Cover page should have:

1. Title of project:

2. Details of students
Name: _________________________________________________

Class XII SC/Com

Board Roll No. ___________________________________

3. School details.

Kashinath Lahiri Public School

SchoolNo: 15651
Rangapara, Burnpur
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Acknowledgement

This project gave us a golden chance for learning and self-development through cooperative
activities. I want to thank our respected Mr. Parijat Kusum Seal (English teacher) to whom I
owe especially for preparing this project based on ‘ GENDER STATUS & ROLES OF WOMEN IN INDIAN
SOCIETY’.

I do want to extend my heartfelt thanks to my friends, parents and others who helped me in
various ways to make a final draft of this work and submit the same to our school.

………………………………
Signature of the student
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this Project Report entitled ‘GENDER STATUS & ROLES OF WOMEN IN INDIAN SOCIETY’
submitted by ______________________________ Class XII Sc/Com, Roll No.______________
Registration No. ______________ Year_2021-22_ submitted class XII English Course during
the academic year 2021-2022 is a bonafide record of project work carried out under my
guidance and supervision.

……………………………
Signature of the Project Guide
Name: Parijat Kusum Seal
Designation: English Teacher
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Contents
Content Page
1. GENDER STATUS & ROLES OF WOMEN IN INDIAN SOCIETY 1
2. Gender norms: redefining the status of women in India
3. UNDERSTANDING THE GENDER ROLE OF WOMEN IN INDIA
4. Cultural indoctrination and social pressure
5. WHY ARE WOMEN'S GENDER ISSUES SO PERSISTENT
6. Resources/Bibliography.
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1. GENDER STATUS & ROLES OF WOMEN IN INDIAN SOCIETY

“The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women. There is no chance for the
welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved.
Woman has suffered for ages and that has given her infinite patience and infinite perseverance.
The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence. There is no hope of rise for that family or country
where there is no estimation of women, where they live in sadness.”

The above quoted lines, famously uttered by a 19th century Indian monk way before India woke up to its present status
of being an independent and recognised nation-state, addresses an insight which informs the development discourse all
over the world today.

The role and status of women in India is a very hot issue debated every day, as ever more women become
conscious of the inequalities they suffer from. All around the world, women are an untapped "resource" to
fight poverty and violence. Even though their potential has been proved time and again in difficult
circumstances, men have too often lost sight of it in times of stability.

The role of women in India's independence movement

India’s struggle for freedom is one such instance in history where women had stepped out of their regular roles as
home-makers, mothers and wives to shoulder the responsibility of sculpting the concept of a new nation amidst the
conflict between the people and the colonial state.
They have stood shoulder to shoulder with their men-folk to rally the masses to the cause, face bullets, picket shops etc.
The Constitution of the Republic of independent India did not disappoint this expectation and sure enough, women
found their rights consolidated on paper, in laws and constitutional provisions giving them equal rights to all aspects
defining a quality life.
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2. Gender norms: redefining the status of women in India

Before 2016, 70 years since independence – the situation stands such that reports indicate a dwindling tendency in
participation rates of women in the formal labour force and political participation of women being no more than 10%.
The National Crime Records Bureau has further recorded an alarming rise in the rate of crimes against women which
serve to only complicate any chance of improving the participation rates of women in various areas of society.
This unexpected turn of events despite a promising start to a national narrative of development demands a close look at
gender roles in the context of the society it is born of. Only in assessing gender roles and social attitudes to such gender
roles despite progressive laws can one possibly understand what has worked for India and what hasn’t. And most
importantly for that which hasn’t worked, “gender roles” can tell us “why” the situation has turned out that way. To
begin the discussion, let's first start by defining what “gender” is:
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3. UNDERSTANDING THE GENDER ROLE OF WOMEN IN INDIA

In India, where religious myths and traditional attitudes define virtues and vices and these in turn condition popular
imagination to form the social culture, that can barely be assessed in uniform terms.
However, a careful observation validates the fact that patriarchy has had an upper hand in most traditional norms
across the country. In this context, India with its sub-continental geographical expanse and unique patchwork of
regionally diverse cultures becomes a template for a special kind of gendered discrimination.
This discrimination brings together the different oppressive practices from different traditional communities to write
out a common low position for women which often go unquestioned due to selective “scripture-based” justification for
retaining order in communities. This form of discrimination has over time acquired the status of a norm, permeating the
overall cultural attitude towards determining claims of women at multiple levels, besides limits already being imposed
on production entitlements owing to the forces of globalisation.
The Human Development Report 2015, published by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) recorded
that women across the world undertake most of the unpaid housework and care giving work in their homes and
communities.
Due to a disproportionate workload in terms of care giving duties, women most often have less time for other activities
such as paid work and education. It is interesting to note that on an average 4.5 hours a day were devoted by men to
social life and leisure while for women, the number of hours was reduced to 3.9 in India.
Besides the lack of time faced by women after care giving activities to pursue income generating skills and active
careers, they also find themselves often subjected to a family imposed ideal.
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4. Cultural indoctrination and social pressure

