Q. What is the status of Women in Hinduism?

A.  Hinduism that views God as both masculine and feminine (and neuter too), suggests the role of women hand in hand with her male counterpart. Femininity is worshiped in the forms of rivers, land, etc. Females have the right to perform worship as their male counterparts. There are many Vedic sages, philosophers of later day, poets queens and so on from the womenfolk. Gaargi was a very famous female seer of her time. If the male has the authority over the operations, the female commands the respect of the family. They do not compete but complement to form a better society. Quite naturally the wife is called saha dharmini or the companion in the dharma. Divinity in Hinduism is often represented as together in the masculine and feminine. Lord Rama is always shown with Devi Sita, Lord Krishna is always shown with Radha, Lord Shiva is always shown with Devi Parvati. There are sects in Hinduism that worship the divinity in the feminine in the form of Devi. There are many divine forms of feminine such as Durga, Kali, Laxmi, Chandi etc.