Gender issues in India: an amalgamation of research

Subscribe to global connection, shamika ravi and shamika ravi former brookings expert, economic advisory council member to the prime minister and secretary - government of india nirupama jayaraman nj nirupama jayaraman.

March 10, 2017

Content from the Brookings Institution India Center is now archived . After seven years of an impactful partnership, as of September 11, 2020, Brookings India is now the Centre for Social and Economic Progress , an independent public policy institution based in India.

The views are of the author(s).

Forty-two years have passed since the United Nations first decided to commemorate March 8 th as International Women’s Day, marking a historical transition in the feminist movement. Gender remains a critically important and largely ignored lens to view development issues across the world. On this past occasion of International Women’s Day 2017, here is an amalgamation of gendered learning outcomes across various crucial themes for public policy in India, emerging from Brookings India’s past research on political economy, financial inclusion and health.

Political Economy

In 2016, India ranked 130 out of 146 in the Gender Inequality Index released by the UNDP.  It is evident that a stronger turn in political discourse is required, taking into consideration both public and private spaces. The normalization of intra-household violence is a huge detriment to the welfare of women. Crimes against women have doubled in the period between 1991 and 2011. NFHS data reports that 37 per cent of married women in India have experienced physical or sexual violence by a spouse while 40 per cent have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence by a spouse. While current policy discourse recommends employment as a form of empowerment for women, data presents a disturbing correlation between female participation in labour force and their exposure to domestic violence. The NFHS-3 reports that women employed at any time in the past 12 months have a much higher prevalence of violence (39-40 per cent) than women who were not employed (29 per cent). The researchers advocate a multi-faceted approach to women’s empowerment beyond mere labour force participation, taking into consideration extra-household bargaining power.

Read more at: “ Beginning a new conversation on Women ”.

Gender inequality extends across various facets of society. Political participation is often perceived as a key factor to rectify this situation. However, gender bias extends to electoral politics and representative governance as well. The relative difference between male and female voters is the key to understanding gender inequality in politics. While the female voter turnout has been steadily increasing, the number of female candidates fielded by parties has not increased. More women contest as independents, which does not provide the cover for extraneous costs otherwise available when they are part of a political party.

However, women also act as agents of political change for other women. In the Bihar elections in 2005, when re-elections were held, the percentage of female voters had increased from 42.5 to 44.5 per cent while those of male voters declined from 50 to 47 per cent in the interim period of eight months. As a direct result, 37 per cent of the constituencies saw anti-incumbency voting. The average growth rate of women voters was nearly three times in those constituencies where there was a difference in the winning party. District-wise disaggregation of voter registration also supports this hypothesis in the case of Bihar indicating the percolation of the winds of change. This illustration proves that women are no longer under the complete control of the men in their family in terms of electoral participation. The situation is only bound to improve from here. With the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), vulnerable sections like women now have more freedom of choice in their vote. Further, poll related incidents of violence against women have significantly decreased since the phased introduction of EVMs across multi-level elections in India.

Read more at:

  • Interview on Gender Inequality in Politics
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Extending the conversation to political representation is the next phase in the conversation. Women make up merely 22 per cent of lower houses in parliaments around the world and in India, this number is less than half at 10.8 per cent in the outgoing Lok Sabha. A steady increase in female voter participation has been observed across India, wherein the sex ratio of voters (number of female voters vis-à-vis male) has increased from 715 in the 1960s to 883 in the 2000s. Our studies have shown that women are more likely to contest elections in states with a skewed gender ratio. In the case of more developed states, they seek representation through voting leading to an increase in voter participation.

The situation can be rectified by providing focused reservation for those constituencies with a skewed sex ratio. Reducing the entry costs (largely non-pecuniary in nature – cultural barriers, lack of exposure) for women in order to create a pipeline of female leaders is another solution. These missing women, either as voters or leaders point to the gross negligence of women at all ages.

Read more at: Missing Women in Indian Democracy

Financial Inclusion

In the developing world, women have traditionally been the focus of efforts of financial inclusion. They have proved to be better borrowers (40 per cent of Grameen Bank’s clients were women in 1983. By 2000, the number had risen to 90 per cent) – largely attributed to the fact that they are less mobile as compared to men and more susceptible to peer pressure. However, institutions in microfinance are exposed to the trade-off between market growth and social development since having more female clients lead to the inevitable drip-down of social incentives. As an attempt to overcome this hurdle, a larger role can be played by donors with a gender driven agenda, for the financial inclusion sector will drive the idea further.

Gendered contextualisation of products is highly necessary for microfinance institutions (MFIs) – men and women do not ascribe to choices in a similar fashion. Trends emerging from prior research indicates that when health insurance coverage was held under the MFI sector, by both men and women, women benefited from the coverage only so far as they were the holders and not using spousal status (if their husbands were insured). Thus healthcare seeking behaviour becomes an important factor to be considered in insurance coverage under the MFIs.

The JAM trinity – Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar, Mobile – can be used to improve financial inclusion from a gender perspective as well. The metrics to consider would be the number of Jan Dhan accounts held by women, percentage of women holding Aadhar cards and access to mobile connectivity for women.

Read more at: A trade-off between Growth and Social Objectives Exists for Microfinance Institutions

In terms of healthcare focusing on women, the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and National Health Mission are vital to the policy landscape. The JSY has improved maternal healthcare in India through the emphasis on institutional deliveries. Increase of 22 per cent in deliveries in government hospitals, was mirrored by an 8 per cent decline in childbirth at private hospitals and a 16 per cent decline in childbirth at home. The National Health Mission’s ASHA led to greater awareness and education of pregnant women as well as an increase in institutional maternal and neonatal healthcare. Improved infrastructure for maternal and neo-natal has been observed in community hospitals, in addition to the introduction of ambulance services.

A gendered increase in seek care is observed with a large 13 per cent increase in the number of women who report being sick in the last 15 days, driving the overall reportage. Further, an eight per cent decline in rural women seeking private healthcare, has been reported, while a 58 per cent increase in women seeking hospitalization has been reported. Further disaggregated, the data shows a 75.7 per cent increase for rural women seeking healthcare. The overall increase in usage of public hospitals is almost entirely driven by rural women who saw an increase of 24.6 per cent in utilisation of public hospitals over the 10 years (2004-2014). Our results show that the JSY had a significant, positive impact on overall hospitalisation of women in India. It increased the probability of a woman being hospitalised by approximately 1.3 per cent.

Read more at: Health and Morbidity in India

The healthcare sector in India has largely focused on maternal healthcare for women. The importance of research on mental health has been ignored in policy discourse. The significant relationship that mental health bears on violence has also been explored in further research. Every fifth suicide in India is that of a housewife (18 per cent overall) – the reportage of suicide deaths has been most consistent among housewives as a category, than other categories. India is the country with the largest rate of female deaths due to ‘intentional violence’.

Our work on childhood violence shows that girls are twice more likely to face sexual violence than boys before the age of 18. Larger the population of educated females in the country, lesser is the incidence of childhood violence at home – including lesser violent discipline, physical punishment as well as psychological aggression. Additionally, the lifetime experience of sexual violence by girls is strongly correlated with the adolescent fertility rate in a country. Further, a strong relationship is observed between female experience of sexual violence and female labour force participation within a country. The results show that the higher the labour force participation by women in a country, the higher is the incidence of sexual violence against them. This could be indicative of adverse working conditions within labour markets, and the difficulty of access to labour markets by young women in a country.

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Gender attitudes in India: What’s changed and what hasn’t

Writer and professor nivedita menon and founder-director, coro, sujata khandekar, discuss the challenges of shifting gender norms and attitudes in india, and the work that still needs to be done..

And while the last few decades have seen landmark judgements in India that push for greater gender equality, the big question still is: Have gender attitudes really changed in our country?

On our podcast  On the Contrary by IDR , we spoke with Sujata Khandekar and Nivedita Menon about how attitudes towards traditional gender roles have shifted in India, the kind of resistance these shifts can bring, and what should be done to further change these changes. Sujata is the founding director of CORO India , one of the country’s foremost organisations in grassroots leadership and activism. Nivedita is a writer and a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and one of the founders of kafila.online , a collective blog on contemporary politics.

Below is an edited transcript that provides an overview of the guests’ perspectives on the show.

