Reading and understanding gender

Gender is a perception which grows and develops in people's minds. We have faced a lot of  discrimination in the name of gender and we are still struggling to know the causes of this narrow- minded concept wherein we decide to play the role of women. Gender can be termed as ' poor categorisation' which unfortunately divides the power relation between various genders. Women are still being seen as the weaker sex and gender is the necessary component of society which needs to be studied from various perspectives of various genders but it almost seems to be impossible. Feminists tried to give it a different perspective by focusing on the issues and problems faced by different genders but there is a need of a proper revolutionary movement.

Gender sensitization is a very commonly used word but the system of consciousness raising was  a product of second wave of feminism. There is a deeper pain associated with todays easiness. Women's subordination still persists and remains a common problem in Indian society due to certain pre- perceived notions of  society and its functionality which have never been reviewed and changed since centuries. Women focused on gender adaptation as they have to do a lot of adjustments in the society whereas  gender polarisation extended the power of supremacy to men.

Growth of feminism is still required and we cannot really justify the term post- feminism. If feminism exists then there is no place for this newly emerging term. The politics behind this term is that many people think that feminism has gone because women have everything and they have enough freedom to act upon their choices but this seems to be the biggest hurdle in the way of fourth wave of feminism. Even  today equality is denied to women and other genders like transgenders and other sexualities like gays and lesbians. This is ridiculous that our societal context do not change with modernity and the essence of humanity and we treat each other as "others".

We need to understand the history and change it as it teaches us not to repeat the same mistakes. It is a crucial time to think and act upon to stabilise the gender polarisation which is like a curse to humanity. Gender is different for different person but there is a commonality in the existence of this gendered structure which hampers the welfare of the society. There is a need to understand gender in a broader way. Gender should include everyone irrespective of caste, creed and race.
Gender should "go positive" and reform its system so that society includes everyone, excludes none.

By: Anupreeta Chatterjee


















































 

Discussing about gender

Gender is how we are brought up in a particular segment of society. People often get confused between the two terms i.e. sex and gender. Our society has generalised responsibilities for men and women and these responsibilities gives birth to Gender discrimination. There is a common attitude which can be seen in the people of our society that they think boys and girls are different but they fail to understand that every person has both feminine and masculine characteristics. People are often biased towards the emerging third gender i.e. transgenders. They don't even want to talk about them.
Discrimination between a girl and a boy has become a common topic of discussion but still people behave in an indifferent way.
A girl is killed in mother's womb because she is not a boy and she is a burden over her family. There is a common trait which can be seen in our society that after a girl is born, parents start worrying about her marriage. They don't want girl children to survive because they think that they have to spend a lot of money on her and she is not as much efficient as the boy to earn money and support her family. She is treated as " paraya dhan" but they fail to understand the actual worth of a girl. They just focus more on having a boy child.

Due to lack of awareness, our society fails to notice that our sex-ratio is adversely affected. When a girl child is born, people often curse her mother and she is repeatedly abused sexually and mentally so that she gives birth to a boy. In this way, population is rising day by day and poorer are becoming more poorer as they have to feed a family of 11 members. These repetitive sexual acts affects the health of the mother adversely but people are not aware about this.

In our society, girls are always questioned and they are asked to behave well and respect all but these things are not taught to the young boys so boys feel that they can do anything with the girls and girls will suffer silently. This perception has far- reaching consequences like boys raping the girls, sexual abuse, harassment, domestic violence, etc. Though, girls are raising voice but the pre- dominant structure of the patriarchy still forces a girl to remain quiet and suffer.

People think that girls are like flowers and they need to be protected but they fail to see that actual strength is derived from freedom, which a girl is deprived of. Even today some people think that girls should not be educated and they don't send their girls to schools. People say that girls and boys are different. I agree that they are different biologically and due to these biological differences people say that boys are more stronger but they don't want the girl to become stronger to fight against adverse situations. They don't see the strengths of a girl and make her feel weaker even if she is not weak.

We need to prioritise everyone equally as everyone is different but everyone is a human. 

Being a social scientist

When I got through TISS, I was glad and very excited to join the post graduation in women's studies and I was rejoiced to know that I was going to study about something which made me restless every night and I used to twist and turn till the results of the entrance exam were announced. It was a great sense of pride for me to be a social scientist and working for the upliftment of women in the society. Everyone asked me about the scope of this inter-disciplinary course and future prospects of pursuing this course and I was just bearing the thought that I did not have to answer the 21st century fools and if I would address them then they would not bother to listen because they are over-burdened with the concepts of engineering and natural sciences, which I could never manage to think about.

There was a point in my life when I was just ridiculed because I did not simply fit in because my perceptions were different and some of my teachers used to complain that I was not active in the class and I used to think in my mind that my teachers had a very tough time with me and I must do nothing about it because I knew that they were not understanding what I actually needed. Being my teacher, they thought that I would think about what they had said to me and I did think about it but I was a strict follower of my heart and I never gave any options to myself when I had made up my mind to do something. It did not mean that I hated to seek opportunities which would lead to my growth but those opportunities would remain with me according to the time which I had set in my mind.

At times, I used to persevere really hard and out of my softer vulnerability, I used to cry silently so that others were not disturbed and those tears were always precious for making me grow with a new promise to achieve the height which I wished for since my childhood. I had been a person whose every decision is justified but people would really need a stronger heart to understand and stand by it.
Every single instance of social injustice would make me sweat in the night and I realised that I would not choose something which others would have chosen and thereby, I declared myself as a social scientist.

Though, it was really hard to manage time but I knew that I would definitely do it. I had graduated from Delhi university, which was quite a happening place and the most desirable place but there was an intense urge to move away from that place as I was not comfortable to live in comfort and chose Hyderabad as it is quieter and a place which would make me sweat and give me an experience which would mark the beginning of a new era, led by the social scientists of TISS.