Educated married women in urban areas have been found to be socially “wired” to bend to the pressures of their in-
laws and drop out of the labour force after marriage to give priority to their care giving duties at home. There are also
instances of women willingly leaving their jobs as they are conditioned to believe that housekeeping, child bearing are
their primary duties and roles.
Given that society is hostile to women who break the mould and rewrite their priorities on their own, conforming to the
code becomes the easier and thus the more frequently opted choice. It's often vital for those who want to maintain a
relationship with their own parents and family.
Work culture in India also adopts the same attitude and would rather fire young mothers or women with conservative
social norms than invest in arrangements such as:
1. Assisting them with more flexible work hours
2. Allowances for travelling or facilities for pick up and drop off
3. Building crèches or day care facilities for their employees' children

Fighting poverty: challenging the status of women in India

When thrown in a situation where she has to take important decisions affecting the well-being of her family, she is
extremely vulnerable to exploitative people. In terms of the prospect to take up employment somewhere to earn for
the family in dire situations, her lack of adequate skill set throws her into the clutches of the informal sector which
further fuels poverty in India.
The informal sector being largely unregulated, her quality of life and level of income varies according to the whims of
her employer. There have been instances where women have been lured by promises of work to the lairs of traffickers
and sold off. Instances of sexual abuse and cruel work conditions are also as much a reality for women trapped in the
poverty chains.

Gender issues at all levels of society

Life for the upper class women, educated women is different but no better. Despite their qualifications, what acts
against them is a threat to their security while working outside their homes, travelling to universities and colleges.
Right from jilted lovers seeking to teach their beloved a lesson for rejecting them through extreme means like acid
attacks and rape, harassment and molestation for stepping out and holding equal.
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5. WHY ARE WOMEN'S GENDER ISSUES SO PERSISTENT?

1. The role of the Indian family
Despite all the progressive ideals defining the concept of the nation, why do women still suffer from such social
attitudes? The answer surprisingly lies within the unit of an Indian family. In an Indian family, where there is a girl child
and a boy child, it is interesting to note the different set of values is taught from their very childhood.
The girl is taught to be more homely, timid, submissive, obedient and in certain cases even taught to dream only of
being a goodwife, mother and homemaker. Even in cases where she is given the chance to study further than school and
complete college or university, she is taught to prefer gendered stereotypes for careers like “teacher”, “nurse”, etc.
Though care giving services can empower women if they are trained adequately, the scope of choices for career is often
constrained by societal notions of what is “suitable” for a woman and what is not. The boy on the other hand has no
such fetters tying down his choices.

2. Different investments for boys and girls

The family invests more on the boy’s career and more on the girl’s future marriage. To build on further, children grow
up to learn in 99% of the cases that women are born to get married and go to their in-laws' place. With this comes the
notion of holding property and inheritance.
As the woman is to be married off to another as per societal norms, the family naturally makes it a point to make the
son the heir of inheritance and not the daughter. This naturally results in the girl being conditioned to believe that she is
a liability while the boy believes he has the right to stand for his claims as he will be the running the home in the long
run. Even though laws have been crafted to ensure that women get their due share, the case in reality is that very few
women are aware of the legislation and the need to stand for their right to security.

3. Women's right to security and ownership

Marriage and its aftermath spell a different kind of security issue for women in India. For most cases, particularly in rural
and semi urban areas, the marriage is a social ceremony, at times an economic contract between families with the bride
and groom having very little say in the entire affair. It isn't about them, it's about what their parents want.
There have been instances where the bride and groom have met on the very day of the marriage for the first time. After
marriage the woman often has to deposit all her jewellery and assets with her in-laws as she is not permitted to possess
her own bank account. There are instances where women have had to seek permission to visit the doctor.
For young girls, security again becomes the grounds on which they most often end up dropping out of school. The idea
of women symbolising the honour of the family makes the distance of the school from home a factor “threatening” the
honour in terms of increasing the chances of an unsupervised interaction of girls with a wider range of men leading to
chances of undesired relationships.
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6. REFERENCES / Bibliography
a. Human Development Report 2015, UNDP (United Nations Development Program)
b. Gender Discrimination & Social Norms in India, Poverty, Resource Equality and Social Policies
c. The Accumulated Effects of Poverty, Social Watch
d. The article's main photo "Woman in train" is courtesy of Nishanth Jois
e. Role & Status of Women in India: Issues & Challenges
f. https://www.restlessstories.com/poverties/status-of-women-in-india 19/20