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Gender attitudes are changing but not across all domains, and not for all women

Sujata: The process of social change is [such that] sometimes you see the visible outcome, sometimes you don’t. Changes are not happening uniformly to all women and in all domains. This society accepts [the] notion of equality in some domains, while it outrightly rejects it in others.

For example, domestic violence was seen as [the] fate of womanhood. It was so natural that violence was not even seen as violence, it was seen as [a] norm. But [today there is] a significant shift in how women perceive [the] violence happening to them. They understand and realise that it is violence. Our Domestic Violence Act has also given them [a] tool to challenge that violence.

[Another change we see is in] women’s roles and family. No more [are they] confined to [the] private domain within [the] four walls of households. Women are coming out for work [and] for education…

Nivedita: There’s been a shift when it comes to sexuality, queer identities, gender-nonconforming love, gender-nonconforming identities, and so on. There is greater visibility of these issues, and of people who subscribe to these spaces. There is a shift in the way sexual violence is perceived. If you think of the # MeToo [movement], and [how] women speak up about the ways in which they face sexual harassment, there has been a definite shift.

To reiterate what Sujata said, there has been [a] shift but this is not some kind of revolution across the board. There hasn’t been some kind of massive social transformation. There is still violence against poor people; transphobia; violence against trans people, women, Dalits. And even among those whose attitudes have shifted on questions of sexual violence, sexuality, women and professions, there would still be very strong class and caste prejudice and [an] inability to recognise their own caste and class privilege.

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There have been a number of important judgements and laws. For example, the judgement that recognised trans people as a third gender, and the reading down of Section 377 . The Domestic Violence Act, which Sujata mentioned, has transformed the nature of the ways in which women feel they should have to be in a marriage…

Such changes threaten social order and are often punished

Nivedita: There is a certain social order based on caste hierarchy, community identities, extreme class inequality, compulsory institution of heterosexual marriage, and the family that emerges or is sanctified by the heterosexual patriarchal marriage. It is this family that will give you your caste identity, your religious community identity; it will tell you where you are in the social system, and give you your privileges, and discrimination. Family is at the base of every single inequality in the modern society in which we live. Now, this family depends on very strict ideas of what is a man and what is a woman. This has biological and cultural connotations.

You would kill your own child, rather than live with your child married to a person of another caste.

In Europe, bodies with both kinds of sexual organs were called hermaphrodites. Now we would say intersex. Those bodies were acceptable and seen as normal and natural until the 17th–18th century—that is when the policing of these bodies starts. In our societies, it starts with the coming in of colonial modernity, but now it’s been naturalised—the idea that all of us are born exclusively male or female, and the idea of endogamy, the idea that marriage should always be only within permitted limits. You can see the kind of anxiety about inter-caste and inter-religious community marriage. The violence…that you would kill your own child, rather than live with your child married to a person of another caste. Also, you will notice the idea that women are being married by men of other religious communities and castes, and that is seen as more dangerous for the family than if the men marry out and bring women from other communities and castes, because that is what the role of the woman is assumed to be—she maintains the identity of the family.

The purity of her uterus is absolutely crucial to this process, because in order to ensure that no man can have sex with her, and possibly impregnate her, except a man of her caste, who has been found for her as her husband, it results in the extreme policing of women. Under these circumstances, there is anxiety about people not conforming to their gender roles, claiming to be other than the gender they were assigned at birth, or not accepting the gender they were assigned at birth, inter-caste marriages, inter-community marriages. There is anxiety because it is about maintaining a certain social order, which retains and fixes caste and class hierarchies, controls women’s sexuality, and ensures property passes from father to his son. All of this requires very strict boundaries for people.

women sitting in a circle in sarees_gender roles

Sujata: All values that we [women] imbibe [since childhood] are inequality, subservience, humiliation, injustice, [and] insults. These values [and] constraints are part of our upbringing, and thus become part of our personality and behaviour. They also lead to some stereotypical expectations the society has for you—how you should behave, what you should and should not say, and so on. So when you try to cross those boundaries, there is bound to be a backlash. And what we have seen always is, society does policing. If you cross [boundaries], they have punishments. So what happens normally, if we see punishment, it creates fear, probably that is also the cost that we pay for this change initially because you have consistent fear of losing your family honour, your near ones, your relatives; your children’s pain; desertion. You’re also punished, physically beaten, raped, thrown out of [the] house when you try to transgress this boundary. Men leaving [their] wives or deserting them is very common, and that is in a way acceptable to society. But if women ask for divorce, or a woman says, I want to stay on my own, then that [is] challenging the stereotypical expectation and the social norm.

One of our friends had a very violent marriage, and decided to stay on her own with her four-year-old son. She was telling us horrifying stories, like how she gets knocks at 2–3 am both from men and women. She says, I know they want to keep vigilance. She has a neighbour, a man who has no wife and has two children. But nobody asked him whether he needs any help, that too at 2–3 am. These are the tools to pressurise and terrorise you…

We talk of the investment that we are doing in changing things, changing gender attitudes, but there is so much investment done in not changing those attitudes, in terms of social norms, practices. That backlash and the mental and physical stress that a woman undergoes is the cost that she pays for challenging the gender norm. The same friend that I was talking about, last year she was a CII Women Exemplar awardee . So if you get the support to cross the boundary of backlash, then [that] trajectory probably has no limit.

Dialogue is crucial if we want to shift gender attitudes

Sujata: Dialogue is a very powerful tool to initiate change and critical thinking for both men and women. [However], the dialogue should be based on equality and parity, communication, mutual empowerment. We [at CORO] are extensively working with men while dealing with violence against women, because we have to bring them as partners on the table—they are part of [the] problem, but also part of the solution.

The first level of dialogue has to be among ourselves on questions of caste and class privilege.

So I would just give you an example. In our work in Muslim-populated communities, we have lots of vibrant women leaders, who were talking about triple talaq . So this maulavi issued a circular in the community, that don’t entertain these women, don’t bring them into your homes, because they are anti-men and anti-religion. That was [the] kind of resistance or opposition that he had, and he didn’t pay any heed in the first communication. But a team of seven–eight leaders, who themselves are divorced, continued the discussion. And I’m so happy to tell you that he is our ardent supporter currently. He’s our fellow, working on constitutional values, where he has come up with a curriculum which sees the similarities and convergences between Quran [and the] Constitution, and he teaches young kids. When I asked him what was the tipping point, he said, your approach—when your team was consistently pressing their point ahead, they made space for me to speak. They tried to understand where I’m also coming from, and then I thought you are not as bad as I was thinking. From there, the dialogue started…

And the laws, they reflect what is going on in the society. But only laws also don’t help, because it is again in the hands of [the] implementer. It is something that needs a mindset shift, and seeing equality as a value in our life. That comes only through dialogue, and not by thrashing each other or taking completely this or that position.

Nivedita: When it comes to dialogue, we have to recognise that even inside the spaces that are supposedly ours, there are a range of differences of opinion:

  • The first level of dialogue is with people who share a vision with us. But within that space, there are inequalities of privilege, caste, and class, of who has legitimacy to speak, there are hierarchies of age. So, the first level of dialogue has to be among ourselves on questions of caste and class privilege. And that can be quite bitter and divisive. We have to figure out ways in which that doesn’t happen.
  • The second level of dialogue is with people who could be our allies, like the maulavi in Sujata’s case. We could and should reach out to people who may simply be sections that may not have thought through certain things. This again starts from the home—people who may listen, your father, mother, brother, uncles, neighbours, who simply have not thought of an alternative. And they don’t respond violently when you suggest something, but they actually start thinking.
  • Now, a third outer circle is of those whose purpose is to maintain a certain social order, a very highly organised right which has control over institutions and structural spaces. Here, when you’re talking about a highly organised project, to transform the country in a particular direction, there you reach the limits of dialogue and conversation, because the response is actual physical violence, or the use of state institutions to silence you. It is the use of coercive institutions like the police, it’s the use of instruments like the law. A private citizen can file a case for sedition against anybody, if they feel that their nationalist sentiments have been hurt. Then, there are very well-organised IT campaigns trolling people. And women particularly face very violent trolling and rape and death threats. When you reach that domain, we don’t have an alternative. But we don’t have any other weapon than our insistence on non-violent protest and non-violent dialogue, which we will keep up and the idea is to isolate that outer circle. The idea is that that middle circle should expand more.

