PUBLIC /PRIVATE DIVISION
Let us begin with gender division. This is a form of hierarchical social division seen everywhere but is rarely recognised in the study of politics. The gender division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable. However, it is not based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes.
Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children. This is reflected in a SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR in most families: women do all work inside the home such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, tailoring, looking after children, etc., and men do all the work outside the home. It is not that men cannot do housework; they simply think that it is for women to attend to these things. When these jobs are paid for, men are ready to take up these works. Most tailors or cooks in hotels are men. Similarly, it is not that women do not work outside their homes. In villages, women fetch water, collect fuel, and work in the fields. In urban areas, poor women work as domestic helpers in middle-class homes, while middle-class women work in offices. In fact, the majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour. But their work is not valued and does not get recognition.
The result of this division of labour is that although women constitute half of humanity, their role in public life, especially politics, is minimal in most societies. Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, vote and contest for public offices. Gradually the gender issue was raised in politics. Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights. There were agitations in different countries for the extension of voting rights to women. These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving their educational and career opportunities. More radical women’s movements aimed at equality in personal and family life as well. These movements are called FEMINIST movements.
Activity:
1. Why are we discussing things like household work in this textbook on Political Science? Is this politics?
2. Why not? If politics is about power, then surely male dominance in the household should be considered political, Is n't it?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
DISCRIMINATION AND OPPRESSION OF WOMEN
Political expression of gender division and political mobilisation on this question helped to improve women’s role in public life. We now find women working as scientists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, managers, and college and university teachers which were earlier not considered suitable for women. In some parts of the world, for example in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high.
In our country, women still lag much behind men despite some improvement since Independence. Ours is still a male-dominated, PATRIARCHAL society. Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways:
* The literacy rate among women is only 54 percent compared with 76 percent among men. Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies. When we look at school results, girls perform as well as boys, if not better in some places. But they drop out because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boys’ education rather than spending equally on their sons and daughters.
* No wonder the proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. On average, an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day. Yet much of her work is not paid and therefore often not valued.
* The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work. However in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.
* In many parts of India parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is born. Such sex-selective abortion led to a decline in the child sex ratio (number of girl children per thousand boys) in the country to merely 919. As the map shows, this ratio has fallen below 850 or even 800 in some States.
There are reports of various kinds of harassment, exploitation, and violence against women. Urban areas have become particularly unsafe for women. They are not safe even within their own home from beating, harassment, and other forms of domestic violence.
Example
A ‘time use survey’ was conducted in six states of our country. It shows that an average woman works every day for a little over seven and a half hours while an average man works for six and a half hours. Yet the work done by men is more visible because most of their work leads to the generation of income. Women also do a lot of direct income-generating work, but the bulk of their work is household related. This work remains unpaid and invisible.
Daily time use (hours: minutes)
Activity:
1. Mummy always says to outsiders: “I don’t work. I am a housewife.” But I see her working non-stop all the time. If what she does is not work, what else is work?
2. Discuss all these perceptions of an ideal woman that prevail in our society. Do you agree with any of these? If not, what is your image of an ideal woman?
3. Can you identify your State on this map? What is the child sex ratio in it? How is it different from others with a different colour?
4. Identify the States which have a child sex ratio below 900.
5. Compare this map with the poster on the next page. How do the two of them tell us about the same issue?
Let’s do it
1. You can conduct a similar time use survey in your own household.
2. Observe all the adult male and female members of your family for one week. Every day note down the number of hours each of them spends on the following activities:
* Income-generating activity (working at the office or shop or factory or field, etc.),
* Household-related activity (cooking, cleaning, washing, fetching water, looking after children or elders, etc.),
* Reading and recreation,
* Talking/gossiping,
* Taking rest or sleeping.
If necessary make new categories. Add up the time taken on each activity for a week and calculate the daily average for each activity for each member.
3. Do women work more in your family as well?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK