Essay on Gender Discrimination and Indian Society!
We all know that gender discrimination is not a problem of the recent past. It is a nasty age old problem transmitted from generation to generation. History can only prove this. Discrimination towards women is expressed in many forms in our society.
It starts with the infanticide of a girl fetus. Even after the birth of so many girl children when one craves for a male child it indicates more love for the male child. How many instances are there where after the birth of so many sons, parents still crave for a girl child? Perhaps none. When the girl child is born the whole family is depressed including the mother.
Of course, there are exceptions, but that is not the rule. Next discrimination starts when the mother repeatedly gives birth to girls. The mother is harassed, tortured and even asked to go back to her parents place though medical science has proved that the father is responsible for the sex of a baby.
In some states of India in the past it is told female infants after their birth were being killed. During that time there was no ultra sound test to determine l lie sex of the unborn baby.
Discrimination between Boys and Girls:
After birth discrimination between boys and girls start in great length. While male children are provided with all facilities female children are neglected. This is also proved by the hospital reports and census data where the sex-ratio between boys and girls decreases at a later stage (1—6 years).
In-spite of several incentives provided by government for the education of girl children, parents usually hesitate to send their girls to school.
Guided by the long standing social customs and traditions girls stay at home and help the mother in domestic work and rearing her small brothers and sisters. This is a training to the girl child to manage her family when she gets married they say. The only image of a girl child to get married and look after the family indicates how she is not allowed to her right to work up to her choice.
A girl child is discriminated in food, dress, education, in attitude, in behaviour, in physical assault, beating, compared to a male child. The boy and girl both go to school and when they return from school the boy is given food and is allowed to play out-side.
But the girl is usually asked to prepare tea, serve food to others, do work instead of going to play Even when following the similar tradition a working woman returns home tired and, exhausted, she has to first take care of her children, in laws and husband, serve them Tiffin and tea and then only she gets time to take a cup of tea.
Is this not discrimination against women? Of course in urban areas in many families where women are educated and husbands, in laws, particularly mother in laws and sister in laws are sympathetic the situation is different.
They do cooperate with the working wife/daughter in law and help her in domestic work. But in majority of cases women have to meet both ends, they have to keep a balance between office work and domestic work. For this they suffer a lot and sacrifice their hobbies, personal interests at the cost of their family.
Discrimination shown by Husbands and in Laws:
Sometimes it is found that a woman is highly qualified and gets respectable jobs. But she is not allowed to join. Who will do work at home? Who will take care of the children? They ask and prohibit the women to be economically independent and to develop self confidence. Some husbands think that if their wives go out and mix with other males in the office, they may be unfaithful.
Sometimes his male ego does not want that his wife should be self sufficient and assertive. Remember, the superb movie “ABHIMAN”. Is it not an example of discrimination because of male ego? When ego of a person, either male or female stands on the way of personal relationship it leads family unhappiness.
Gender discrimination is more in families where women stay at home, are lethargic, unintelligent, inefficient and uncooperative.
Do you know? In our society it may not be necessary for the male to inform where he is going when he goes out, but it is compulsory for the female to inform where she is going. While a male is allowed to go out alone, a female has to take someone with her. She is neither allowed to go alone, nor she likes to go alone. A man can stay out till late night, but a woman has to return home in time.
The society does not appreciate if women return home at late night, even if it is for some genuine reason. In many lower and middle class families and in rural areas husband and wife never sit together and eat. I have seen some families where the wife eats in the same plate after the husband finishes without washing it and also she never hesitates to eat the leftovers.
In many families mother in laws never allow daughter in laws to sit with their husband and eat. Though it is said that our culture does not permit this, I say this is discrimination against women. In a family the son was served ghee in rice while the daughter was not.
In one very well to do family the husband, son and father in law used to eat mutton while the mother in law and daughter in law used to take only rice, and potato chutney. Elder women explain this saying, “they (male members) are male, they work outside and earn, so let them eat well. We are women, we stay at home and don’t earn. We can manage with whatever is available”.
Many women do not consider this as discrimination due to early training. A woman will sacrifice all her comforts and take care of others, while a man will enjoy and lead a life of comfort. This is sanctioned by our society and if women do not follow it then it leads to family unhappiness, the woman is also criticized by the society.
Examples are thus plenty on gender discrimination. Some years back when I was Director, Higher Education Orissa, I went to Sunabeda (Koraput) on tour and I wanted to visit the MIG factory at Sunabeda.
But I was told by some that women are not allowed and I was simply stunned. Gender discrimination starts with aborting the unborn girl child and there after it has no end. Even if girl children are sent to school they after two three years become drop outs.
Gradually the number decreases in the ladder of education. Girl children are tortured at home even by their mother who was also tortured when she was a child or before marriage.
Similarly if a man and woman are walking together, the woman has to follow the man. This is a social custom. Girls are taught from the very early stage not to talk loudly, not to laugh loudly, not to argue with males, not to retort back but walk slowly.
