Walter Matthew Gallichan

“ The Hindu prefers the woman " robed in the long night of her deep hair." He looks upon red hair as abnormal among the women of his race, and the abnormal is often dreaded and disliked in other countries besides India. As the Hindus admire soft and silky hair, we can, in part, trace here the preju- dice against auburn hair, which is usually dry and coarse to the touch.
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Finally, Vishnu forbids marriage with a woman who "talks idly." ”

“ Seclusion," which is so repugnant to the Western woman's mind, is very different from the isolation of women in England. It is a seclusion in an atmos- phere of love, conjugal and parental. The lot of the English single woman is frequently one of loveless seclusion. ”

“ A man is forbidden to marry a woman of a lower caste. No woman hav- ing six fingers can be married, nor one having lost one of her limbs.
There is a curious prohibition against marriage with a woman of decidedly red hair. Light, or golden, hair is, of course, extremely uncommon among the dark- skinned races. The blonde is not fitted to survive in very hot countries, nor, it is said, in highly-civilised states. ”

“ No man can completely guard women by force; but they can be guarded by the employment of the following expedients : Let the husband employ his wife in the collection and expendi- ture of his wealth, in keeping everything clean, in the fulfilment of religious duties, in the preparation of his food, and in looking after the household utensils. ”

“ CHAPTER VIII HINDU WOMEN AND THE SACRED BOOKS THE position of women in all countries is largely determined by the teaching of the prevailing faith. In the monogamous Christian nations, the social and marital status of women is due chiefly to the precepts of St. Paul and the ascetic Fathers. Hindu women owe their position principally to the elaborate counsels and rules laid down by Vishnu and Manu. Indian sacred writings abound with the most explicit com- mands upon the relations of the sexes.
Manu fears woman as all men fear an overwhelming fascination. ”

“ Coomaraswamy would tell me that no clause in these codes mili- tates directly against the highest interests of women.
Woman everywhere, even in polyandrous tribes, is a subject of inhibitions, restrictions, and customs arising from her sex and her great office as mother. In England, as Tennyson wrote, she is " cramped under worse than South Sea isle taboo." Is woman more " cramped " in our Indian Empire ? The answer must be that, in some respects, women enjoy a better social and family standing in India than they do amongst ourselves. ”