Shreeya Bakshi
The major concern of feminism is to expose the manifold ways in which men are privileged and to oppose discrimination against women. Therefore, it becomes necessary to first of all understand what we mean by ‘women’ and ‘men’. Everyone is born with a sex which is natural and biological and can be determined simply by looking at genitalia. This biological difference or the sexual differentiation divides the society in to two groups of female and male but this differentiation is merely biological where as socio cultural ways of valuing females and males classifies them in to woman and man or feminine and masculine, respectively. Society develops the concepts of feminity and masculinity with different patterns, roles, responsibility and expectations. Public domain is considered to be the arena of men where as women are kept confined to private sphere. It is clear to all that women are biologically different men. Nature has blessed Women with the capability of child bearing and nurturing. But this blessing of nature more or less has converted in to a hurdle for women folk to achieve their full potential. Instead of appreciating her special ability of child bearing, we have under estimated her capacities and ability. A number of idiomatic expressions refer to social roles like: child rearing is women’s work or politics is men’s business. Such expressions are based on normative ideas of what occupation a woman should choose and what she can do.
Since childhood children are being gendered according to their sex. Boys are taught to play in the ground, are encouraged to be innovative and strong but the girls are taught to help their mothers in the kitchen or to play with the toys which are related to kitchen and household. They are asked to serve the food and to assist their mothers and are taught to be obedient, patient timid and calm. Girls from their childhood are not provided with the right to ask the question of ‘why’. They are simply taught to do whatever they are asked where as boys are free to ask and enquire anything.
Thus, in the process of socialization, role played by parents, family, society and even media leads to the creation of such kinds of mental setup among children that they start thinking on the basis of their gender. Being boy/male, they start considering themselves as owners, breadwinners, important and responsible citizens of society and on the other hand, girls/female start considering themselves as merely reproducing agents working on the orders of their male counter parts like father, brother, husband and son. This leads to worst condition of the women in the society.
Therefore, feminists recognize that the hierarchal organizing of the world around gender is key to maintain social order that to live lives marked ‘male’ and ‘female’ is to live different realities. Feminism is thus, not about individual man or woman but about understanding the ways in which men and women are produced and inserted in to patriarchies.
In this whole process, women are cut off from rest of the world as she kept only inside the four walls of the house. And then it is satirically said by men folk that “Aurat ki akal to uski aedi main hoti hai”, but in the kind of situation she lives, she will not be having any kind of wisdom at all not even in her “Aedis”.
Gender is so embed in the mind of people that people have been divided labour/works on the basis of gender. This gender division refers to allocation of different roles and responsibilities to women and men based on the societal ideas of what women and men should do. So, here also instead of giving preference to individual capacities, works and duties are merely divided on the basis of gender or we can say that in patriarchy, there exists gender division of labour. It is assigned that productive work is related to men folk and reproductive to women folk. But this division of labor is done on the norms which are being created by society itself like women cannot do hard work and intellectual work and reason behind it is that “they are women”.
In a Patriarchal set up, the language used is also patriarchal which carries biases and gender inequalities. The most commonly used pronouns are also male centric like: headmaster, postman, …..etc. The abusive language with sexual connotation is usually used by the men folk but the slangs are often at the names of women. Men can use them without any hesitation but it is condemned if women use such abusive language. Many proverbs, used in patriarchal society are also relegating women to an inferior position eg: A woman’s Heaven is in husband’s feet (aurat ka swarg pati ke charno main hota hai). And who does not remember that stirring line of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s Khoob ladi mardni wo to Jhansi wali rani thi. What does it mean? Even when it is woman who has shown bravery, it still cannot be understood as a ‘feminine’ quality. Bravery is seen as a masculine virtue no matter how many women display it or how few men. Verbal Appellation for girls and boys is also different. The use of phrases likes ‘You are my strong boy’ and ‘You are looking like a cute doll’ for boys and girls respectively make them to think themselves in terms of males and females.
It is consider that a feminist is one who scolds men, who opposes men, who divides the worlds in to two hostile groups ie, men and women and who generates the debate of women versus men. But this is absolutely wrong. Every person who believes in and wants equality between women and men or any person who views the women’s relative subordination must be questioned and challenged is a feminist. That person needs not necessarily a woman that can be woman and man both. Feminist perspective recognizes that the hierarchal organizing of the world around gender is key to maintain social order; that to live lives marked ‘male’ and ‘female’ is to live different realities.
The common ground among feminists is marked by the recognition that the gendered power relations oppress women and prevent them from obtaining their full potential. Feminism is thus not about individual men and women but about understanding the ways in which men and women are produced and inserted into patriarchies that differ according to time and space. To be a feminist is to recognize that apart from gender based injustice, there are multiple structural inequalities that underlie social order and to believe that change is possible and to work for it whichever way is possible. Feminism is not an organization that one formally joins, to be a feminist is to feel part of the history that has produced us. It is not about that moment of final triumph, but about gradual transformation of the social field so decisively that old markers shift forever. This shift is what enables many young women today to say,
‘I Believe in Equal Rights for Women.”
(The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Jammu)
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