Our maid servant speaks in a very low voice. One day I told her to speak loudly so that I ‘can hear her. My husband was nearby. He heard what I said and immediately retorted, “Girls should speak slowly”.
Is this not a case of gender bias? If men can speak loudly why not women? In certain societies even women are compelled to shave their head all the time so that males are not attracted to them. Widows are the burning examples of gender discrimination. They are not permitted to eat non-vegetarian dish, they are forced to shave their hair, they are not permitted to wear coloured sarees and use jewelry.
In some societies widows are allowed only to sleep on the floor. Remarriage of widows was a social taboo some years back. Of course with the growth of civilization the situation has changed. Society is gradually accepting widow marriage and widows are also allowed some relaxation in food and dress. It is undoubtedly a positive sign against gender discrimination.
Discrimination shown by Parents:
Women do not get the same freedom as men get. While men can freely mix with the opposite sex women cannot do so. From the very beginning girls are taught not to mix with the opposite sex. Earlier girls were not allowed to study in coeducational institutions, though the attitude has improved today.
The more rigid the parents are, the greater is gender discrimination. In a democratic family set up gender discrimination is less. Autocratic fathers show inflexible and conservative attitude.
They practice one set of rules for the male members and another set of rules for the females though discrimination on the basis of sex is not permitted by the constitution of India. Though equality for both the sexes has been provided in law, society does not sanction it. Very few women go to the court of law to get equality of status with men. That is why in-spite of the legal sanction social sanction takes an upper hand.
In developed countries like U.S.A., U.K., Russia, Germany, Japan the discrimination is less compared to India. In these countries women are highly educated, 95 percent of the women go to work out side. They are economically independent, socially secured and assertive and have self confidence.
They are conscious of their rights and privileges. But discrimination is not totally uprooted in these developed countries. It is a social evil and transmitted from culture to culture like an infectious disease. In these countries men and women share the family responsibility. They have respect for each other.
I have discussed the general picture of gender discrimination that is prevalent in our society. But gradually the situation has changed. Families have changed their attitude towards girls. Social changes in gender discrimination are perceived. At Government, Semi Government and non Government levels also efforts are being made to reduce gender discrimination.
Departments of child and women welfare have been established in every state and at the centre to reduce discrimination and improve the status and condition of women in the society. Gender discrimination is the creation of the society, tradition and culture. It is man-made. It is rooted by the society and can be uprooted through social change.
If a family does not discriminate between brothers and sisters, sons and daughters and shows equal treatment to all irrespective of sex, it helps in developing gender equality. I am giving below the example of such a family where I grew up sixty years back.
It was my family. We were five brothers and five sisters. My father was quite democratic and flexible in his attitude towards women. My father had absolutely no gender bias.
He gave equal privilege to his sons and daughter in all respects—education, health, food, dress and treatment. There was no discrimination. We the girls never felt to be socially handicapped, because we were girls. We were taught all human values, but at the same time we were told not to tolerate injustice, not to commit injustice, but to protest injustice. In such a congenial atmosphere I grew during my childhood.
My eldest sister was the first girl of Dhenkanal who was sent to Cuttack for higher education. I was the first girl of Dhenkanal who was sent outside Orissa for higher education 49 years back. All the five girls got higher education in coeducational institutions.
Sixty five years back he was of opinion that through coeducation the outlook of girls can be increased, and widened when the society was very conservative and very few parents sent their girls to schools and colleges.
We sisters were provided with tuitions, coaching’s, books and all reading materials like our brothers. In-spite of his financial constraints he sent me to Patna, Bihar to continue post graduate in Psychology. I was allowed to travel alone in train outside the state.
We all got the freedom to choose our own subjects in college. My mother was very well treated by my father and they had a very congenial relationship. They rarely quarreled. I still remember my father used to take the view of my mother in important family decisions.
When the servants and cooks used to go on leave, under the instruction of our father we brothers and sisters used to Cook and do other household works. We never felt any gender discrimination inside our family. Thus all the daughters got the scope to flourish their talents and inner potentialities.
They did not develop any inferiority complex because they were girls. We all the sisters have established ourselves as secured, confident, able and assertive. My eldest sister is now 76 years old. Thus I am speaking of a family atmosphere of 76 years old.
76 years back very few families gave such gender equality facility to their children. Of course today matters are changing. Education, change in outlook, influence of other cultures, due to continuous visit and exchange of ideas of among different cultures, parents now attempt to show equal treatment to daughters and sons.
Now even women are doing excellent in states like Orissa (which is financially and socially backward) in the field of education management, medicine, civil service. They are now I.A.S.
Toppers, IPS officers earlier which were considered the monopoly of men only. But compared to the population of women, these cases are very few. In-spite of the decrement in gender discrimination, it still persists.
Women even to-day do not have the access to information as in case of 1- They are alienated from the decision making process and are perhaps passive recipients of government and non government Programmes.
The illiterate and slightly educated women do not have the correct information about their rights. They even do not know for what they are eligible and for what they are not eligible. They see their environment with suspicion and fear. They see through their male Votive, friends and the society.
