DHANA LAXMI

ASST. PROF.

UNIT – I: UNDERSTANDING GENDER

Gender: Why Should We Study It?

INTRODUCTION: The study of Gender aims at preparing the students to face new realities and set new
terms for interaction among young men and women. Often the young boys and girls are plagued by
anxieties and confusions about being male, about feminity, relationships, responsibilities, gender
identities etc. but there are hardly any places where these thoughts, fears, experiences or emotions are
recognized and openly or rationally discussed. An understanding of the gender issues will enable the
students to develop good inter-personal skills in the society as well as at the work places.
 Gender is the physical and / or social condition of being male or female.
 Different societies, different cultures, different generations have different ideas of gender.

The study of gender is essential for the following reasons:


The experience of gender is emotionally charged for everyone especially young adults.
 Being a man or a woman is a source of different kinds of pleasure and many positive emotions
 But growing up into a man or a woman can also be painful, confusing and a source of many
anxieties
 The experiences and emotions about the relationship between men and women are rarely talked
about.
 Girls and boys are segregated in the society while growing up. This makes gender a key axis of
inequality
 To obtain equal rights along with men, women had to fight against bias, discrimination and
violence in many spheres of life.
 Indian women were fortunate enough to get the right to vote in 1935 along with men. Women in
several other countries got it much later.

The post-independence “Status of Women Report” of 1975 showed shocking revelations:

- The condition of vast majority of women had deteriorated since independence

- There was a decline in sex ratio
- Women were excluded from newly created jobs
- The number of women in elected bodies was declining
- Rural girls dropped out from schools rapidly
- There was an increase in violence in families such as dowry deaths etc
- Women were subjected to sexual violence and custodial rape by the police and in
hostels.
- Women could rarely get justice because of the patriarchal attitudes present in law and in
the functioning of the courts

 This led to the formation of various women’s groups all over the country; some of the first ones
being Progressive Organization of Women formed by Osmania University Women students in
1973 followed by another organization in Hyderabad called the Stree Shakti Sanghatan in 1978.
 As a result, special laws were introduced to support the women fighting against violence. The
73rd amendment to the Indian Constitution in 2009, provides for the reservation of 1/3 rd of the
seats in village panchayats for women.
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ASST. PROF.

DEFINITION OF GENDER, BASIC GENDER CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

SEX: In general terms, "sex" refers to the biological differences between males and females, such as the
genetic differences. And hence, are anatomical (relating to structure of the body) and physiological
(relating to functions of living organisms). It is universal and mostly unchanging, without surgery.
GENDER a working definition of gender: People are born female or male, but they learn to be girls and
boys who grow into women and men. They are taught what the appropriate behaviour and attitudes, roles
and activities are for them, and how they should relate to other people. This learned behaviour is what
makes up gender identity, and determines gender roles.
Gender refers to the learnt roles, norms and expectations on the basis of one’s sex. It is a sociocultural
definition of a boy and a girl, of a man and a woman. Not only their responsibilities are set by the society
but also norms/values, dress codes, attitudes, opportunities, rights, mobility, freedom of expression,
priorities and even dreams are determined by the society. It varies from society to society and can be
changed.
GENDER EQUALITY: The state or condition that affords women and men equal enjoyment of human
rights, socially valued goods, opportunities and resources, allowing both sexes the same opportunities and
potential to contribute to and benefit from all spheres of society.
Example: A family has limited funds, and both daughter and son need new pair of shoes for the new
school year, but only one can get new shoes this year. If the family decides which child will get the new
shoes based on the child’s needs and not on the child’s sex, this is an example of gender equality.
GENDER ANALYSIS:

"Gender analysis is a method of identifying, analysing and understanding:

· Different activities of women, men, boys and girls (gender roles);

· relations between men and women (gender relations);
· patterns of women's and men's access to and control of resources.

"It is an important planning tool because it provides information on the 'gender map' and makes it possible
to plan. It gives information on

· who performs what activities and at what levels - household, community or national;

· who owns what resources;

· who uses what resources;

· who has ultimate control of the resources, at the different levels;

· which major environmental factors (culture, religion, politics, etc.) have critical influence, and may be
responsible for maintaining the system of gender differentiation and inequity.

"It is the identification of these which makes it possible for policy and project planners to identify the
different (or even common) needs of men and women.

GENDER AWARENESS: Gender awareness raising aims to promote and encourage a general
understanding of gender-related challenges, for instance, violence against women and the gender pay gap.
It also aims to show how values and norms influence our reality, reinforce stereotypes and support the
structures that produce inequalities.
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ASST. PROF.

Gender awareness raising plays an important role in informing women and men about gender equality, the
benefits of a more gender-equal society and the consequences of gender inequality.

GENDER EQUALITY vs. GENDER GENDER EQUITY

EQUITY GENDER EQUALITY
The state or condition that affords women and
men equal enjoyment of human rights, socially
valued goods, opportunities and resources,
allowing both sexes the same opportunities and
potential to contribute to, and benefit from, all
spheres of society (economic, political, social,
and cultural).
Example: A family has limited funds, and both
daughter and son need new pair of shoes for the
new school year, but only one can get new
shoes this year. If the family decides (and who
in the family decides?) which child will get the
new shoes based on the child’s NEED, and not
on the child’s sex, this is an example of gender
equality.
Justice and fairness in the treatment of women
and men in order to eventually achieve gender
equality, often requesting differential
treatment of women and men (or specific
measures) in order to compensate for the
historical and social disadvantages that prevent
women and men from sharing a level playing
field.
Example: Provision of leadership training for
women or establishing quotas for women in
decision-making positions in order to achieve
the state of gender equality.

IMPORTANT POINT! Equity leads to equality! Equity means that there is a need to continue
taking differential actions to address historical inequality among men and women and achieve
gender equality!

TRANSGENDER vs. TRANSSEXUAL

Transgender: refers to those Trans people who live permanently in their preferred gender, without
necessarily needing to undergo any medical intervention/s.

Transsexual: refers to people who identifies entirely with the gender role opposite to the sex assigned to
at birth and seeks to live permanently in the preferred gender role. Transsexual people might intend to
undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment treatment (which may or may not
involve hormone therapy or surgery).

GENDER MAINSTREAMING:
“Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of
any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a
strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men a n integral part of the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic
and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The
ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.”
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SEX vs. GENDER SEX GENDER

Biological characteristics (including Socially constructed set of roles and
genetics, anatomy and physiology) that responsibilities associated with being girl
generally define humans as female or male. and boy or women and men, and in some
Note that these biological characteristics cultures a third or other gender.
are not mutually exclusive; however, there
are individuals who possess both male and
female characteristics.
Born with. Not born with.
Natural. Learned.
Universal, A-historical Gender roles vary greatly in different
No variation from culture to culture or time societies, cultures and historical periods
to time. as well as they depend also on socio-
economic factors, age, education, ethnicity
and religion.
Cannot be changed, except with the Although deeply rooted, gender roles can
medical treatment. be changed over time, since social values
and norms are not static.
Example: Only women can give birth. Only Example: The expectation of men to be
women can breastfeed. economic providers of the family and for
women to be caregivers is a gender norm in
many cultural contexts.
However, women prove able to do
traditionally male jobs as well as men (e.g.
men and women can do housework; men
and women can be leaders and managers).
PRACTICAL POINT: At birth, the difference between boys and girls is their sex; as they
grow up society gives those different roles, attributes, opportunities, privileges and rights
that in the end create the social differences. Between men and women.

SOCIALIZATION: MAKING WOMEN, MAKING MEN

Socialization: The process through which society shapes and trains people to be social
individuals is referred to as socialization
 This training begins in the family for both boys and girls right from their childhood
 The training continues in schools through teachers, textbooks, games and other
activities.
 Both girls and boys are given training in correct forms of behavior, dressing etc.
 Girls are trained to be shy, soft and afraid and to remain silent even when attacked.
This is often regarded as preparation for marriage.
 Boys are trained to be rough, strong, dominating, fearless and emotionless. They are
taught to give preference to career success, sexual prowess and to exert control over
others.
 While girls receive most of their training from their mothers, boys learn about being a
man from friends and films.
 According to the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, Gender is not natural – it is
socially shaped.
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GENDER SOCIALIZATION
The most common agents of gender socialization—in other words, the people who influence
the process—are parents, teachers, schools, and the media. Through gender socialization,
children begin to develop their own beliefs about gender and ultimately form their own
gender identity. Gender stereotypes can be a result of gender socialisation.