However, structural changes are equally important to disrupt gender norms

Sujata: Structural requirements are providing facilities which are enabling for women—which eases out the burden that is stereotypically hers or her job, and eliminating the restricting factor. We talked about the backlash [you get] when you try and change anything stereotypical. So having very strong support systems in the nearest environment [is important].

There is structural change that is needed in education, because it teaches so much inequality.

There is structural change that is needed in education, because it teaches so much inequality. Right from childhood, most often, we are very reactive to incidents of inequality, violence, and all our actions and reactions are more incidents-based. Work has to be done on mental structures and mental models, because they are so deeply embedded. To get out of this is a challenge for everybody, whether it’s a man, woman, trans, anybody, because that constructs identity.

Nivedita: One structural change is a recognition of the sexual division of labour, and how it produces burdens and hurdles for all women—the normalising of the idea that women are responsible for reproduction, and men are responsible for production in the public domain.

But, of course, most women are also involved in production, but almost no man is involved in reproduction. This is the sexual division of labour. What this does is, at very high levels, for instance, if you’re a CEO, then you have the idea of the glass ceiling, because you voluntarily stepped back from many kinds of work that you could do because of your responsibilities towards your children and the home. As you come lower down in the class hierarchy, there aren’t so many women in public politics, because their responsibilities are so great. [For instance,] the reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions—many studies have shown that women are usually very young or much older. In their childbearing and home-running age, they do not enter politics. Women voluntarily clip their wings. If you ask class 12 students about their aims and ambitions—the way boys will speak and the way the girls will speak will be very different. Because girls are already aware of their limitations by the time they’re 17 or 18. Even if girls want a job, they know the kind that will enable them to still be a good wife and mother. Now, when we recognise this, and work towards a campaign of social and state, and employer responsibility for childcare, then that’s it. Just one small thing, that childcare responsibilities cannot continue to be privatised into a nuclear or even joint family households where only the women are doing this work.

So if every employer, from the contractor on the building site to this multinational company, all the way wherever people are employed…there should be childcare facility. Not [just] for women, there should be childcare facilities for all employees… If you think of one small [structural] change, this is a doable thing, it is practical, [and] it can be effective.

You can listen to the full episode  here .

  • Read  about  how Indians view gender roles in family and society.
  • Read  about  gender stereotyping in the Indian judiciary system.
  • Learn  why gender equity requires working with men in power.

Every year the World Economic Forum publishes a Global Gender Gap Report, which looks at gender equality around the world. In 2022, India ranked 135 among 146 nations, which was […]

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Gender equality.

Every child deserves to reach her or his full potential, but gender inequalities in their lives and in the lives of those who care for them hinder this reality.

Children react during an activity at an Anganwadi center in Cherki, Bihar.

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Accelerating progress and opportunities across India for every girl and every boy

Wherever they live in India girls and boys see gender inequality in their homes and communities every day – in textbooks, in movies, in the media and among the men and women who provide their care and support.

Across India gender inequality results in unequal opportunities, and while it impacts on the lives of both genders, statistically it is girls that are the most disadvantaged.

Globally girls have higher survival rates at birth, are more likely to be developmentally on track, and just as likely to participate in preschool, but India is the only large country where more girls die than boys . Girls are also more likely to drop out of school.

In India girls and boys experience adolescence differently. While boys tend to experience greater freedom, girls tend to face extensive limitations on their ability to move freely and to make decisions affecting their work, education, marriage and social relationships.

As girls and boys age the gender barriers continue to expand and continue into adulthood where we see only a quarter of women in the formal workplace.

Some Indian women are global leaders and powerful voices in diverse fields but most women and girls in India do not fully enjoy many of their rights due to deeply entrenched patriarchal views, norms, traditions and structures.

India will not fully develop unless both girls and boys are equally supported to reach their full potential.

There are risks, violations and vulnerabilities girls face just because they are girls. Most of these risks are directly linked to the economic, political, social and cultural disadvantages girls deal with in their daily lives. This becomes acute during crisis and disasters.

With the prevalence of gender discrimination, and social norms and practices, girls become exposed to the possibility of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child domestic work, poor education and health, sexual abuse, exploitation and violence. Many of these manifestations will not change unless girls are valued more.                   

The solution

It is critical to enhance the value of girls by investing in and empowering them, with education, life skills, sport and much more.

By increasing the value of girls we can collectively contribute to the achievement of specific results, some short-term (increasing access to education, reducing anaemia), others medium-term (ending child marriage) and others long-term (eliminating gender-biased sex selection).   

Changing the value of girls has to include men, women and boys. It has to mobilize many sectors in society. Only when society’s perception changes, will the rights of all the girls and all the boys in India be fulfilled.

Empowering girls requires focused investment and collaboration. Providing girls with the services and safety, education and skills they need in daily life can reduce the risks they face and enable them to fully develop and contribute to India’s growth.

Girls have an especially difficult time accessing life-saving resources, information and social networks in their daily life.  Access to programmes specifically tailored to the needs of girls – with a focus on education and developing life skills, ending violence and incorporating the needs and contributions of girls from vulnerable groups, including those with disabilities, can strengthen the resilience of millions of girls. Long-term solutions designed with and for girls can further strengthen this resilience and be a pathway of transformational and lifelong opportunity for girls.

All girls, especially adolescent girls, need platforms to voice the challenges they face in everyday life and explore the solutions that work for them so they can build better futures for themselves and their communities.

UNICEF India’s 2018-2022 Country Programme has been developed in response to the identification of deprivations that Indian children face, including gender based deprivations. Each programmatic outcome is committed to a gender priority that is noted explicitly in its programme, budget and results. These include:  

  • Health: Reducing excess female mortality under five and supporting equal care-seeking behaviour for girls and boys. (Example: front-line workers encourage families to take sick baby girls to the hospital immediately) 
  • Nutrition: Improving nutrition of women and girls, especially by promoting more equitable eating practices (Example: women cooperatives develop and implement their own micro-plans for improved nutrition in their villages) 
  • Education: Gender responsive support to enable out-of-school girls and boys to learn and enabling more gender-responsive curricula and pedagogy (Example: implementing new strategies for identifying vulnerable out of school girls and boys, overhaul of textbooks so that the language, images and messages do not perpetuate gender stereotypes) 
  • Child protection: Ending child and early marriage (Example: supporting panchayats to become “child-marriage free”, facilitating girls and boys clubs that teach girls sports, photography, journalism and other non-traditional activities) 
  • WASH: Improving girls’ access to menstrual hygiene management, including through well-equipped separate toilets in schools (Example: developing gender guidelines from Swacch Bharat Mission, supporting states to implement MHM policy) 
  • Social policy: Supporting state governments to develop gender-responsive cash transfer programmes and supporting women’s leadership in local governance (Example: cash transfer programme in West Bengal to enable girls to stay in school, a Resource Centre for women panchayat leaders in Jharkhand) 
  • Disaster risk reduction: Enabling greater gender disaggregation of information management for disaster risk reduction and more leadership and participation of women and girls (Example: greater women’s leadership and participation in Village Disaster Management Committees) 

Model student achievers Subhas and Manisha display their certificate of merit received from the Laado Campaign, Bambhor Village, Tonk District, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

In addition, three cross-cutting themes will support all outcomes: 

  • Joint C4D-Gender strategy: UNICEF’s Communication for Development (C4D) team develops social and behaviour change communication to support each outcome. These communications prioritize efforts to change negative gender norms like unequal feeding, unequal investment in young girls and boys, harmful MHM practices and perpetuation of lower value of girls than boys through wedding dowry. 
  • Advocating for and promoting equal value of girls: UNICEF’s Communications, Advocacy and Partnerships team works with media, influencers and gamechangers to advocate for UNICEF priorities, which, in the 2018-2022 programme, includes Equal Value of Girls and Boys. 
  • Increasing and improving girls’ and women’s safe mobility: UNICEF India has begun work in some states to work on new programmes with new partners to improve the ability and freedom of women and girls, including to access government services like schools and hospitals.  

Strategic partnerships  

Key partners include the Ministry of Women and Child Development, especially its leadership of the Beti Bachao Beti Padao Programme, which UNICEF India is supporting at the national and state level. UNICEF India works closely with other UN agencies to support gender equality, especially with United Nations Population Fund and UN Women. Civil society organizations, including gender experts and activities are also key partners.  

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Reflecting on India’s Development pp 251–269 Cite as

Gender Inequality: A Comparison of India and USA

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Gender inequality refers to the differential ability of men and women to access society’s resources and to receive its privileges. Gender inequality is complicated, because every individual, categorized as either male or female, also falls somewhere within a matrix of domination that includes other dimensions like race/ethnicity, social class, age and sexuality. The paper makes an attempt to compare gender inequality in a developed (USA) and developing (India) country on dimensions such as education, health, labour force participation and politics based on Gender Data Portal of World Bank for the period 2007–2017. In terms of Government Expenditure on Education, USA spends much more than India on education. The number of out of schoolchildren has decreased for India but has increased for USA from 2007 to 2013. Primary and Secondary School enrolment has also shown an increase in India while a decline in USA. Gender inequality continues to have a negative impact on many health outcomes of Indian women. USA women fare better than Indian women at all indicators studied. The paper argues that if economic growth was the only criterion for labour force participation, then there should not be disparity among LFPR of males and females in USA, but lower LFPR for females than males in USA reflects disparity among males and females. About 81.94% of females in India were self-employed in 2017 as compared to only 7.34% in USA. India and USA both fare poorly in political participation of women. The paper thus concludes that although India performs poorly across various socio-economic indicators as compared to USA, one can say that there is no perfect gender equality in any of these two countries.

  • Gender inequality
  • Development

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Ruby Dhar, Ved Prakash & Bhoop Singh

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Definitions of Indicators Used

Government expenditure on education: General government expenditure on education (current, capital and transfers) is expressed as a percentage of GDP. It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.

Children out of school, primary (Number in Lakhs): Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.

School enrolment in primary (%): Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art and music.

School enrolment in secondary (%): Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.

Female teachers in educational institutions: Share of female academic staff in education.

Maternal death refers to the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

Employment is defined as persons of working age who were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement. The agriculture sector consists of activities in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing, in accordance with division 1 (ISIC 2) or categories A-B (ISIC 3) or category A (ISIC 4). The industry sector consists of mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction and public utilities (electricity, gas and water), in accordance with divisions 2–5 (ISIC 2) or categories C-F (ISIC 3) or categories B-F (ISIC 4). The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; and community, social and personal services, in accordance with divisions 6–9 (ISIC 2) or categories G-Q (ISIC 3) or categories G-U (ISIC 4).

Labour force participation rate is the proportion of the population ages 15 and older that is economically active: all people who supply labour for the production of goods and services during a specified period.

Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who hold the type of jobs defined as ‘paid employment jobs’, where the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.

Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a ‘self-employment jobs’, i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include four sub-categories of employers, own-account workers, members of producers’ cooperatives and contributing family workers.

Women in parliaments are the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women.

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Dhar, R., Prakash, V., Singh, B. (2018). Gender Inequality: A Comparison of India and USA. In: NILERD (eds) Reflecting on India’s Development. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1414-8_12

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gender roles in india essay

Empowering women: 5 voices shaping gender equality in India

In india's dynamic landscape, women are breaking barriers and fostering inclusivity across sectors. as we celebrate international women's day, let's explore their stories of resilience and leadership in driving change for gender equality..

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Empowering women: 5 voices shaping gender equality in India

In a world where diversity, equality, and inclusion are increasingly becoming not just buzzwords but integral aspects of organisational culture, India is witnessing a significant shift. Women across various sectors are breaking barriers, leading initiatives, and making their voices heard louder than ever before.

KEYS TO BREAKING GENDER BARRIERS

gender roles in india essay

Mittal further highlights, "Collaboration, particularly within the renewable energy sector, has been a cornerstone of innovation and growth. Partnering with like-minded individuals has not only amplified our collective impact but has also driven initiatives that promote sustainable practices and contribute to a greener future. As a woman in a male-dominated industry, collaboration has provided a platform to share experiences and collectively address the unique challenges faced by women leaders in the energy sector."

CREATING AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT

gender roles in india essay

Covestro India's initiatives like 'Katalyst' and 'Manobal' stand as testaments to their dedication to fostering inclusivity.

DRIVING INNOVATION AND INCLUSIVITY IN STARTUPS

gender roles in india essay

HEALTHCARE ACCESS AND EQUALITY

gender roles in india essay

These voices represent a fraction of the diverse experiences and perspectives of women in India today. As we celebrate Women's Day, let us not only applaud their achievements but also commit to fostering an environment where every woman can thrive, lead, and inspire.

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Essay on Gender Equality in India

List of essays on gender equality in english, essay on gender equality in india – essay 1 (100 words), essay on gender equality – essay 2 (250 words), essay on gender equality – essay 3 (400 words), essay on gender equality – essay 4 (500 words), essay on gender equality in india – essay 5 (500 words), essay on gender equality – essay 6 (750 words), essay on gender equality – essay 7 (1000 words).

One of the most alarming facts of India is that the Gender Inequality is at its heights. Gender Equality basically means equality for both men and women in every aspect of life, politically, economically, in health, education etc.

While the laws of Independent India are robust giving women a safety net, it is unfortunate that Gender Equality is still an issue. In 2018, India has topped in the Unsafe Countries for Women list bringing a national shame which the citizens and the leaders most gladly shrugged off. We should at every walk of life make a conscious effort to bring Gender Equality into existence.

Gender Equality is one of the severe issues in our current modern society. It refers to the equality of responsibilities, rights, and opportunities for females and males. Women, as well as girls, still fall behind the men and boys on the fundamental aspects globally.

It is essential to maintain gender equality for global development as well. Till now, women are still incapable of contributing effectively, and in fact, they don’t recognize their complete potential.

Gender Equality and its importance:

Although our spiritual beliefs consider females as a deity, we fail to identify her as a human first. Women still understated in the positions of decision-making in different companies. Several studies show that there are below 1/3 rd women in the world that occupy the ranks of senior management.

By offering gender equality in areas of health services, education, job, and involvement in administrative and monetary decision-making practices will ultimately benefit in attaining the economic sustainability overall. Numerous global organizations emphasize the significance of gender equality as a motivation for resolving several demographic, economic, and other issues.

Conclusion:

Now, positive growth can be seen in the region of ​​gender equality (comprising the equal right to girls and boys for primary education). But, still, there are some parts of the world in which the girls and women are continuing to suffer from violence and discrimination. There is a definite necessity to make our legal and regulatory framework stronger for fighting the deep-embedded practice of gender inequality. We hope the entire world recognizes the efforts of men and women equally soon in our modern society.

From the early days, inequality among male and female have been a common issue. It is so sad that how the biological difference in a human being can change all types of importance and rights they can have. From birth to marriage to jobs to the style of living, both genders differ the facilities and importance they get.

What is Gender Equality?

Gender equality or sexual equality is the state when all human being can have easy and equal access to all the opportunities, resources, etc., in spite of their biological differences. They should be granted equality in developing their own future, equality in economic participation, equality in the way of lifestyle, equality in granting them the freedom to make decisions, equality in almost everything they go through in their life.

Need for discussing Gender Equality:

We all know how women are being treated in society due to the lack of awareness and inequality. Even in the womb, they are being killed thinking that they are going to be a burden to the family. Even after their birth they are made to stick to the household activities and are denied education, good jobs, etc.

Gender equality is to commonly give equality in all stages for both men and women, whether in their home or whether be in their education or in the job they choose. The job of this discussion about gender equality is to break all the boundaries and limitations set by the family, society, and the world for both men and women, to attain their goals independently.

From ancient times there are certain stereotypes and roles set for the different gender like men are for bringing money to the house and women are for doing household works, looking after the family, etc. These stereotypes are to be broken, and both men and women should come out of their boundaries to follow their dreams rather than worrying about the outer world.

This discussion is not about finding women everything a man can or the other way, it is about giving and respecting both gender’s differences and behaviors. We see in many cases that women won’t get a good education or they are denied their rights, this discussion will help both the family and women to understand their rights.

Not only for women, but men are also judged when they choose or break their role in society, like choosing a variety of career, which should be corrected too. Finally, gender equality means respecting and treating all gender equally.

Gender equality is also called sexual equality and is defined as a state of equal access to opportunities and resources not minding gender, and including decision making and economic participation; also valuing all of the different needs, aspirations and behaviours without any form of partiality.

