If the non-tribal society suffers from gender problems, so does the tribal. Generally, the tribals have been studied from the perspective of a few popular problems such as economic backwardness, land alienation, social change, changing stratification and empowerment.
During the last five decades, development has also formed a vital part of tribal studies. K.S. Singh very rightly observes in People of India that Indian social anthropology has a rich literature on ethnography and development.
This is all commendable. But, the gender issues, as mentioned earlier, throughout the post-independent period, have been neglected. It could also be said that with the acceleration of tribal development, the gender issues have become more severe. Earlier, the tribal society was more or less egalitarian. If there was division of labour in the tribal society as is found in all societies, it was based on age and not sex. A Bhil would voluntarily grind the corn and fetch potable water.
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The women, on the other hand, kept vigil over the crops. It was an egalitarian society. But, with the increase in tribal development, the division of labour turned to gender basis.
The gender problem, therefore, is largely due to the new forces of development, social change and modernization.
It is urgent for social anthropology to study the gender issues which are manifest in tribal society. In this section, we shall try to throw some light on the tribal problems which result from discrimination of women by men.