Gender Socialization in Childhood

The process of gender socialization begins early in life. Children develop an understanding of
gender categories at a young age. Studies have shown that children can discern male voices
from female voices at six months old, and can differentiate between men and women in
photographs at nine months old. Between 11 and 14 months, children develop the ability to
associate sight and sound, matching male and female voices with photographs of men and
women. By age three, children have formed their own gender identity. They have also begun
to learn their culture’s gender norms, including which toys, activities, behaviors, and attitudes
are associated with each gender.

Because gender categorization is a significant part of a child's social development, children

tend to be especially attentive to same-gender models. When a child observes same-gender
models consistently exhibit specific behaviors that differ from the behaviors of other-gender
models, the child is more likely to exhibit the behaviors learned from the same-gender
models. These models include parents, peers, teachers, and figures in the media.

Children’s knowledge of gender roles and stereotypes can impact their attitudes towards their
own and other genders. Young children, in particular, may become especially rigid about
what boys and girls "can" and "cannot" do. This either-or thinking about gender reaches its
peak between the ages of 5 and 7 and then becomes more flexible.

Gender Socialization throughout Life

Gender socialization is a lifelong process. The beliefs about gender that we acquire in
childhood can affect us throughout our lives. The impact of this socialization can be big
(shaping what we believe we are capable of accomplishing and thus potentially determining
our life's course), small (influencing the color we choose for our bedroom walls), or
somewhere in the middle.

As adults, our beliefs about gender may grow more flexible, but gender socialization can still
affect our behavior, whether in school, the workplace, or our relationships.

Some accounts mentioned in the chapters and links:

 Mohana Krishna Indraganti's short film Ammayi, is based on Jamaica Kincaid's
"Girl".

 Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl":

'Girl' is a prose poem written by Jamaica Kincaid that was published in The New
Yorker in 1978.
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The only characters in 'Girl' are a mother and a daughter. 'Girl' is a somewhat of a
stream-of-consciousness narrative of a mother giving her young daughter advice on important
life issues and concerns. The poem is one long sentence of various commands separated by
semi-colons.
The advice consists of how to do certain domestic behaviors, including making
Antiguan dishes, as well as the more assertive points of being a respectable woman and
upholding sexual purity. There is a lot of discussion from the mother about how the daughter
must interact with people as well as how to behave in a romantic relationship with a man.
The daughter only speaks twice in the story. First she stands up for herself against one
of her mother's questions that turned into an accusation, and again at the end where she asks
her mother a clarifying question. It concludes abruptly with a rhetorical question from the
mother wondering if her daughter didn't understand how to behave based on everything she
was told.
 Mohammed Khadeer Babu’s “Bajji Bajji” is about a boy who wangles a smart deal
for the second hand notebooks that he will recycle and use. The reader chuckles at his
exploits, yet the story is also a testament to the large numbers of children who must routinely
pull together every resource to manage the demands of life and school. When in another story
he describes his family cooking and sharing a mouth-watering Sunday lunch of meat, it
dawns on us that the pleasure of eating meat is a well kept secret in the world of Indian
stories.

 Gogu Shyamala’s "Radam." Telugu original. "Raw Wound." English translation.

‘Raw Wound’ is a story about the oppressed condition of women who are forced to
become jogini by villagers. The tag of jogini may sound respectable, but these women are
considered the village’s common, sexual property. The protagonist’s parents ensure their
daughter does not have to suffer such the fate of becoming a jogini by smuggling her away to
school.

 Krishna Kumar, "Growing Up Male"

In the essay Growing up Male, Kumar suggests such a role for schools, "we need to
perceive the school in conflict with the community's code of socialization .…while the larger
social ethos offers stereotyped models of men's and women's roles, the school must insist that
adults working in it will not act in stereotyped or stereotyping ways".
The way out:
The author says that, while the world outside the school offers stereotyped models of
men’s and women’s roles in the society, the school should act as a counter-socializer. The
school’s media such as text books and other materials should teach its students the true
essence of sex roles in the society even if the school has to go against the society’s code of
socialization.
 First lessons in caste: BR Ambedkar from "A childhood journey to
Koregoan becomes a nightmare."

The present extract describes a journey undertaken in 1901 by the ten-year-old

Ambedkar and his siblings, from their residence in Satara to Koregaon, to meet their father,
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and the discriminatory behaviour they experience (for being untouchables of Mahar caste) en
route at Masur which makes their very journey appear impossible and dangerous.
 “How I Upstaged the Clevers of My Class” by Md. Khadeer Babu is a more light
hearted, yet thought provoking account of prejudices that a young boy faces in his village
school.

UNIT – II: GENDER ROLES AND RELATIONS

GENDER DISCRIMINATION DEFINED

Gender discrimination is unequal or disadvantageous treatment of an individual or group of

individuals based on gender. Sexual harassment is a form of illegal gender discrimination.

Gender discrimination can be treating an individual differently based upon his/her gender in
academia or extracurricular activities, academic programs, discipline, class assignments given
in a classroom, class enrollment, physical education, grading, and/or athletics.

EXAMPLES OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Sexual harassment can be based on an individual’s perception of the events in question.

Conduct (verbal and/or physical) that is based on sex or gender and that is not welcome can
constitute sexual harassment.

Grievance procedures consistent with the principles of due process have been developed and
implemented for faculty and staff, including Administrative and Professional employees, as
well as classified staff. Grievance procedures are available for students in the Office of the
Vice President for Student Affairs. Grievance procedures for faculty and staff are included in
the Faculty Handbook and the Staff Handbook. Both handbooks can be found
at http://www.langston.edu/faculty-staff/employment/human-resources/human-r....

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

If conduct is unwelcome, could be offensive to a reasonable person, and in fact is offensive to

someone complaining about certain physical and/or verbal acts, then the conduct may
constitute sexual harassment even if it was not intended to be offensive.

The following types of conduct may constitute gender discrimination:

• A faculty hiring only male graduate assistants

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• A professor giving higher grades to female students

• A coach allowing only males to play during an intramural game

Gender disparity still exists in India. Being born as women in the Indian society one has to
face gender discrimination at all levels. At the household level - females are confined to the
bounds of their household chores, raising children and looking after families, irrespective of
her education degrees or her job profile. At her workplace: women have limited access to job
opportunities and are paid less for the same work.

Education and learning opportunities: gender-wise literacy rates in India showcase the wide
gap that exists between men and women. As per 2011 census data, effective literacy rates
(age 7 and above) were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women. The main reason behind
parents unwilling to spend on girl’s education is the mind-set that educating women is of no
value as in the future they will only serve their husbands and the in- laws.
The Indian constitution provides equal rights and privileges for both men and women but still
majority of women across India doesn’t enjoy these rights and opportunities guaranteed to
them. This is because of a number of reasons.

Some of them are:

Poverty – This is the root cause of gender discrimination in the patriarchal Indian society as
the economic dependence on the male counterpart is itself a cause of gender disparity. A total
of 30 percent people live below the poverty line and out of this 70 percent are women.
Illiteracy - Gender discrimination In India had led to educational backwardness for girls. It’s
a sad reality that despite educational reforms in the country girls in India are still denied a
chance at learning. The mindset needs to be changed and people need to understand the
benefits of educating girls. An educated, well-read woman ensures that other members
especially the children of the house get quality education.
Patriarchal setup in our Indian society – Men dominate societal and family life in India,
this has been the case in the past ages and still continues to be practiced in majority of the
households. Though this mindset is changing with urbanization and education, still there is
long way to go for a permanent change in the scenario.

Direct discrimination

 An employer refuses to interview a candidate because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste.

This is direct discrimination in relation to caste.
 An employer fires a female employee after her marriage because he makes the
assumption that married women do not make efficient workers. This is prima facie direct
discrimination in relation to sex.
 A hospital hires only female nurses based on the assumption that women are more caring
than men. This is prima facie direct discrimination in relation to sex.
 A housing society advertisement offers apartments on rent to married couples. This is
prima facie direct discrimination in relation to marital status.
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 A university has a policy of conducting random security checks of student hostel rooms.
In practice, this policy is only invoked to check rooms of Kashmiri students. This is
prima facie direct discrimination in relation to ethnicity, descent and linguistic identity.

Indirect Discrimination

 An employer pays part-time workers at a lower hourly rate than full-time workers for
doing the same work. A majority of part-time workers in his establishment are women
but a majority of full-time workers are men. This is prima facie indirect discrimination in
relation to sex.
 A housing society only rents out apartments to persons with a Master’s degree. In the
relevant geographical area, persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes are substantially
less likely to have Master’s degrees compared with others. This is prima facie indirect
discrimination in relation to caste.
 A milk delivery company has a policy of not supplying milk to butchers. Most butchers
in that locality are Muslims. This is prima facie indirect discrimination in relation to
religion.

Harassment

 A schoolboy, who refuses to play sports, is called a 'sissy' by his teacher. This is
harassment in relation to gender identity.
 A co-worker sprinkles 'holy water' on a machine previously operated by a colleague
belonging to a scheduled caste to 'purify' it. This is harassment in relation to caste.

Boycott

 A khap panchayat orders villagers to stop all interaction with the families of a couple
who belong to different religions. This is boycott in relation to religion-cum-marital
status.

Segregation

 An employer operates separate canteens for upper-caste Hindus and all others.
 A Hindu boy is threatened with violence unless he breaks off his romantic relationship
with a Muslim girl.
 An adult consenting couple, walking hand in hand in a park, is set upon by a mob which,
on discovering that they are not married, forces the woman to tie a rakhi on the man's
wrist.
 A young woman has her movements restricted and monitored by her family because she
is seen at a cinema hall in the company of a young man belonging to the same gotra as
herself.
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STRUGGLES WITH DISCRIMINATION:

Compared to the general population, gender-diverse kids face drastically increased rates of
bullying, assault, depression, school drop-out, drug abuse, self-harm and suicide. A 2009
report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network paints a grim picture. Nearly
90 percent of transgender youth surveyed had experienced verbal harassment at school
because of their gender expression. Two-thirds expressed feeling unsafe at school; more than
half experienced physical harassment. A quarter experienced physical assault. Most of these
incidents were never reported to school officials.

Students in the study who experienced high levels of gender-identity harassment were more
likely to skip school for safety reasons and to have significantly lower grade-point averages
than their peers who experienced little to no harassment.

Gender Diversity: Words You Should Know

Sex
Either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living
things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions.

Gender
The state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural
differences rather than biological ones).

Assigned Gender
The gender a baby is given upon birth, usually based on the child’s birth sex.

Gender Identity
How we feel about our gender in our hearts and minds.

Gender Expression/Gender Presentation

How we show our gender to the world through external choices (e.g. dress, behavior,
hairstyle).

Cisgender
Describes a person whose birth sex and gender identity align.

Birth Sex/Biological Sex

A specific set of genetic, chemical and anatomical characteristics that we are either born with
or that develop as we mature.

Binary Gender
The faulty concept that there are only two genders: male and female.

Genderqueer
A broad descriptor many people use to indicate a person does not identify as either male or
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female.

Transgender
Describes anyone whose gender identity and birth sex do not align. The word should be used
as, “transgender,” not “transgendered.” For example, “My brother Sam is transgender. His
birth name was Samantha.”

Preferred Personal Pronouns

In addition to the traditional pronouns (he/him, she/her, they), some people prefer to use
gender-neutral pronouns, such as ne, ve, ze/zie and xe. If you don’t know a student’s
preferred personal pronoun, it’s always best to ask.

The Humiliating Practice of Sex-Testing Female Athletes

For years, international sports organizations have been policing women for “masculine”
qualities — and turning their Olympic dreams into nightmares. But when Dutee Chand
appealed her ban, she may have changed the rules.
The tests were meant to identify competitors whose chromosomes, hormones, genitalia,
reproductive organs or secondary sex characteristics don’t develop or align in the typical
way. The word “hermaphrodite” is considered stigmatizing, so physicians and advocates
instead use the term “intersex” or refer to the condition as D.S.D., which stands for either a
disorder or a difference of sex development.

Scientists are trying to unravel the complex biological breakdowns of gender, and as they
learn more, it’s becoming more apparent there aren’t just men and women among us.

The scientists discovered the XX and XY cells that differentiate between genders can actually
behave in different ways. When scientists took a closer look, they found not all people have
cells that contain the same set of genes. Instead, it’s more like a mosaic of different unevenly
divided sex cells, which biologists have taken to calling “mosaicism.” Although it’s a rare
condition that only affects about 1 in 15,000 people, it still leaves an unidentified population
of society outside of the familiar dichotomy.

Dutee Chand, is one of the most fastest woman sprinters India has ever produced.

She won India’s sprint title in 2013, but the following year, weeks before she was to run at
the Commonwealth Games, the sport’s governing body informed her she was permanently
banned from competition unless she had surgery or took other medical steps to alter her body
chemistry. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that she had
failed a test for hyperandrogenism (the latest iteration of gender verification) because her
natural testosterone level had been ruled too high for her to be considered a woman.

Ms. Chand was by all accounts mystified – she had not even known that gender testing
existed. When the South African runner Caster Semenya faced a similar controversy in 2009,
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her country stepped up to defend her and filed a human rights complaint with the United
Nations. India, however, did not seem prepared to fight for Ms. Chand.

Last year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed with Indian athlete Dutee Chand's
contention that hormone testing for females was discriminatory and ineffective.

It suspended the tests, allowing Chand and other "hyperandrogenic" athletes, including South
African Caster Semenya, to compete.

Hyperandrogenism is a medical condition characterised by excessive levels of androgens (the

male sex hormone) in the body. It is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive-
age and a majority of patients also have polycystic ovary syndrome.

Manabi Bandyopadhyay:

Manabi Bandyopadhyay took charge of Krishnanagar Women's College in West Bengal's

Nadia district. She is the first transgender person in the country to be appointed the Principal
of a college. On 9 June 2015, Manabi Bandyopadhyay took charge of Krishnanagar Women's
College in West Bengal's Nadia district. She is the first transgender person in the country to
be appointed the principal of a college.

Gender roles are sets of behavior, roles and responsibilities attributed to women and men
that the culture defines as appropriate for men and women. Thus gender roles include
behaviors and choices that are associated with being male or female.

Our cultural beliefs reinforce what is seen to be acceptable behavior of males or females. This
includes what we do, what we like and how we behave. The various Socializing agents
include parents, teachers, peers, religious leaders, and the media.

Gender roles are reinforced at the various levels of the society imbibing norms and values
through socialization process, household structure, access to resources, specific impacts of
the global economy, and other locally relevant factors3

Although deeply rooted, gender roles can be changed over time, since social values and
norms are not static.

MISSING WOMEN: SEX SELECTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Sex Ratio / Overall Sex Ratio: The sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population.
In most sexually reproducing species, the ratio tends to be 1:1.
In India, the Child Sex Ratio is defined as the number of females per thousand males in the
age group 0–6 years in a human population. In the Population Census of 2011, it was
revealed that the population ratio of India was 940 females per 1000 of males.

Causes for Decline Sex Ratio:

The main reasons for a decreasing sex ratio in India are:
 Selective terminations of pregnancy, and female infanticide.
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 Abortions are legal in India, but determining the sex of the foetus is not. But
finding a doctor or a sinologist who's willing to tell you the sex of the foetus is ridiculously
easy.
 A third factor is that female babies are more likely to be undernourished,
resulting in disease and death.