The history of gender equality dates back a long time to about 1405 when Christine de Pizan wrote in her book The Book of the City of Ladies that women are oppressed based on biased prejudice and she pointed out a lot of ways where women in the society are making progress. There was also the Shakers; a group of evangelicals that practiced the segregation of both sexes and preached celibacy. They were one of the first practitioners of equality of the genders. After the Second World War, feminism and the women’s liberation movement have created movements for the recognition of the rights of women. A lot of international agencies like the United Nations and a host of others have done a lot to help improve gender equality but some countries have not adopted many of the conventions.

Feminists have criticised and raised issues about gender biases and the condition of women in countries that don’t have western culture. There have been cases of domestic violence against women and there have been cases of honour killing in some places especially in parts of Asia and North Africa. There is also the problem of women not getting equal pay with men for equal work they have done and women sometimes get harassed sexually by their superiors at work.

A lot of work has been done to battle gender inequality in our society. For example, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) was opened by the European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania in the year 2010 just to canvass for gender equality and also to battle sex discrimination. The European Union also published a paper called the Gender Action Plan 2016-2020 in the year 2015. The Great Britain and some other countries in Europe have added gender equality as part of their curriculum. Also, the president of the republic of Kazakhstan made a presidential decree to create a strategy for gender equality.

Violence against the women is a term that is used to refer to all forms of violent acts that are majorly and primarily against women in the society. Violence against women is typically gender-based which means that it is solely committed against women just because they are women or because of the patriarchal constructs of gender. These gender based inequalities are to be removed from society by bringing about gender equality.

Gender equality aims at removing all boundaries and differences between men and women. It eliminates any kind of discrimination between male and female. Gender equality ensures equal rights and opportunities for both males and females, be it at home or in educational institutions or at workplaces. Gender equality guarantees political, social, and economic equality.

Understanding the Concept:

Gender equality in India is still a faraway dream for us. Despite all the education, advancement, and economic growth, many nations are suffering from the culture of gender inequality, and India is one of them. Apart from India, other European, American, and Asian countries also fall in the same category where the discrimination between men and women has been going on for so long.

Gender Equality in India:

Gender equality in India or in any other part of the world would be achieved when men and women, boys and girls would be treated equally, like two individuals, not two genders. This equality needs to be practiced at homes, in the schools, offices, in marital relations, etc.

Gender equality in India would also mean that the females should feel safe and not driven by the fear of violence. The uneven sex ratio all over the country is a proof that preference for boys over girls is a ground level norm in our Indian society. And this blemish is not confined to just one religion or caste. To a large level, it infects the whole society.

Causes of Gender Discrimination:

There are several hurdles in the way of achieving gender equality in India. The Indian mindset dwells on the deep-rooted patriarchal system. Boys are given more value compared to girls who are just looked upon as a burden.

For this reason, the education of girls is not taken as seriously, which again poses a threat to gender equality in India. Child marriages and child labor also contribute to the lack of gender equality in India.

Poverty is another pitfall in gender equality in India because it pushes girls into sexual abuse, child trafficking, forced marriages, and domestic violence.

Insensitivity toward women exposes them to rapes, stalking, threats, unsafe atmosphere at workplaces and roads due to which achieving gender equality in India has become a tough task.

Possible Solutions:

The causes mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg. Serious groundwork needs to be done if we are ever to establish gender equality in India. We can all make a small yet significant change to improve gender equality in India.

Parents must teach their boys to respect girls and take them as equals. For this, both mother and father can be their role models. Education must become a necessity for all the girls without which hoping for gender equality in India would be worthless.

School education and social culture also play an important role in spreading gender equality in India. Sex education, awareness campaigns, complete eradication of female feticide, the toxic effects of dowry and early marriages, should all be taught to students.

The road to an absolute gender equality in India is tough but not impossible. We must be honest in our efforts and work on changing the social outlook toward females. For a full-fledged gender equality in India, both men and women must work together and bring a positive change in society.

Gender refers to each female and male, and also the members of the family between them. Gender equality, do we truly put into practice? Yes, we’ve got achieved the idea of gender equality inside the present day society. Now the governments are constantly speaking about the truthful treatment for all of us. There may be no difference in gender roles due to the fact now the society is more recognition on gender equality. Its miles vital to emphasize the concept of gender. Therefore, the concept of gender equality wishes to be understood without a doubt because everybody have to be reputable, predicted, allowed and valued in each aspect. Promotion of gender equality is important in the present modern world. Imposing the gender equality may require the identical illustration and the participation of woman and male within the category of selection-making, economy, task possibilities and civil life.

In the past, gender equality was not practiced and both genders, female and male couldn’t reach their complete ability in the society. It’s far because there are quite a few incorrect standards, wrong statements, and incorrect decisions for the both genders. They shape the incorrect judgments and form the attributes which affects the thinking on each genders and additionally the way we understand depressed human beings. Gender stereotypes were generated in the past. They have been continuous stereotypes about female and male as in males are greater on decision-making, dealing the principal issues whereas females need to continually live at domestic and settle the minor things. Prejudice exists anywhere, with a prejudice comes a stereotype. Gender stereotypes are representing a terrible message and tend to convey a negative effect to a person. It impacts the judgments we form to the both genders. All people is specific, they has their own characteristics. It’s far extremely unfair if we are being stereotyped to a person because of their genders. Therefore, stereotype reflects the truths approximately the realities like not best male are constantly with courage and strong frame to paintings, at the opposite, female even can perform better than male in every aspects.

Although, there is no sustainable development without gender equality and from a development perspective, the world may miss accomplishable targets because of gender-inequality. (“Without Firm Action”) Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and therefore also half its potential. “We need to be gender specific when it comes to employment [and] companies could see the benefits of hiring women, [and break the stereotypical view]”.

An equal society begins with women reclaiming their strong voice, and then gender wouldn’t be as much of a relation of power. Gender equality is a fundamental right which contributes to a healthy society filled with respectful relationships between one another. “[Women can] address their conditions in life, either resisting or submitting to oppressive relations”. Women who begin to step outside of the norm are questioned for their power and capability to accomplish their great ambitions. Women have every right in the world to strive for what they want; it is society that tells them differently.

Like in Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”, a young woman is discovering her identity and power in the world. Using depictions of color throughout the story gives us the sense that she is comparing herself to the color(s) around her. Hurston uses the metaphor of colored bags meaning that they may look different on the outside, yet when the bags are poured out, everything would be somewhat the same. From my approach, this can be compared to the concept of gender equality. Aside from a few biological differences, men and women are equal. When Zora leaves home in the story to move on and fill her aspirations in life, she immediately becomes “colored”.

If we let women reach their full potential, it will leave the world flourishing. All it takes is strangers coming together and supporting one another along their journeys to solve worldwide problem of gender in-equality and bring about gender equality. We are all human and we are all filled and fueled by empowerment, support, and love. We can’t move forward in society until we work towards gender equity, rather than gender inequality. Gender equality isn’t just another phrase for women’s empowerment and rights, its equality for both the genders.

Gender equality is not only an advantage for the females; however it benefits humanity as an entire. It may assist tackle the crippling poverty, illiteracy and abuse which have stricken international locations internationally. Gender equality can even help wreck down inflexible gender roles that afflict us all.

The availability of equal opportunities, resources and freedom on various counts irrespective of religion is what we call as Gender Equality. According to gender equality, all humans should be treated as equals despite their gender and should be allowed to make decisions and choices in their life as per their own aspirations. It is actually a goal which has often been neglected by society despite the fact that governments all over the world have been known to come up with various laws and measures to ensure gender equality. But, an important piece of thought is that “Have we been able to achieve this goal?” Leave aside achieving; are we anything near to it? The answer is probably “No”. Not only in India, but across the world there are numerous incidents which reflects the status of gender equality or rather gender inequality every day.

Gender equality disparities and their social causes affect India’s sex ratio, the wellbeing of women, the economic conditions as well as the growth of the country. Gender inequality in India is a multifaceted issue that affects a larger population of the country. In any case, when India’s population is analyzed in general, women are often not treated equally to their men counterparts. Moreover, this has been in existence through ages and is also accepted as a part of the life even by many women in the country. There are still parts in India, where women are the first ones to revolt if the government tries to take their men to task for not treating them as equals. While Indian laws on assault, endowment and infidelity have provided security to women at the basic level, these profoundly oppressive practices are as yet occurring at a disturbing rate, influencing the lives of many women even today.