They accept what the male dominated society teaches them. They however do not know that the society which made them can also be changed by them. Women are made to think they are physically weak and mentally inferior, though they are not y birth.
They are made so through social learning. We find very few women have the courage to go out alone probably because of the atrocities on women by the male members.
But in many cases even if there is no danger going out alone, women do not dare so, for their ringing and social learning. They are made fearful, timid, scared without having any confidence in their ability and worth. Most women very low self concept about themselves.
They consider themselves “ABALAA DURBALAA” in Oriya i.e., a woman is very weak in character, is because of early training and early social learning. Even though they have the ability they don’t have aspirations and higher goals in life.
Their achievement motivation is also low. If fifty percent of the population does not achieve anything how the country will prosper in pent fronts? How can it compete with other countries in trade, education, business, scientific development, research and cultural lards?
The developing countries like India may remain developing for another five decades if the problems of women are not taken care of, if gender discrimination is not wiped out from the society by change of Vie towards women.
Women in developing and third world countries have rarely a social 5, a separate identity of their own. Nobody wants to know “what woman are”, “What women want” and “What is good for them” women are always taken for granted in a matter of fact manner.
When I talk of woman I visualize the women of rural India which constitute the majority women of India. Most women of rural India are trapped in their own perception of themselves that is told by others. They accept the frame of reference developed by the society for them.
In India we have a highly traditional society with rigid and traditional sex roles prescribed in the society. “Women should do this, they should not do that” and so in the society, the situation is slightly different and there on.
In urbanized society, the situation is slightly different and their appears to be some change in the attitude towards women because the traditional perception of women about themselves has changed. When women do perform well in urban India, they automatically change attitudes of males in a positive direction.
The gap between men and women thus is reduced. A small percentage of women who have grown under the influence of gender equality attitude, who have not experienced any discrimination or very few discrimination in their early life show courage, determination, straight forwardness, higher self-concept, assertiveness, aspirations and high achievement motivation.
Therefore it is obvious that women can be equal with men in their physical and psychological characteristics.
Some say that constitutionally and biologically women are different from men in body building, hormonal secretions, reproductive functions and chromosomal differences and this is the reason they say of the manifest and expected behaviour of males and females.
Biological Difference:
Though existence of biological differences have been proved by scientific research, many psychologists never the less feel that the part played by the biological factors in the behaviour of sexes is minimum and they are more determined by Social Learning.
A study by Slovik (1966) indicates that the risk taking attitude and adventurous spirit of men in comparison to women is determined by social learning and not by biological factors. Aggressiveness which is said to be quality of males is also learned. Similarly yielding behaviour, a feminine characteristic is due to social learning.
Sex Roles:
Men and women also differ in their prosocial behaviour like tolerance, acceptance, affection and women show more prosocial behaviour than men. Many of the behavioural difference between men and women are thus learned from the society and culture because of the peculiar roles assigned to males and females in a society.
The social expectations influence the development of such behaviour. A lot of gender discrimination takes place because of the role of each sex determined by the society. If these expectations are changed, gender discrimination will automatically cease.
However it cannot also denied that in-spite of the immense social influence on sex roles, biological factors are responsible to some extent to explain the sex role differences. The ensuing discussions lead one to conclude that by changing sex roles to a great extent gender prejudices can be irradiated. In western counties this has been already proved.
Social activists, parents and family members, women, feminine organisations and organisations fighting for the rights, justice, and emancipation of women must keep in mind that change of sex roles is vital to bring women in to the national and international main stream and to make them gender friendly.
A sane citizen of this country should not close his eyes to the reality that most women in the under developed and developing countries remain the poorest of the poor, the most malnourished and underfed.
They feed the family first and then take the left over’s if there are any. While most of the male members take nutritious food, even if the woman is pregnant and needs a balanced diet, she does not get it and most surprising is that she never grumbles. Most women have no asserts or property of their own. Women continue to be the most helpless human being in the society world over.
Not only because of the different sex roles, but also for the selfishness and dominant nature of men, women are used as doormats and puppets in the hands of men. History reveals that women everywhere in the world were accorded a low status in the society.
They were looked down, despised and disparaged for being emotional, regressive, irrational, unintelligent and un-trust worthy. In fact men have always wanted women to be subordinate to them. This they could achieve by depriving women of any power. The low status of women and their so called negative, unpalatable qualities originated from their powerlessness.
As per the latest statistics available, a woman is beaten and beaten to death, burnt alive, forced to commit suicide every six hours. As many as 6500 women are killed every year for dowry.
In states like Bihar and Rajasthan the practice of SATI still exists though it has been banned by law. Men are free to have as many wives as possible, extra marital relationship according to their sweet will and society does not raise any voice.
But the woman is punished severely if she does the same. Of course to-day overt discriminating practices are changing in the positive direction. Women are now allowed in more or less all jobs.
But the prejudice against women still persists even in the educated, upper class elite societies. Though men and women both have prejudices towards each other, stereotypes concerning females are more negative. The persistence of such stereotypes is supported by a large body of research evidence.