The underlying reason is basically that a girl is seen as a liability -

1. She will get married and leave the house, so cannot be counted for support in your old
age
2. You have to pay a huge dowry (although this is illegal in India, the practice isn't
uncommon)
3. Needs to be protected much more - so makes it difficult for both parents to work (i.e.
somebody needs to be at home with the girl to make sure she is safe)
4. Much higher chance of bringing disgrace to the family if something goes wrong.

DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES

India has a lot of social problems, and female foeticide is the perhaps the most depressing
one. This is a very tough issue to tackle. The difference might look small in the chart, but that
is 30-40 Million girls missing.
Simply put, there aren't enough girls in our country, and this will have a wide variety of
problems in the future when the 0-19 age group moves on to the 25-39 age group. It is going
to screw up productivity, fertility ratios, and the country as a whole.

Social Consequences of a Skewed Sex Ratio:

A skewed sex ratio may instead be making the lot of women worse. Sociologists say it
encourages abuse, notably in the trafficking. Reports circulate of unknown numbers of girls
who are drugged, beaten and sometimes killed by traffickers.

Men, especially if poor and from a low caste, suffer too. Women in India are sometimes
permitted, even encouraged, to “marry up” into a higher income bracket or caste, so richer
men find it easier to get a bride. The poor are forced into a long or permanent bachelorhood;
a status widely frowned upon in India, where marriage is deemed essential to becoming a full
member of society. Poor bachelors are often victims of violent crime.

GENDER SPECTRUM: BEYOND THE BINARY

The gender spectrum perceives gender as having many options; it is a linear model, ranging
from 100% man to 100% woman, with various states of androgyny in between.

Two or many?
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Let’s see an example: When we meet a new-born baby, most of us ask the same question: boy
or girl? Often, the answer is easy. Often, but not always.
Boy or girl?

When we meet people for the first time, we look for gender cues in a way so automated we
don’t even know we’re doing it.

Long hair, Dress, Makeup = Female.

Short haircut, Broad shoulders, Well-built body = Male.

Then someone different from both of the above walks into the room, and everything we
thought we knew about gender flies out the window.

Gender may seem simple, but the myths surrounding this concept mask its true complexity.
Experts who work with youth and gender issues tell us the two most common myths are
these: First, gender is binary, offering only two options; second, gender and sex are the same
thing. Summed up, the myth goes like this: Every person is either male or female, and the
distinction is based on that person’s anatomy.

For most kids, birth sex and gender identity match. This population is referred to as
being cisgender. But in some cases, children’s gender identity—how they feel about
themselves—differs from their biology. Some kids know their gender identities and birth
sexes don’t match almost as soon as they begin to talk. For some it is as simple as wishing to
swap one gender for another—“I was born a girl, but I’m really a boy.” For others, their sense
of gender exists somewhere between male and female, at various points along what is known
as the gender spectrum.

The terminology used to describe these identities is vast and evolving. Gender
nonconforming and transgender are common terms. Increasingly popular are such phrases as
gender independent, gender creative, gender expansive and gender diverse.

UNIT – III: GENDER AND LABOUR

HOUSEWORK: THE INVISIBLE LABOUR

The society which we live in believes that the roles of boys and girls are different in a
well-defined manner. Broadly speaking, our societies are mostly patriarchal i.e., a male is
always the head of the family. As compared to boys, girls spend more time in the kitchen and
they are the ones who help the mother in taking care of the requirements of the household.

It is a preconceived notion that women who stay at home do not work, but it is not true.
Women who stay at home do almost an equal amount of work as compared to their male
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counterparts by running the household, which is not an easy task. On an average, women
spend more time working as compared to men.
Housework is invisible and unpaid work, is physically demanding and is time consuming.
Invisible here means something which is not noticed. A good example will be breakfast in the
morning, which we eat without realizing the amount of effort put in making it.

Physically demanding means something which requires hard work. An example of this is
washing clothes.

Time consuming means something which takes a long time to be done. Cleaning the house is
an example of this:

Since our society considers men to be the breadwinners of the family, any work that a woman
does is not valued much because it does not contribute to the total income of the family.
However, it must be noted that the amount of time women spend in taking care of the
household, which involves tasks such as preparing three meals, getting kids ready for school,
taking care of the general cleanliness of the household, managing rations, dealing with maids
or other such domestic helps etc., and the effectiveness with which they do it is truly
commendable.
The poem “Vantillu” by Vimala is the story of the poet’s mother and all mothers and
mothers’ mothers. It tells us how modernity brings a fancy kitchen with modern gadgets and
points out that there has been no change in women’s lives.

Abburi Chaya Devi expresses the difference between an academic feminist vision and the
material reality for modern women in her famous story “Srimathi Udyogini”.

Judy Brady's "I want a wife"

At some point in our lives, we have wanted to have someone else do things for us. These
things range from doing chores and tasks, such as laundry and cooking, to just keeping us
satisfied in life, dealing with our mental, physical, social, and sexual needs. In Judy Brady’s
essay, “I Want a Wife”, she explores why she would like to have a wife.
Judy Brady's purpose of the essay, "I Want a Wife", is to show women how men think, act,
and feel. She being a feminist wants to show how men truly think of woman, that when they
get what they want men set women aside for bigger and better things. Not only that but she
wants to let the world know that she is fed up with everything that she is doing and wants to
switch roles where she is the husband. Brady wants to have the satisfaction of not having to
do those household things. Brady writes this essay in the 1st person, she is writing as the man
who wants a wife. She makes a list of the responsibilities that a typical woman from the
1970's would have.
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WOMEN’S WORK: ITS POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

“My mother does not work”. In country after country, this expression is heard each
time someone describes a woman not engaged in paid employment. None of the family
enterprises would run if women refuse to shoulder the responsibility of the
household. Whether women have a paid job or not, they all do the housework, as it is seen as
a woman's duty.
Employment and social security policies disregard women's labour at home. Women
are sentenced to dependence on husbands and fathers and to housework. Neglect of women’s
contribution to our economies as homemakers or care-givers has a common sense-like
acceptance. In India, claims for a non-earning woman’s accident or death are often of
negligible value.
As daughters, siblings, wives or mothers, women are mostly employed in full-
time work that involves household chores, and production of goods and services not sold
in the market and so on. They also perform a swathe of care-giving work besides the
rearing of children. The major difference between this work and paid employment is
financial compensation. Some women work from home, i.e. their work is home based
work and some others work part time.
Many women across the employment spectrum in India drop out of paid work once
they have children. In case of earning women, their wages are often seen as supplementary or
supportive wage for the family. Working women also carry the burden of housework and
childcare. It is vital that this burden is taken away from them with the formation of childcare
centres at work and new social security policies.
Gender pay gap in India refers to the difference in earnings between women and
men in the paid employment and labor market. For the year 2013, the gender pay gap in India
was estimated to be 24.81%. A report by the World Economic Forum highlights that in the
corporate sector in India, a woman is paid only one-third of what a man in the same position
is paid.
Further, while analyzing the level of female participation in the economy, this report
slots India as one of the bottom 10 countries on its list. Thus, in addition to unequal pay, there
is also unequal representation, because while women constitute almost half the Indian
population (about 48% of the total), their representation in the work force amounts to only
about one-fourth of the total.
If trade unions see women as members with equal rights, they need to fight against
conditions that prevent women from having work or a social life and that make their work at
home invisible.
Men, the state, trade unions and society need to accept that housework exists and has
market value. It has to be shown that women who work outside of the home and then also do
the housework are doubly exploited.
It is vital that equal work brings equal pay, that childcare centres are opened at work
places and trade unions, that jobs with trade union membership, social security and guarantee
are demanded, and that the principle of the social state is defended against neoliberal politics
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Men today do a higher share of chores and household work than any generation of
men before them. Yet working women, especially working mothers, continue to do
significantly more.
Each week, mothers spend nearly twice as long as fathers doing unpaid domestic
work. But while it’s important to address inequality at home, it’s equally critical to
acknowledge the way these problems extend into the workplace. Women’s emotional labor—
which can involve everything from tending to others’ feelings to managing family dynamics
to writing thank-you notes—is a big issue that’s rarely discussed.

GENDER MAINSTREAMING
Gender mainstreaming is the process of ensuring that gender is considered at all times, both
within agencies (institutionally) and programmes (operationally). As these are closely
interlinked, gender mainstreaming must be implemented both institutionally and
operationally to be successful.

The concept of gender mainstreaming was first proposed at the 1985 Third World Conference
on Women in Nairobi, Kenya. The idea has been pushed in the United Nations development
community.

Gender mainstreaming has been defined by the United Nations as “the process of assessing
the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or
programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and
experiences of women as well as of men an integral dimension of the design, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal
spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The
ultimate goal (of mainstreaming) is to achieve gender equality”.

There are different approaches to gender mainstreaming:

Institutional perspective: The ways in which specific organizations adopt and implement
mainstreaming policies. This will often involve an analysis of how national politics intersects
with international norms and practices.
Discursive perspective: Queries the ways in which mainstreaming reproduces power relations
through language and issue-framing. This approach will often involve looking at documents,
resolutions and peace agreements to see how they reproduce the narratives of gender in a
political context.

A good practice example of gender mainstreaming could be actions which lead to a positive
change in:

 Policies;
 Strategies / approach;
 Advocacy efforts;
 Legislation;
 Research and other analytical work;
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 Statistics- greater sex disaggregation, improved gender analysis of data, or identifying

gaps in the data base;
 Development of indicators and improved monitoring;
 Medium-term plans and budgets;
 Procedures and processes.

A good practice example could also document positive organizational changes necessary to
promote gender mainstreaming, such as:

 Competence development on mainstreaming;

 Establishment of a gender unit or focal point with a clear mandate and necessary
resources to promote and support mainstreaming;
 Indication of management commitment to mainstreaming;
 Establishment of accountability mechanisms;
 Development of guidelines, manuals, and other tools to support mainstreaming:
 Establishment of a resource base of relevant gender equality expertise for
mainstreaming.

GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

The concept “development” is gender invariant. It is considered to be the manifestation of
progressive realization of the capabilities, abilities and talents of each individual for
his/her own satisfaction and enhancement of social goods.

Amartya Sen in his book Development as Freedom stated that development consists of
the
removal of various types of freedom namely deprivation, destitution and oppression
and overcoming these problems is a central part of the exercise of development.

Gender equality is considered to be essential for growth and poverty reduction, and it is
the
key in reaching Millennium Development goals, especially through empowering women.
Women are increasingly seen as active agent of change, the dynamic promoters of social
transformation that can alter the lives of both women and man.

However, in developing world, women suffer disproportionately from poverty and its
related ills, such as malnutrition, poor health and illiteracy. This phenomenon came to be
known as Feminization of Poverty.

The persistence of gender inequality is strikingly revealed by Amartya Sen in his concept
of Missing Women, missing in the sense of being dead as a result of gender bias in the
distribution of health care and basic necessities of life.

More deadly manifestation of Gender inequality is reflected in the ‘Violence against

Women’. Physical violence in the form of blows of various intensity, burns, attempted
hanging, sexual abuse and rape; psychological violence-insult, humiliation, emotional
threats etc. are ever-increasing phenomena.

In many cases cultural and social factors are observed to be interlinked with the
development and propagation of violent behaviour. However, no society can make
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any claim of development in case one half of its population- the women section of the
society- continues to live in the shackles of socio-economic exploitation, suppression
and domination.

GENDER DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

1. Access to Education
A 2013 report by UNESCO found that 31 million girls of primary school age were not in
school, and about one out of every four young women in developing countries had never
completed their primary school education. That number represents a huge pool of untapped
girl power: that same report suggests that educated women are more likely to get married
later, survive childbirth, raise healthy kids, find work, and earn more money, among other
positives.

2. Employment Opportunities
Even in a country as wealthy and developed as the US, women still experience major
inequality in the workforce. Globally, the gender gap is even wider: women earn only one
tenth of the world’s income despite working two thirds of the total work hours . Empowering
women to earn their fair share could benefit their entire communities in a big way: women
are likely to invest more of their money back into their families and communities than men
typically do.
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3. Reproductive Health & Rights

225 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for family planning,
contributing to 74 million unplanned pregnancies and 36 million abortions every year.
Helping women take charge of their baby-making reduces unsafe abortions and maternal
deaths by over 70% each, and conserves precious resources that would otherwise have gone
toward pregnancy-related costs.
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4. Maternal Health
The World Health Organization estimates that 800 women die every day from
preventable, pregnancy-related causes. That’s nearly 300,000 lives per year needlessly lost
during what is fundamentally a life-creating event.

5. Gender-based Violence
1 in 3 women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes, according to WHO.
Whether it’s domestic abuse, rape, or sexual trafficking, gender-based violence denies far too
many women the opportunity to live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives.

6. Child Marriage
An estimated 140 million girls will become child brides between 2011 and 2020. Girls who
marry before age 18 are typically denied an education, at risk of complications related to
premature childbearing, and more vulnerable to intimate partner violence.
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7. Water & Sanitation

When clean drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities are in short supply, women
and girls suffer most. Case in point: Girls whose schools lack proper bathrooms will
often skip school during their menstrual periods for fear of embarrassment or stigma. It’s
also true that women in developing countries are frequently tasked with fetching water,
which can be a time-consuming process. As my colleague Christina pointed out, the girls
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and women of the world have much better things to do with their time than shuttle
buckets around.

8. Gender Equality

Equality (or the lack thereof) is a recurring issue when it comes to women and girls,
whether it’s unequal access to schooling for girls in developing countries, or unequal pay
for women in the workplace. In a world where 95% of countries are led by a male head of
state, it’s clear that we as a global community have a long way to go before women are
given a fair shake.

UNIT – IV: GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

Introduction
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. ...
Furthermore, violence often has lifelong consequences for physical and mental health and
social functioning and can slow economic and social development.

Violence is a global phenomenon resulting in the deaths of more than 1.6 million people each
year, making it one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

Defining violence
As a result of violence being such a complex phenomenon, there is no clear definition for it.
Therefore, it is often understood differently by different people in different contexts - such as
those from different countries, cultures, or belief systems.
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While no standard definition of violence has been established, it is important, when

developing effective prevention strategies, to have a clear understanding of violence and the
context in which it occurs.

WHO definition of violence

“The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another
person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of
resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.”

Categories and types of violence

On the basis of the WHO’s definition of violence, an elaborate “typology of violence” has
been developed that characterises different categories and types of violence, as well as the
links between them (allowing for a holistic approach to intervention).
It divides violence into three broad categories according to who the perpetrators and victims
are of violent acts:
Self-directed violence refers to violent acts a person inflicts upon him- or herself, and
includes self-abuse (such as self-mutilation) and suicidal behaviour (including suicidal
thoughts, as well as attempted and completed suicide).
Interpersonal violence refers to violence inflicted by another individual or by a small group
of individuals. It can be further divided into two subcategories:

 Family and intimate partner violence – violence largely between family members
and intimate partners, usually, though not exclusively, taking place in the home. This
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includes forms of violence such as child abuse, intimate partner violence and abuse of
the elderly.
 Community violence – violence between individuals who are unrelated, and who
may or may not know each other, generally taking place outside the home. This
includes youth violence, random acts of violence, rape or sexual assault by strangers,
and violence in institutional settings such as schools, workplaces, prisons and nursing
homes.