In fact, as per the Global Gender Gap Report discharged by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2011, India was positioned 113 on the Gender Gap Index (GGI) among 135 nations polled. Since then India has enhanced its rankings on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index (GGI) to 105/136 in 2013. When separated into parts of the GGI, India performs well on political strengthening, however, is scored to be as terrible as China on sex-specific foetus removal.

Efforts to Fight Gender Equality:

i. There have been many initiatives by the respective governments, post-independence to somehow bridge this gap in gender inequality. For instance, some of the schemes run the government as on date under the Ministry of Women and Child Development to ensure women are treated equally such as Swadhar and Short Stay Homes to give alleviation and restoration to women in distress as well as destitute women.

ii. Working Women Hostels for guaranteeing safe settlement for working women from their place of habitation.

iii. Support to Training and Employment Program for Women (STEP) to guarantee practical business and salary age for minimized and resource less rustic and urban poor women all over the nation.

iv. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) to give miniaturized scale fund administrations to realize the financial upliftment of poor women.

v. National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) to fortify the general procedures that advance all-round Development of Women.

vi. Sabla Scheme for all-encompassing improvement of young women in the age group of 11-18 years.

Moreover, some of the laws enacted by the government also provide protection to people irrespective of their gender. For instance, Equal Remuneration Act, 1973 accommodates instalment of equivalent compensation to labourers for a similar work of comparative nature with no segregation. With the end goal to guarantee standardized savings to the specialists incorporating women in the disorderly segment, the Government has sanctioned the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act 2008. Additionally, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 covers all people, regardless of their age or business status and secure them against lewd behaviour at all working environments both out in the open and private segment, whether composed or chaotic.

Role of United Nations:

The United Nations has been quite active in supporting the Indian government towards achieving its goal on gender equality. In 2008, the UN Secretary-General propelled the UNiTE to End Violence against Women crusade with the mean to raise open mindfulness and increment political will and assets for averting and consummation all types of viciousness against women. Through its promotion activities at the worldwide, territorial and national dimensions, the UNiTE crusade is attempting to activate people and networks. Notwithstanding supporting the longstanding endeavours of women and common society associations, the battle is effectively captivating with men, youngsters, VIPs, craftsmen, sports identities, private part and some more.

Moreover, the making of UN Women came to fruition as a major aspect of the UN change plan, uniting assets and orders on gender equality. In India, UN Women works intimately with the Government of India and common society to set national benchmarks for accomplishing gender equity. UN Women attempts to fortify women’s financial strengthening through its help to women agriculturists, and manual foragers. As a major aspect of its work on harmony and security, UN Women trains peacekeepers to identify and stop strife related sexual brutality.

Women have been battling for equivalent rights for ages, for the privilege to cast a ballot, the privilege to control their bodies and the privilege of equality in the working environment. What’s more, these fights have been hard battled, yet regardless we have far to go, in treating the women as equal to men. Fairness in the working environment — women in a scope of fields from household work to media outlets can let you know — it’s still only a fantasy. Today, an ever-increasing number of activists and social researchers trust that mandatory sexual orientation sensitisation workshops for different city specialists, including the police and the legal, is a standout amongst the most huge routes towards accomplishing a change in outlook in mentality and conduct.

Perhaps, we can at least dream of a society in the course of future who does not treat people of different gender differently.

Equality , Gender Equality , Social Issues

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A Brief History of Indian Women Protesting Gender Inequality

Indian feminists have always had your back.

Indian women mobilising around gender issues

Long before #MeToo, and decades before the Indian government made any laws to protect women against violence, Indian feminists had been fighting for the right of women to exist unscathed in public and private spaces.

The Indian women’s movement began in 1975, working toward intersectionality and catapulting gender violence into national discourse. While a barebones women’s movement was being carried out in India since the 1920s, it only served as a complement to the political revolution taking India by storm.

In 1920, even Mahatma Gandhi, who touted himself as a champion of women’s rights, urged “women to stop fighting for voting rights and concentrate their efforts instead on ‘helping their men against the common foe,’” according to “ Domestic Violence and the Indian Women’s Movement: A Short History .”

Once the country gained independence, Indian leaders discouraged female revolutionaries from mobilizing, instilling a ‘ghar/bahir’ divide and reinforcing strict gender roles for women as the protectors of the home.

The feminism between Indian independence and the late 1970s was not an intersectional phenomenon; upper-caste women alone took up political and social causes after being advantaged by the nationalist movement that emphasized the education of Indian women. Even this resulted more by accident, as the movement was aimed more at getting a leg up on Western women, in terms of education, than it was at challenging ‘Indian’ gender roles, per “ Indian Women and Protest : An Historical Overview And Modern Day Evaluation .” The vast majority of women at this time were still imprisoned in “a ‘nonactivist and nontransformative’ state, whose superiority over all others meant she now embodied ghar and the ‘unchanged domesticity in an age of flux’.”

It was only in the late 1970s that women began mobilizing around issues of gender violence, such as “rape, dowry deaths, wife-beating, sati (the immolation of widows on their husband’s funeral pyre), female-neglect resulting in differential mortality rates, and, more recently, female feticide following amniocentesis,” according to “ Organising Against Violence: Strategies of the Indian Women’s Movement .”

One of the first major protests after this newfound, nationwide consciousness kicked in among female revolutionaries occurred after a high court overturned the convictions of two police officers in the Mathura rape case, wherein a 9-year-old girl was raped inside a police station.

In the next decade, the movement witnessed the proliferation of thousands of NGOs, political party-affiliated women’s organisations and other grassroots efforts as a result of greater media attention toward gender violence. This, in turn, spurred more mobilization and legal reform.

For example, in 1983, Section 498A was adopted into the Indian Penal Code, which made “cruelty” toward wives a criminal offence that could be punished with up to five years in jail. The law, which soon fell flat when cases under its purview were put under the jurisdiction of family courts to resolve marital disputes instead of punishing perpetrators, was still the first major legal victory since women started mobilizing at a large scale for change.

Over the course of the next 19 years, six conferences were held, the purpose of which was “to come together, to share experiences, to analyse issues, to build alliances and strategies for change and to strengthen the movements,” according to “ Conferences of Women’s Movement: History and Perspective .”

But these attempts at unity were also fraught with deep schisms over class and religion. The divisions framed the planning stages of the third conference in Bihar, Patna, in 1988, also called the Nari Mukti Sangharsh Sammelan. For the first time, rural groups were also included in discussions surrounding mobilization and change. At a rally attended by more than 8,000 after the conference, activists advocated for intersectionality in the women’s movement, urging urban women to link up with rural women, and urging middle- and upper-class women to ‘de-class’ themselves and take up in arms with their less privileged counterparts.

Historically, Indian women might have engaged in meek protests, such as excessive salting of meals, badmouthing their husbands behind their back, and singing songs replete with complaints, according to Appropriating Gender: Women’s Activism and Politicized Religion in South Asia . While these protests might not seem like much, Indian women were not the complacent, resigned group often depicted so in the West, the authors write. During the turn of the 21st century, furthermore, with decades of reform under its belt, the women’s movement became comfortable with taking to the streets.

And so it has. From rallying to urge the government to recognize the term ‘domestic violence’ in the early 2000s, to facilitating anti-rape laws after the 2012 Nirbhaya case, a fearless, mobilized women’s movement has been trying to effect change in an intensely patriarchal Indian society.

Most recently, 5,000 activists and sexual assault survivors completed a 10,000-kilometer-long dignity march through 200 districts and 24 states and union territories, to raise awareness about rape. While sexual harassment, assault and gender violence are still grave threats to women in India, a quote given to India Times by a survivor and activist, Bhanwari Devi, perfectly embodies the attitudes of Indian feminists from decades past:

“I will not be silenced. I will continue to fight till my last breath until I get justice.”

Rajvi Desai is The Swaddle's Culture Editor. After graduating from NYU as a Journalism and Politics major, she covered breaking news and politics in New York City, and dabbled in design and entertainment journalism. Back in the homeland, she's interested in tackling beauty, sports, politics and human rights in her gender-focused writing, while also co-managing The Swaddle Team's podcast, Respectfully Disagree.

