have girls, considering the life challenges
they will have to face. The amount of rapes, kidnaps and abuse against
women in India is extremely skewed. Thankfully in the United States we
have a better legal system (still very flawed though) that determines what
rape and abuse is considered. In India many people never report rape or
abuse because of the societal pressures.
B. Credibility Statement:
The way that cultural norms change over time really interests me.
Especially how far women and feminism have evolved over time, and how
far they still need to go. I have read and studied about Women in India and
in the United states and have done multiple interviews with women who
have experienced the societal pressures first hand.
C. Thesis: Although, not many people are aware of the ways women are
treated in United States and in India, this essay digs deeper into the
differences and similarities.

II.

Body of Speech
A. Crimes against Women in India are dramatically increasing.
1. Due to the overpopulation of women in India, there have been cases
where baby girls are aborted and even killed after birth without the
mothers consent.
2.

Women of India are technically legal citizens, but because of the

men are not treated as so.
a. They are the ones expected to have the children and at the same
time do not get adequate health care, while expected to complete
laborious jobs on top of that.

b. The women of the house are the ones who put together dinners, but
can only eat after the men eat.
Transition: Now that Ive discussed how women are not treated as equal in the household
and crimes in India, I will now talk about how education is a reason why they usually do
not advance past household duties and how it comperes to the United States.
B. Even though the government allows girls to attend school with no
financial burden to their family until they are 14, only 39% of girls will
attend.
1. There are many reasons for this.
a. Majority of the schools teachers and students are males so an
educated girl can be looked at as a threat and cold be raped.
b. After their education, there is not much opportunity in the work
force, so parents think of it as useless.
c. The whole idea is for a girl to eventually be married off to a man,
and if she is spending more time getting educated and not learning
to clean, cook and take care of a family, she may not be wanted by
anybody.
2. Education in America over time has become increasingly more
important for women.

a. A long time ago women were seen as just homemakers even in

America. After World War II, many women had taken over their
husbands jobs and did not want to ever go back to just being a
homemaker again.
b. Thats when feminism in America really started to take off.
c. In 2012 it was reported that 25% fewer men graduate from college
than women. That is extraordinary, but there are still so many
things that need to be changed in America for women to have a
bigger voice.
Transition: Now that we have learned about the cultural norms for women being educated
in the United States and India, I will discuss how media shapes those norms.
C. Media sends the message that girls value is linked to their body in both
United States and India.

a. The media has created this unrealistic woman that is portrayed in our
everyday lives and because of this it skews the views and expectations
that men have for women.
b. This can be linked to the reason that women dont gain respect from
men because they are only seen as sexual objects and not looked at for
their intellectual capabilities.
c. Media even in cartoons make women into sex symbols, showing them
with very little clothes on and making them abnormally not
proportionally.
d. For example, the American and Indian Barbie dolls are not
proportional what so ever, and they would not survive if they were in
the physical world due to their unnatural bodies.
Transitions: Now that I have discussed how society portrays women, I will now discuss
the differences in marriage in the United States and India and how double standards play
a role tremendously.
D. Arranged marriages are the ideal way people get married in India, while in
the United States marriage is decided when they are in love.
1. Some believe how other countries get married because of love is the
reason why their divorce rates are so high.
a. Love marriages are seen as wrong, sinful and are shamed upon in
India.
2. Double standards are apparent in the United States and in India.
a. In India, women are expected to be pure before marriage and men
to almost go out and test drive before they are married.
b. Indian girls parents are stricter on daughters than on sons because
they will be giving her away to a man of the parents choice and
she needs to still be innocent.
c. Double standards are apparent in my everyday life here also.
Example when guys sleep around they are acclaimed for it, where
as a girl you get labeled as a possible slut.

III.

Conclusion
In conclusion, something has to be done to make us all more aware and
change the social norms society has created for women. Women are now
being educated about the social problems in India. Therefore they can educate
their children and be better role models. In addition women are allowed to
have a voice in public issues for sharing concerns that need to be taken care of
in their communitys. They just have to be willing to stand up for what they
believe in and not just be another statistic.
In the United States there are a large number of women that are standing
up for what they believe in. Women Above Society is an organization with the
objective of spreading the idea that women have the capability of doing
anything they put their minds too. Times are changing, and with that the
mindset that people have about society needs to change along with it.

References
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http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/US/IN
Jeffery, T. (2012). 25% Fewer Men Than Women Graduate College;
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Srinivasan, M. (2013). Differences on womens rights and choice between the
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Xu, B. (2013). Backgrounders. Retrieved from

http://www.cfr.org/india/governance-india-womens-rights/p30041