Collective violence can be defined as the instrumental use of violence by people who identify
themselves as members of a group – whether this group is transitory or has a more permanent
identity – against another group or set of individuals, in order to achieve political, economic
or social objectives. This can manifest in a number of forms, such as genocide, repression,
terrorism and organised violent crime.
By looking more closely at the nature of acts of violence, these three categories can be further
divided into four, more specific, types of violence:
Physical violence is the intentional use of physical force, used with the potential for causing
harm, injury, disability or death. This includes, but is not limited to: scratching, pushing,
shoving, grabbing, biting, choking, shaking, slapping, punching, hitting, burning, use of a
weapon, and use of restraint or one’s body against another person.
This type of violence does not only lead to physical harm, but can also have severe negative
psychological effects – for example, if a child is frequently a victim of physical violence at
home, he or she can suffer from mental health problems and be traumatised as a consequence
of this victimisation.
Sexual violence involves a sexual act being committed or attempted against a victim who has
not freely given consent, or who is unable to consent or refuse. This includes, but is not
limited to: forced, alcohol/drug-facilitated or unwanted penetration, sexual touching, or non-
contact acts of a sexual nature. A perpetrator forcing or coercing a victim to engage in sexual
acts with a third party also qualifies as sexual violence.
This type of violence can also lead to physical harm, and in most cases has severe negative
psychological effects too.
Psychological violence (also referred to as emotional or mental abuse) includes verbal and
non-verbal communication used with the intent to harm another person mentally or
emotionally, or to exert control over another person.
The impact of psychological violence can be just as significant as that of other, more physical
forms of violence, as the perpetrator subjects the victim to behaviour which may result in
some form of psychological trauma, such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress
disorder. This includes, but is not limited to:

 expressive aggression (e.g., humiliating and degrading),

 coercive control (e.g., limiting access to things or people, and excessive monitoring of
a person’s whereabouts or communications),
 threats of physical or sexual violence,
 control of reproductive or sexual health,
 and exploitation of a person’s vulnerability (e.g., immigration status or disability).
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This not only leads to mental health problems, but also to severe physical problems, such as
psychosomatic disorders.
Neglect, or deprivation, is a type of abuse which occurs when someone has the
responsibility to provide care for an individual who is unable to care for him- or herself, but
fails to do so, therefore depriving them of adequate care. Neglect may include the failure to
provide sufficient supervision, nourishment, or medical care, or the failure to fulfil other
needs for which the victim cannot provide themselves.
Neglect can lead to many long-term side effects such as: physical injuries, low self-esteem,
attention disorders, violent behaviour, physical and psychological illness, and can even result
death.
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE (GBV)

Gender based violence (GBV) is violence targeted at individuals or groups on the basis of
their gender. While research suggests that a significant proportion of women worldwide will
at some point in their lives experience GBV, the extent to which men and boys are affected is
unknown. An associated form of violence is Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG),
which is directed specifically at females.

GBV is often divided into two interlinked categories, interpersonal and structural/institutional
violence. Interpersonal violence refers to an act of economic, sexual, psychological or other
violence perpetrated by an individual against another individual. Structural/institutional
violence refers to ‘any form of structural inequality or institutional discrimination that
maintains a person in a subordinate position, whether physical or ideological, to other people
within her family, household or community’ (Manjoo 2011). Both types involve the
prioritisation of hegemonic masculinities above the rights of other gendered identities,
including women’s.

GBV is manifested through a multitude of actions, including forced marriage of young girls,
trafficking in persons, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), female infanticide, male
rape, purdah, violence directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals,
sexual violence, verbal abuse and laws and regulations that limit women’s and girls’ rights
and access to services in relation to men’s. These practices are not only violations of the
human rights of the individuals affected, but are also an instrumentalist approach to sustain
the status quo and the hierarchy of gender identities. Women living in poverty are particularly
vulnerable, as they face high levels of structural violence, including difficulty accessing
health and legal services needed to address the effects of interpersonal GBV.

Costs and consequences of GBV

Gender-based violence has significant impact at the individual level, with victims suffering
from physical and mental effects, loss of earnings and increased healthcare costs. It also has a
wider societal impact, including lower productivity and thus reduced economic output and
growth, and increased pressure on social and health services. Quantifying the cost of GBV in
terms of human suffering and economic indicators is difficult: its hidden nature makes
prevalence hard to establish. A number of methodologies have been developed, each of
which offers both strengths and weaknesses, and these need to be assessed on a case by case
basis.
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Female infanticide
Female infanticide is an extreme form of GBV, encompassing actions such as aborting
female foetuses and killing girl babies. This practice is particularly common in India and
China, where millions of girls and women are now ‘missing’ (ActionAid and IDRC, 2008).
Parents in these countries are under pressure to produce male heirs to guard the family line.
Families tend to see their girl children as burdens, particularly if dowry is required.

Harmful traditional practices

Harmful traditional practices (HTPs), such as female genital mutilation/cutting, early and
forced marriage, polygamy and purdah, are practiced in many communities. These practices
are primarily directed at girls and women. HTPs stem from deeply entrenched social,
economic and political structures, and are tools used to control the lives of girls and women,
limiting their independence and future opportunities. While associated with patriarchal
norms, both women and men carry out HTPs. Women’s participation in these practices must
be viewed within the social convention which dictates that these practices must be followed
to be part of the community. Women and girls themselves may therefore opt for, or put their
children through, these practices despite knowing the risks. Not doing so would mean a
lifetime of stigma and rejection by the community.

Domestic violence
Domestic violence is primarily thought to affect women, girls and boys, although men are
also victims. Forms of domestic violence can include physical violence, sexual violence,
economic control, and psychological violence. Prevalence is difficult to assess because of
significant underreporting among both male and female victims. Domestic violence is a tool
to assert control in the household, but certain risk factors have been identified which increase
the likelihood of victimisation. Children who grow up witnessing domestic abuse are more
likely to become victims themselves (girls) or perpetrators (boys). There are also some links
between low self-esteem among women, often related to low socioeconomic status, young
age and low education levels, and victimisation. Male substance abuse has also been
identified as a trigger factor for domestic violence. In some societies, such as in South Asia,
extreme cases of domestic violence include acid attacks, resulting in burns that can be fatal.

Sexual violence
Sexual violence is perpetrated by and against both men and women. It is a strategy used to
assert power over the victim and to cause long-term suffering for the victim by turning an
experience that should be associated with pleasure into one associated with harm. While
research has shown that sexual violence against women perpetrated by men is widely
practiced, less is known about the prevalence of sexual violence perpetrated against men and
women’s roles as perpetrators.

Human trafficking
Trafficking in persons is defined by the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons as ‘the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by
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means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of
deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving
of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another
person, for the purpose of exploitation’. Human trafficking is a gendered form of violence. It
is estimated that 55-60 per cent of victims are women and a further 17 per cent girls, while
men and boys make up 10 per cent of victims, although patterns differ between regions
(UNODC, 2012). Most trafficking is for sexual exploitation and prostitution, where women
and girls are the main victims. Other forms of trafficking include forced labour, factory work,
begging and forced marriage. Perpetrators of trafficking include both men and women, with
studies showing that women dominate or play an important role in trafficking networks in
some regions (Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Nigeria).

Addressing Gender-based Violence

Addressing gender-based violence (GBV) is not only a human rights principle: states that
have ratified CEDAW also have a legal responsibility to address GBV to the best of their
capacities (referred to as the due diligence standard). To date, addressing GBV has taken
multiple forms, including: legislative and criminal justice responses, measuring incidence and
costing of GBV, awareness raising, women’s empowerment programmes, community-based
social norm programmes, and health-based interventions. Initiatives to work with men and
boys to change their perceptions around women and gender equality have also been tried.
While initial evaluations suggest that including men and boys shows promising results, this
continues to be a controversial issue among feminists, who fear that it will divert resources
away from women and girls.
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SEXUAL HARASSMENT: SAY NO!

Eve teasing is a euphemism used throughout South Asia for public sexual harassment or
molestation (often known as "street harassment") of women by men. Stalking and its impacts
on the Society:
A popular category of Eve teasing is stalking. The general definition of Stalking can be
described as repeated harassing or threatening behaviour by an individual, such as following
a person, appearing at person’s home, person’s workplace, making harassing phone calls,
leaving written messages or objects or vandalizing person’s property.
Eve Teasing: Sections 294 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) prohibit any individual or
group of people pass any kind of offensive comment or execute any such gesture towards a
girl of any age
Films Make Sexual Harassment A Joke
We as moviegoers often consume and laugh at sexual harassment without even
noticing it. The harassment here functions as part of the scenery, more or less unaddressed
and is purely atmospheric.
Further reading: "Chupulu"
Chupulu, a poem translated as 'looks' or sometimes 'stares', written by Jayaprabha, is a
poem about the male gaze. It begins with the poet-personal describing the assault of stares
she endures daily and ends with the poet hoping for the day when women can return the
stares and reclaim public spaces for themselves.