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Gender roles and social reform in colonial India

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The chapter looks at women's engagement with educational reform in colonial India from a trans-regional and intersectional perspective. The first part focuses on the emergence of a colonial discourse on “female education” in the 1820s, which was firmly embedded in what has been termed a “colonial grammar of difference”. While the education of girls aimed to turn them into better (rational, enlightened) mothers, and agents of social improvement and civilization, British female educators used the engagement with the imperial “civilizing mission” as a way to enter the public sphere, to go abroad as teachers of female schools and act as missionaries among women. The second part of the paper contrasts the experiments with girls’ education for the domestic sphere in the early 19th century with new developments in the 1880s. Towards the later nineteenth century, a strong link was formed between feminist activism, the promotion of female education, and the emergence of new professional possibilities for women in the fields of child-care, and health care. While female British travelers to India were still influential in educational reform, the USA became an important provider of international reference models and a point of orientation for Indian reform-minded women. Moreover, Indian women from different caste and class backgrounds became important agents of educational and social change. The paper ends with a comparison of British women's "imperial feminism" to Indian reformers' caste, class and gender politics.

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This paper focuses on the rights of gendered minorities in India, using the case-study of the matriarchal community of Mahari-Devadasis (temple-dancers in the Jagannath Temple of Orissa[i], the creators of the classical dance-form Odissi, whose kinship structures, quotidian cultures and religious practices entailed being wed to Hindu deities over mortals). Under the colonial disciplining of deviant sexualities together with racialized bio-politics across the British Empire, they were conceptualized, categorized, and criminalized as “religious prostitutes” under Contagious Disease and Prostitution regulations, from the nineteenth century onwards. However, the abolition of this matrilineal tradition, instead of improving women’s life circumstances, propelled a turn towards clandestine networks of sex-work owing to their growing socio-economic stigmatization in the modern Indian nation-state. In problematizing human rights discourses surrounding this now-extinct community in postcolonial India, my research delineates how legal statutes on Devadasi Abolition silenced minority voices by distorting the complex relationship between bodily agency, informal economies of sexual commerce, and women’s socio-economic autonomy. The demise of this localized tradition, however, was accompanied with shifts in collective memory and societal perceptions, particularly with respect to their contribution to performative culture within the regional register of Orissa, which this study encapsulates. The paper therein examines social and cultural borders through the lens of globalized cultural flows and grassroots humanitarian movements, especially in the context of such marginalized gendered minorities in South Asia. It methodologically engages with diverse sources, including colonial period archival records, ethnographic fieldwork, parliamentary debates, national women’s rights paradigms on prostitution and trafficking, oral histories dealing with the experiential domain of such disenfranchised actors, grassroots level social activist movement advocating for the inclusion of minority subjects into civil society, along with visual culture depicting the Mahari-Devadasi dance-form on global theatrical spaces. It conclusively underscores the role of social activist movements from civil society towards incorporating indigenous struggles within the ambit of global humanitarian paradigms. Through the above factors, the paper elucidates how such grassroots level feminist movements epitomize important catalysts of social change, which challenge mainstream nationalist narratives on human rights. This research thereby posits the need to recuperate such subaltern voices from the margins in writing transnational historiographies on gender, sexuality, and human rights.

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3. gender roles in the family.

While most Indians say that men and women should share some family responsibilities, many still support traditional, patriarchal values. For example, a slim majority of Indians (54%) say that both the men and the women in a family should be responsible for earning money. But 43% instead take the view that men should be the primary earners. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of Indians (64%) – including 61% of women – express complete agreement with the idea that a wife always is obligated to obey her husband.

Indian attitudes about gender roles within family settings vary widely across religious groups. In general, Sikhs and Buddhists are the most likely to support an equal distribution of family responsibilities, while Muslims are often the least egalitarian in their attitudes. For example, a large majority of Sikhs say both men and women should earn money in a family (80%) and that both sons and daughters should tend to their parents’ funeral rituals (69%). But Muslims are much less likely to view these as shared responsibilities (37% and 24%, respectively); most Indian Muslims say these roles should fall to men and sons.

Younger Indian adults typically are no less traditional than their elders in their views on family gender roles, and these attitudes do not vary much between men and women. For instance, 33% of Indian women (along with 34% of men) say that sons should have greater rights than daughters to inherit from parents. But college graduates often are more likely than other Indians to support gender equality in the family. College-educated Muslims, for example, are much more inclined than Muslims with less education to say that sons and daughters should have equal inheritance rights (83% vs. 55%).

Gender attitudes also differ greatly depending on where people live within India. For example, survey respondents in the country’s Southern region generally are less likely than those living in the country’s Hindi Belt to say that a wife always must obey her husband. But Indians in Southern states don’t necessarily go so far as to support egalitarian gender roles in a family – in fact, people in the South are less likely than those in the Hindi Belt to say responsibilities like caring for children or earning money should be shared between men and women.

These broad regional differences often are accompanied by large variations between bordering states. For instance, people in two Southern states, Karnataka and Kerala, have widely different views about family roles. Karnataka residents, for example, are more than twice as likely as people in Kerala to say sons should have the primary responsibility to care for their parents as they age (60% vs. 25%) – part of a broader pattern in which Karnataka consistently stands out as having conservative attitudes on gender roles, while Kerala typically is much less traditional.

Indians tend to say men and women should share family responsibilities

Most Indians say that both women and men should be responsible for earning money (54%), caring for children (62%) and making family financial decisions (73%). Still, substantial minorities have traditional views when it comes to family responsibilities, saying men should be the primary money earners in a family (43%) and women should be the primary caregivers for children (34%). And one-in-five adults say men should be the primary decision-makers about family expenses.

Most Indians say men and women should both care for children, but many support traditional gender roles

Some religious groups are more traditional than others when it comes to gender roles in a family. For example, Muslims are more inclined to say men should be the primary earners in a family and make family financial decisions, while women should mainly be responsible for the children. Sikhs and Buddhists, meanwhile, are the most likely to say men and women should share equally in these family responsibilities.

Education also makes a big difference in how Indians think family responsibilities should be distributed. College graduates are more likely than other Indians to say men and women should share family duties. For example, roughly three-quarters of college graduates say both men and women in a family should care for children (73%), compared with about six-in-ten among all other Indians (61%).

Indians in Gujarat and West Bengal among the most likely to have traditional attitudes about gender roles

Attitudes on these issues also vary greatly within certain regions of the country. Among Southern states, for example, Kerala and Telangana stand out as having less conservative views on gender than some of their neighbors. For instance, one-in-five people or fewer in Kerala (19%) and Telangana (16%) say men should make family financial decisions, compared with roughly four-in-ten in Karnataka (39%).

Vast majority of Indians agree that a wife must always obey her husband

Most Indians completely agree that a wife must always obey her husband

About six-in-ten or more Sikhs (61%), Buddhists (62%), Hindus (64%) and Muslims (67%) express complete agreement that a wife should be subservient, although fewer Jains (52%) and Christians (44%) feel this way.

Women are only modestly less likely than men to say that wives should obey their husbands in all situations, and most women agree completely with this sentiment (61% vs. 67% among men).

Indians without a college education, those from Other Backwards Classes and those who live in rural areas are more inclined than other Indians to completely agree that wives must be obedient. For example, most Indians without a college degree (65%) completely agree that a wife must always obey her husband, compared with roughly half of college graduates who say the same (52%). Religious commitment also factors into this traditional attitude about marriage: People who say religion is very important in their lives are much more likely than other Indians to completely agree that a wife should obey her husband (67% vs. 44%).

Most Hindi Belt Indians completely agree that wives must always obey husbands

Even though people in the Southern states of India are more inclined than people in the Hindi Belt to support traditional family responsibilities, they generally are less likely to see wives as obligated to obey their husbands. Roughly a third in Tamil Nadu (36%) and Karnataka (34%) completely agree that a wife should always obey her husband, compared with vast majorities in Hindi Belt states such as Himachal Pradesh (90%), Uttar Pradesh (82%) and Bihar (81%).

Many Indians say sons should have prominent place in caring for elderly parents

Majority of Indians say sons and daughters should care for aging parents together, but many say the responsibility falls more on sons

Across India’s major religious groups, most people say both sons and daughters should care for parents as they age, including the vast majority of Sikhs (80%). But Muslims generally are less inclined than others to say children of both genders should share the responsibility to care for aging parents (54%), while many Muslims (43%) say sons should carry the bulk of responsibility for elderly parents.

Attitudes about who should tend to aging parents do not vary much by caste, except in some religious groups. Among Hindus, for example, caste isn’t correlated with attitudes on whether sons or daughters should care for aging parents. But Christians from higher castes are more likely than Christians from lower castes to say both sons and daughters should care for parents in their elderly years (75% vs. 61%).

