empirical scholarship about Hindu society, states Rita Gross, makes one question whether and to what extent there is pervasiveness of patriarchy in Hinduism. Patriarchal control is real, and the Hindu society admits this of itself, states Gross, yet the Hindu culture distinguishes between authority – which men hold, and power – which both men and women hold. Women in the Hindu tradition have the power, and they exercise that power to take control of situations that are important to them. The Goddess theology and humanity in the Hindu texts are a foundation of these values, a form that isn't feminist by Western definition, but is feminist nevertheless, one with an empowering and self-liberating value structure with an added spiritual dimension that resonates with Hindu (and Buddhist) goddesses. Kathleen Erndl states that texts such as Manusmriti do not necessarily portray what women in Hinduism were or are, but it represents an ideology, and that "the task of Hindu feminists is to rescue Shakti from its patriarchal prison". Her metaphor, explains Erndl, does not mean that Shakti never was free nor that she is tightly locked up now, because patriarchy is neither monolithic nor ossified in Hindu culture. The Shakti concept and associated extensive philosophy in Hindu texts provide a foundation to both spiritual and social liberation. See also Durga Puja Women in India Bhakti movement Shaktism List of female Hindu mystics Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 Women in Buddhism Women in Sikhism Women in Judaism Women in Christianity Women in Islam Women in Mormonism Yoga for women Yogini References Bibliography Meenakshi Jain (2016). Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse, Aryan Books International. Kane P. V. ''History of Dharmasastra: ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law." Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona 1962 - 1975. Madhu Kishwar, Women Bhakta Poets : Manushi (Manushi Publications, 1989). ASIN B001RPVZVU. Madhu Kishwar."The Daughters of Aryavarta: Women in the Arya Samaj movement, Punjab." In Women in Colonial India; Essays on Survival, Work and the State, edited by J. Krishnamurthy, Oxford University Press, 1989. Majumdar, R. C. (2014). Great women of India. Kolkata : 2014. Editors : Swami Madhavananda, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar Russell R. R. "Gender and jewellery: a feminist analysis case study: Indian wife and widow jewellery.". Create Space, 2010. . Vasuda N., Sharma A. and Young K. K. (eds.) "Feminism and world religions: power in the Hindu tradition." SUNY Press, Albany, New York,