Stares (Chupulu)
– Jayaprabha
Looks / from two eyes
Dart like needles / Roam freely on flesh.
The looks never / Look into the face
The words never come from the heart
They crawl on the body like white ants
Disgust every time I see them.
Those eyes / Belong to a million classes
But their looks are all the same.
Only one signal / In those looks
Hunger like a salivating dog’s
An ugly bear-fist / Chases you even in dreams
No difference between day and night
In this thick forest / No place at all
To escape these looks
On the road / In buses, classrooms
Behind your every step
Wounding
Some part of the body / Looks tipped with poison
Keep pricking you
Frightened / I
Want to disappear
Into the distant sky, into emptiness
But
Escape is no solution
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So I began to teach my eyes / The sharpness of thorns

To fight those poison looks
Now to chase away those eyes
I fight with my eyes / Timid eyes which
Cannot look straight / For two seconds
Run to the underworld
A day will come
When women in this country have
Thorns
Not only in their eyes
But all over their bodies.
The above is a poem about how insensitive men are and how uncomfortable they make
women feel by staring at them, scanning through them ruthlessly. As a female, all of us have
gone through this ‘ordeal’ of being stared at without any mercy. The Blank Noise Project
may have had their way and stared right back at these animals but isn’t there a better solution
to this than just stare back? Why do what they are doing? I am all for staring back; in fact I
think it is one of the best ways to punish these gentlemen. But I have always wondered if
there was a better way of dealing with this.

As a woman, my blood literally boils when I see a man staring right at me. It happens
everywhere, all the time. In buses especially, the men just have nothing to do. In spite of us
staring back at them, they continue staring at us. It just makes me want to hold them by their
collars and give them a piece of my mind. When are they going to learn? What is going on in
their minds? What do they get out of staring at us?

It is just plain insanity. Why can’t a girl or a woman be able to walk on the road without
being stared at? How much ever we try to fight against latching, it is not going to stop. It is
their eyes after all. They can look where they want to. There is not much we can do about
that. We can sit all day and all night and talk about etiquette and every other possible thing.
And these guys would have stared the life out of a hundred other girls by then.
Being a girl may not be the easiest task in this world because you are constantly under the
scanner not just by people who know you but also strangers. The one thing I would like to do
is extend a request to all the male members of society and tell them to do their bit to make us
women feel at least a little more comfortable in our own skin.

Sexual harassment: Considered a problem related to delinquency in youth, it is a form

of sexual aggression that ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in
public places and catcalls to groping. Sometimes the severity of these incidents grew as well,
in some cases leading to acid throwing.
Sexual harassment by strangers, as with any type of harassment, has been a
notoriously difficult crime to prove, as perpetrators often devise discreet ways to harass
women, even though Eve teasing usually occurs in public spaces, streets, and public
transport.
This behaviour is sometimes referred to as a kind of "little rape". Some people warn
women to avoid attracting the attention of these kinds of men by wearing conservative
clothing. However, this harassment is reported both by the conservatively dressed Indian
women and by the modern women including women in foreign countries.
The problem first received public and media attention in the 1970s. In the following
decades, more and more women started going to college and working independently,
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meaning that they were often no longer accompanied by a male escort as had been the norm
in traditional society. In response, the problem grew to alarming proportions, despite this not
being the case in other cultures where women go and come as they please. Soon the Indian
government had to take remedial measures, both judicial and law enforcement, to curb the
practice. Efforts were made to sensitize the police about the issue, and police started rounding
up Eve teasers. The deployment of plain-clothed female police officers for the purpose has
been particularly effective. Other measures taken in various states by the police were setting
up of dedicated women's help lines in various cities, police-stations staffed by women, and
special police cells.

Also seen during this period was a marked rise in the number of women coming
forward to report cases of sexual harassment, due to changing public opinion against this
practice.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: SPEAKING OUT

Domestic violence is abuse that happens in a personal relationship. It can happen
between past or current partners, spouses, or boyfriends and girlfriends. Domestic violence
affects men and women of any ethnic group, race, or religion; gay or straight; rich or poor;
teen, adult, or elderly. But most of its victims are women. In fact, 1 out of 4 women will be a
victim at some point.
The abuser may use fear, bullying, and threats to gain power and control over the
other person. He or she may act jealous, controlling, or possessive. These early signs of abuse
may happen soon after the start of the relationship and might be hard to notice at first.
After the relationship becomes more serious, the abuse may get worse.

 The abuser may begin making threats, calling the other person names, and slamming
doors or breaking dishes. This is a form of emotional abuse that is sometimes used to make
the person feel bad or weak.
 Physical abuse that starts with a slap might lead to kicking, shoving, and choking over
time.
 As a way to control the person, the abuser may make violent threats against the
person's children, other family members, or pets.
 Abusers may also control or withhold money to make the person feel weak and
dependent. This is called financial abuse.
 Domestic violence also includes sexual abuse, such as forcing a person to have sex
against her will.

When Women Unite: The story of an Uprising” by Shabnam Virmani

It recreates a piece of history that took place in Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh,
India, between 1992 and 1995. Arrack, a type of country liquor, was being manufactured by
the government and supplied to the villages through middlemen. Since arrack was easier to
obtain than water, the village men were staying intoxicated and becoming more and more
abusive to their families. The women of the villages in Nellore District rallied and got the
government to stop the sale of arrack in the villages.
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THINKING ABOUT SEXUAL VIOLENCE

What should you do if you're being abused?
It's important to get help. Talk with someone you trust, such as a friend, a help center, or your
doctor. Talking with someone can help you make the changes you need.
Your first step is to contact a local advocacy group for support, information, and advice on
how to stay safe.

Here are some other things you can do:

 Know your legal rights. Consider asking the police for help.
 Make sure that you know phone numbers you can call and places you can go in an
emergency.
 Teach your children not to get in the middle of a fight.
 If you think you may leave, make a plan to help keep you safe. This will help when
you are getting ready to leave.
 Your plan might include:
 Putting together and hiding a suitcase of clothing, copies of your car and house
keys, money or credit cards, and important papers, such as Social Security cards and birth
certificates for you and your children. Keep the suitcase hidden in your home or leave it with
friends or family or at work if possible.
 Open a savings account or get a credit card, if you can do so in secret.
 If you are a teen, talk to a trusted adult, such as your parents, family friend, or
school counsellor.

DIVORCE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

Domestic violence affects millions of households each year. Over the past several decades,
every state has enacted laws to protect domestic abuse victims. Many laws specifically
address how domestic violence or other abuse affects court decisions in divorces.

I fought for my life:

Sohaila Abdulia is an Indian born author and journalist who currently lives in the U.S. In
1980, at the age of 17 she survived a violent gang rape in India. Faced with a gang of violent
men, Sohaila makes a choice to survive. Three years later she wrote about her experience in
the Indian magazine, Manushi.
She has researched and given numerous public talks on issues of sexual violence. She’s
Senior Editor at Ubuntu Education Fund, an international NGO working with children in
South Africa. Her website is www.sohailaink.com

THE CASTE FACE OF VIOLENCE:

Bhanwari Devi (also spelled Bahveri Devi) is an Indian dalit social-worker from Bhateri,
Rajasthan, who was allegedly gang raped in 1992, by higher-caste men, angered by her
efforts to prevent a child marriage in their family. Her subsequent treatment by the police,
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and court acquittal of the accused, attracted widespread national and international media
attention, and became a landmark episode in India's women's rights movement.

UNIT – V: GENDER AND CULTURE

GENDER AND MEDIA
Introduction
Media play important roles in society. They report on current events, provide frameworks for
interpretation, mobilize citizens with regard to various issues, reproduce predominant culture
and society, and entertain (Llanos and Nina, 2011).

Media and Gender refers to the relationship between media and gender, and how
representations of the different genders are created for by the mass media.

As such, the media can be an important factor in the promotion of gender equality, both
within the working environment (in terms of employment and promotion of female staff at all
levels) and in the representation of women and men (in terms of fair gender portrayal and the
use of neutral and non-gender specific language).

