The  idea  of  Westernization  seeks  to  liberate  the  political  implications  within  a  
nation,  as  well  as  the  individual’s  rights  as  a  human  being.  The  liberation  speaks  
of  an  equal  opportunity  and  rights  of  both  a  male  and  female  in  a  largely  
patriarchal  and  masculine  institution  in  society.  The  result  is  often  the  
emergence  of  the  working-­‐class  woman,  the  feminist,  the  thinker,  as  opposed  to  
the  uneducated,  the  oppressed  and  the  submissive  woman.  However,  in  the  
article  by  Chatterjee,  The  Nation  and  its  Fragments,  India’s  struggle  of  fending  off  
the  Western  ideas  imposed  by  the  Colonial  rule,  as  an  attempt  to  defend  their  
traditions,  birth  the  voice  of  women  in  a  different  perspective  than  that  of  the  
West.    
 
The  position  of  a  woman  in  a  “modern”  society  as  described  earlier,  is  an  
independent,  thinking  woman.  However,  Bengal’s  efforts  to  preserve  it’s  
tradition  within  the  community  battles  that  idea,  believing  that  the  woman  
should  be  the  centre  of  a  household  to  fulfill  and  preserve  the  spirituality  of  the  
home.  Colonial  rule  over  the  Indians  had  heavily  criticized  and  attributed  it  to  
the  religious  traditions  and  the  customs  that  it  sanctioned,  victimizing  and  
oppressing  the  women  in  the  country  in  the  process.  Colonial  rule  seek  to  “free”  
these  women,  not  realizing  the  cultures  and  traditions  of  the  country,  rendering  
such  an  effort  to  be  ignorant,  and  futile  amongst  the  community.  
 
Contrary  to  the  British  Colony  idea,  the  role  of  the  women  in  Bengal  is  a  
benevolent  one  in  the  eyes  of  traditions.  By  protecting  the  home  and  its  tradition,  
the  women  have  been  held  responsible  for  the  culture  of  the  nation.  For  a  
woman  to  be  Westernized  (Materialistic,  Self  centered,  careless  for  the  home)  in  
the  eyes  of  a  Bengali,  is  to  lose  the  spirituality  of  the  home,  and  thus  the  national  
culture.  By  selection  and  integration,  Bengal,  with  the  support  of  the  community,  
created  a  new  patriarchy,  and  the  new  women.  This  was  important  for  the  
middle  class  women,  as  it  meant  that  she  had  to  be  educated,  aware  of  politics  
and  it’s  environments,  and  yet  a  good  housewife.  Domesticated  as  she  may  be,  
she  is  not  to  be  ignorant  and  at  her  own  will,  decides  to  pursue  knowledge.    
 
Could  it  be  that  the  new  patriarchy  has  forced  on  these  “new  women”  a  choice  of  
being  respectable  or  looked  down  upon?  In  response  to  such  an  argument,  it  is  
important  to  observe  the  middle  class  women  of  Bengal  who  chose  to  be  
educated  and  pursue  knowledge,  seeing  it  as  freedom  and  a  sign  of  superiority  
over  the  Westernized  woman.  She  is  able  to  receive  education  and  at  the  same  
time  enable  her  nation  uphold  its  traditions.  Femininity  in  this  context  differs  in  
contrast  to  a  Western  idea  of  a  feminist.  She  is  free  to  work  outside  of  the  home,  
and  commune  in  the  daily  activities  outside  of  the  home,  but  she  must  never  
forget  the  benevolent  task  of  upholding  her  nation’s  cultural  identity.