Kerala women on top, says state's economic review

[struggle4progress]

: Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 3 : Women have a better, safer and longer life in Kerala than in other parts of the country, said the latest economic review of the state government released Thursday.

The survey said the state's women had higher literacy, more access to money and a greater say in family matters.

Kerala, found the survey, had a sex ratio of 1058 females per 1000 males, much higher than the country average of 933. Females make up 16.37 million of the state's 31.84 million population.

The life expectancy of women in the state is 75.9 years compared to the 61.8 Indian average. <snip>

http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=68211

[aneerkoinos]

1. No surprise

Kerala was governed by Communist party for a long time. Don't know the current coalition.

[Bridget Burke]

2. Women have been on top in Kerala for a long time.

The "Nair" culture of Kerala, in the past, was as close to a "matriarchy" as ever actually existed. Women ruled the families, property was passed through the female line & polyandry was sometimes practiced. (I remembered this from an Anthropology course & looked up details.)

Some historical background here; it says the old system was outlawed early in the last century (hmmm--when India was still a British colony). www.kerala.cc/keralahistory/index14.htm

But the article at the top of the thread a current reality of strong women. Kerala's history includes many influences--from the Phoenicians to Communism; it has India's lowest birth rate & 100% literacy: www.greenglobetourism.com/kerala/kl_generalinfo.htm