Gender bias in media

 Many magazines have sexualised images on the cover of women.

 These days’ media try to attract its audience with the images of women with little
clothing, sexual expression, body language and gestures.
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 Media are teaching people and children that these things are what is important instead
of actual important things going on in the world.
 Men and women are constantly being sexualised on different forms of media eg, bike
ads, perfume ads.
 One in five experts interviewed by media are women. Women are frequently
portrayed in stereotypical and hyper-sexualised roles in advertising and the film
industry, which has long-term social consequences. And 73% of the management
jobs are occupied by men compared to 27% occupied by women.

Participation and influence of women in the media

Studies have found that although the number of women working in the media has been
increasing globally, the top positions (producers, executives, chief editors and publishers) are
still very male dominated (White, 2009). This disparity is particularly evident in Africa,
where cultural impediments to women fulfilling the role of journalist remain (e.g. travelling
away from home, evening work and covering issues such as politics and sports which are
considered to fall within the masculine domain) (Myers, 2009). The Global Media
Monitoring Project (GMMP) reports that throughout the world, female journalists are more
likely to be assigned ‘soft’ subjects such as family, lifestyle, fashion and arts. The ‘hard’
news, politics and the economy, is much less likely to be written or covered by women.

The level of participation and influence of women in the media also has implications for
media content: female media professionals are more likely to reflect other women’s needs
and perspectives than their male colleagues. It is important to acknowledge, however, that not
all women working in the media will be gender aware and prone to cover women’s needs and
perspectives; and it is not impossible for men to effectively cover gender issues. Recent
research from 18 disparate countries shows that male and female journalists’ attitudes do not
differ significantly (Hanitzsch & Hanusch, 2012). Nonetheless, the presence of women on the
radio, television and in print is more likely to provide positive role models for women and
girls, to gain the confidence of women as sources and interviewees, and to attract a female
audience.
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Media content and portrayal of men and women in the media

Fair gender portrayal in the media should be a professional and ethical aspiration, similar to
respect for accuracy, fairness and honesty (White, 2009). Yet, unbalanced gender portrayal is
widespread. The Global Media Monitoring Project finds that women are more likely than
men to be featured as victims in news stories and to be identified according to family status.
Women are also far less likely than men to be featured in the world’s news headlines, and to
be relied upon as ‘spokespeople’ or as ‘experts’. Certain categories of women, such as the
poor, older women, or those belonging to ethnic minorities, are even less visible.

Stereotypes are also prevalent in every day media. Women are often portrayed solely as
homemakers and carers of the family, dependent on men, or as objects of male attention.
Stories by female reporters are more likely to challenge stereotypes than those filed by male
reporters (Gallagher et al., 2010). As such, there is a link between the participation of women
in the media and improvements in the representation of women.

Men are also subjected to stereotyping in the media. They are typically characterised as
powerful and dominant. There is little room for alternative visions of masculinity. The media
tends to demean men in caring or domestic roles, or those who oppose violence. Such
portrayals can influence perceptions in terms of what society may expect from men and
women, but also what they may expect from themselves. They promote an unbalanced vision
of the roles of women and men in society.
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Participatory community media

Participatory community media initiatives aimed at increasing the involvement of women in
the media perceive women as producers and contributors of media content and not solely as
‘consumers’ (Pavarala, Malik, and Cheeli, 2006). Such initiatives encourage the involvement
of women in technical, decision-making, and agenda-setting activities. They have the
potential to develop the capacities of women as sociopolitical actors. They also have the
potential to promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media and to
challenge the status quo. In Fiji, women who took part in a participatory video project
presented themselves as active citizens who made significant contributions to their families
and communities. These recorded images improved the status of women in the minds of
government bureaucrats.

We strongly believe in the transformative role media can play in achieving gender equality in
societies. By creating gender-sensitive and gender-transformative content and breaking
gender stereotypes. By challenging traditional social and cultural norms and attitudes
regarding gender perceptions both in content and in the media houses.

Few recommendations on the Status of Women:

 To recognize the crucial role of media in achieving gender equality in all domains by
creating gender-sensitive and gender-transformative content and breaking gender
stereotypes.
 Media should lead the way towards gender equality through gender-sensitive and
gender- transformative content. For this we need coherent policies, rules, and
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mechanisms on all levels, starting with national media policies and media industry
self-regulation.
 Safety of female media workers needs to be a key priority for Member States and the
media industry. A culture of safety needs to be created and effective mechanisms for
complaints and redress need to be put in place.

Just Relationships: Being Together As Equals

Truly Just Relationships are those relationships which are just i.e. they have justice
and equality in them.
 True friendship or love allows each other to feel comfortable, to be themselves and to
pursue their goals, dreams and passions
 True friends stand by us through the darkest moments of our life
 True love or friendship has no place for jealousy, domination, violence, cruelty,
vulgarity or misbehaviour.
 The behaviour of the present day heroes, in our Indian films, on the name of love and
heroism, is unfortunately sending wrong signals to the youth in the society.

Some accounts of truly just relationships:

 Mary Kom and Onler:

Mary Kom is a woman of substance, self-made, dedicated to her chosen field, and a winner
of glory for her country. Daughter, wife, mother of three, Mary Kom has always yet been her
own person, with a dream that grows bigger with every success.

Her relation with Onler was a relationship that developed slowly. At first Onler was only
concerned about helping her. He saw her problems, and how she was struggling single
handedly. Her parents lived in the village, they were no support at all, either financially or
otherwise. And as a woman boxer, Mary had many hurdles to cross.

Onler gave her support and was her true friend.

 Love and acid just do not mix

Laxmi Agarwal is an acid attack survivor and works for the rights of acid attack victims. She
was attacked in 2005 at age 15, by a 32-year-old man whose advances she had rejected. The
attack left her face disfigured. She underwent several painful surgeries that left her weak and
her family penniless.
Lakshmi fell in love with social activist Alok Dixit. Both decided not to get married and
instead be in a live-in relationship, challenging the society by not getting married. Lakshmi is
now a mother. Her daughter today accompanies her mother where ever she goes, and
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probably knows it in her heart that her parents are the most beautiful human beings she’ll
come across.
 Emma Watson’s speech

In September 2014 British actor and Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, Emma Watson,
gave a smart, important, and moving speech about gender inequality and how to fight it. In
doing so, she launched the He For She initiative, which aims to get men and boys to join the
feminist fight for gender equality. In the speech, Ms. Watson made the important point that in
order for gender equality to be achieved, harmful and destructive stereotypes of masculinity
and behavioural expectations for boys and men have got to change.
 Love letters
Letters to Jyotiba, from his wife Savitribai Phule: These aren't love letters, but tell you what
love is all about. The letter show how the relationship between the pioneering couple of
women's education in India was marked by deep and shared concerns as they provided
strength to each other.

 “Braveheart Badeyya”, by Gogu Shyamala is a story in which a son is saddened that

his mother cannot wear slippers in the presence of the upper caste landlord even when
walking on thorn-infested land. Outraged by this unjust custom, he stays awake the whole
night and makes a pair of slippers for his mother using his father’s leather-making tools.

Further reading: Rosa Parks-The Braveheart

Civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Called "the mother of the civil rights movement," refused to
surrender her bus seat to a white passenger, spurring the Montgomery boycott and other
efforts to end segregation. Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955 launched the Montgomery Bus
Boycott by 17,000 black citizens. Its success launched nationwide efforts to end racial segregation
of public facilities.

Civil rights activist Rosa Parks’s refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a
Montgomery, Alabama bus spurred a city-wide boycott. It galvanized the Civil Rights
Movement in the United States. For 382 days, almost the entire African-American population
of Montgomery, Alabama, including leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, refused
to ride on segregated buses, a turning point in the American civil rights movement.
The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public
buses.
Rosa Parks's childhood brought her early experiences with racial discrimination and activism
for racial equality. At an early age, Rosa Parks faced injustice wherever she went and decided
that by taking action she could change the world around her. Rosa Parks received many
accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award.