respect for ladies...

पूजनीया महाभागाः पुण्याश्च गृहदीप्तयः।

स्त्रियः श्रियो गृहस्योक्तास्तस्माद् रक्ष्या विशेषतः॥

महाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि ३८-११

स्त्रियः साध्व्यो महाभागाः सम्मताः लोकमातरः।

धारयन्ति महीं राजन्निमां सवनकाननाम्॥

महाभारते अनुशासन पर्वे ४३-२०

श्रियः एताः स्त्रियो नाम सत्कार्या भूतिमिच्छता।

पालिता निगृहीता च श्रीः स्त्री भवति भारत॥

महाभारते अनुशासन पर्वे ४६-२५

pūjanīyā mahābhāgāḥ puṇyāśca gṛhadīptayaḥ|

striyaḥ śriyo gṛhasyoktāstasmād rakṣyā viśeṣataḥ||

mahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi 38-11

striyaḥ sādhvyo mahābhāgāḥ sammatāḥ lokamātaraḥ|

dhārayanti mahīṁ rājannimāṁ savanakānanām||

mahābhārate anuśāsana parve 43-20

śriyaḥ etāḥ striyo nāma satkāryā bhūtimicchatā|

pālitā nigṛhītā ca śrīḥ strī bhavati bhārata||

mahābhārate anuśāsana parve 46-25

In our Indian culture, the Ladies were always treated with respect and affection verging of veneration by all.. especially by men..

Three quotes from the great epic Mahabhartam would stand testimony for this.

==============

In the Udyogaparava, Vidura tells Dhritarashtra

The ladies are deserving worship, they are the source of great fortune to the household, they are sacred, they are the source of light for the household. the ladies are called the source of wealth or verily the goddess of fotune shree itself.. there for they should be cared for an protected at any cost..

In the anushAsitka parva of Mahabharatham, where the elder statesman Bheeshma pitamaha is lying on the bed of arrows and is imparting lessons to Emeperor Yudhishtira on Dharma and statecraft, in the august presence of none other than Lord Krishna himself. the grandsire tells his Royal Grandson

The ladies are kind and chaste by nature, they are to be respected by all without exception, they are the source of all fortune, they are the mothers of all in the world, and it is their chastity and sincerity that is preserving this whole earth with its forests and jungles..

Again

Any person who is desiring the welfare for himself and all should protect and cater to all comforts of the ladies who are verily the embodiment of all the wealth and grace or verily the embodiment of the goddess of wealth and grace, Shree Devi herself. And when treated with great respect and care, every woman just transforms herself into Shree, the goddess of wealth herself..

================

Just quoted the above slokas to show that there was not much of gender inequality in India.. the traditional India

In fact, ladies were treated often at equal level with Divinity..

Of course, there must have been aberrations, and the base people might have turned the tables on the weaker section..

But that was not the defect of the social laws and systems

Maybe the gap between the ideal and the real got too wide..