While most Indians say both sons and daughters should care for their aging parents, this is a minority opinion in several, mostly Southern, states. Instead, majorities in Telangana (61%) and Karnataka (60%) say sons should tend to their parents’ needs, with far fewer in these states saying that sons and daughters should share the responsibility.

Majorities in Southern states of Telangana, Karnataka say sons should be primary caretakers for aging parents

But much smaller shares in neighboring Southern states favor sons taking on the bulk of the responsibility for elderly parents. Only about a quarter of Indians in Kerala (25%) and Tamil Nadu (27%) say sons primarily should care for their aging parents.

Majority of Indians say sons should be responsible for parents’ last rites

Most Hindus, Muslims and Jains in India say sons should be responsible for parents’ last rites or burial rituals

Most Muslims (74%), Jains (67%) and Hindus (63%) say sons should be primarily responsible for last rites or burial rituals, but far fewer Sikhs (29%), Christians (44%) and Buddhists (46%) expect this from sons. Instead, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists are more likely to say that both sons and daughters should be responsible for their parents’ last rites. (Very few Indians, regardless of religion, say daughters should be primarily responsible for funeral rituals.)

Indians without a college degree are more likely than college graduates to say sons should primarily tend to parents’ last rites or burial rituals (64% vs. 53%). Indians from Other Backwards Classes (69%) also are more inclined than those in other castes to say this (60% among General Category, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members).

Relatively few in Punjab and Kerala say sons should have primary responsibility for their parents’ last rites

In India, politics also are linked with views on this question. Those who express a favorable view of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are somewhat more likely than other Indians to say sons should be primarily responsible for their parents’ last rites and burial rituals (67% vs. 60%).

Attitudes on this issue also vary greatly by state. The vast majority of people in Uttar Pradesh (84%) and Gujarat (80%), for example, say sons should be responsible, while about three-in-ten in Sikh-majority Punjab (29%) agree.

Southern states are especially varied in their views. About eight-in-ten people in the Southern state of Karnataka (81%) say sons should tend to their parents’ funeral rituals, while just three-in-ten in Kerala take this stance.

Most Indians say both sons and daughters should have equal rights to inheritance

About a third of Indians say sons should have greater rights to inherit from parents

But some religious groups are more egalitarian than others when it comes to inheritance. Sikhs (84%) and Buddhists (81%), for example, are more likely than Hindus (64%), Christians (63%) and Muslims (56%) to say sons and daughters should have equal inheritance rights. About a third of Hindus (34%) and an even larger share of Muslims (42%) say that sons should have greater rights to inheritance.

Across groups, college graduates are more likely than Indians with less education to say sons and daughters should have equal rights to inheritance from their parents (77% vs. 63%). The gap is especially pronounced among Muslims – the vast majority of college-educated Muslims (83%) say sons and daughters should have equal inheritance rights, while just a slim majority of less-educated Muslims (55%) support equal inheritance rights for both genders.

Indians in some Southern states more likely than others to say sons should have greater rights to inheritance

Once again, Indians in different states vary considerably in their support for sons having greater rights to inheritance from their parents – from roughly six-in-ten in Telangana (62%) to one-in-ten in Chhattisgarh (10%).

Sikh-majority Punjab ranks among the states with the smallest shares of Indians who say inheritance rights should belong disproportionately to sons. But while there is a gap of 22 percentage points between Sikhs and Hindus at the national level on this question, similarly small shares of Punjabi Hindus (15%) and Punjabi Sikhs (11%) say sons should have greater rights to inheritance from parents.

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Gender Roles & Relations in India Essay Example

Gender Roles & Relations in India Essay Example

  • Pages: 4 (1075 words)
  • Published: July 30, 2021

Throughout history the roles and relations between the different genders has dramatically changed. In most societies, gender is a term that is socially constructed in that society plays an important role in shaping the different behaviors and attitudes of the members of society. The differences amongst genders are strongly reflected in the development of certain behavior traits and social roles within the specified gender. In addition, the development of gender roles begins in the early stages of life (as early as infancy). More specifically, throughout Indian history, gender roles have been very specific and traditional. They have been defined not only by political laws, but also by religious readings and literature. As time passed by, the traditionality of the gender roles has been influenced by technology.

In classical India (c. 700 BCE-350 BCE), like many civilizations prior to Indi

a, men were very much the dominant gender in the agricultural society. As agriculture became better organized and technology improved, the economic contributions from women were reduced (not eliminated) which meant the stress on male authority expanded. India followed a common pattern in agricultural societies, as the women’s sphere of action was gradually circumscribed. One of the largest customs in classical India was the introduction of arranged marriages. The parents contracted unions for their children, principally daughters, at quite an early age, to spouses they had never met before. The purpose of this was to promote a family’s economic well-being and to ensure solid economic links. Also the child brides would contribute dowries of land or domesticated animals to the eventual family estate. However, as a result, young people, notably girls, were drawn into a new family structur

in which they had no say. These wedding dowries also meant that females were a burden to the families which led to occasional infanticide. Infanticide was widely acknowledged in India and was also caused by poverty, deformed infants, lack of support services, maternal illnesses, and births to an unmarried woman. If a woman became a widow of a Hindu man she would be burned alive in a practice known as Sati. In the 18th century, Sati was very popular amongst the upper castes. A huge factor in child marriages and gender roles is political, religious, and literary establishments.

Most rules for the different genders stem from political laws, religious books, and literature. These sources were a reflection of the limits imposed on women. For political laws, one of the Indian code of law recommended women worship their husbands as if they were god himself. The great epics stress the control of the husbands and fathers while still recognizing the independent contributions from the women. As for religion, Hinduism and Islam were two major religious sects during classical India. In Hinduism, the Hindu doctrine states that women were created by the Brahman (priest) to provide company for a man and to facilitate procreation, continue family lineage, and progeny. According the the Vegas, the role of women was to support the man and enable him to continue his family traditions. In Islam, the Quran lays down that women are secondary to men. Muslim men are allowed to be abuse their wives, be a polygamist, and get rid of their wife if she is undesired. With regard to literature, the stories often celebrated the emotions and beauty of women.

Indian culture, in general, often featured clever and strong-willed women and goddesses. This in turn contributed to their status as mothers and wives.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the British began colonizing the Indian peoples due to the abundance of cotton in India. They created a division of labor in that men were subservient to a higher power which meant women were subservient to men and British colonizers. In 1858 the British Raj became the new rule of India. The first empress, Victoria created a British proclamation of non-interference in the customs and practices of the people of India. In the nineteenth century, however, British rulers removed women’s inheritance and marriage rights. During the rule of India by the British, the India implemented a hierarchical caste system. Men observed overarching power over females, especially those in a lower caste. The higher level of status of a male depicted what he could get away with. For example, the men could get away with abusing women without a consequence. This made the women prone to intimidation, violence, and public shaming as a means to keeping the gender inequality. Women were literally the lowest members of society during this time period.

As we get into more recent centuries, there is a large advancement in technology that has greatly impacted the gender inequality in India. For example, in the last decade television has been introduced in Indian villages, bringing with it Indian soap operas. The female characters in these soap operas are well-educated, they work outside of the house, they control their own money, and they have fewer children. A couple of investigators went to 108 villages throughout India to

see the effect cable TV had on them. They found that due to the introduction of cable, the preference of a woman to have a male fell by 12%. The average number of situations in which women said that wife beating was acceptable decreased by 10%. The likelihood of girls ages 6-10 going to school increased by about 8%. Also, for women under the age of 35, the average number of births split in half. The researchers of this study, Jensen and Oster, believe TV provides women a new televised set of peers and in turn this changes their attitudes.

Each culture and community has their own gender roles and social norms. People within these societies are raised by these stereotypes since they day they are born. The classifications and stereotypes are passed on through multiple generations and hardly ever are defied. As a result, we have gender inequalities. In India women are still in the lower class and don’t really have much of a voice, but due to different technological and social platforms, they are able to share their stories and promote change. It is up to each generation to end the stereotypes that women are to be “homebodies” and give them more freedom or else said society can’t truthfully reach complete gender equality.

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Do what makes you distinct than others.

Snatch your rights by excelling in your pursuits.

Do maximum for distinction in you field.”

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Home Essay Examples Geography India

Gender Roles In India: Modernisation And Westernisation

  • Category Geography
  • Subcategory Asia
  • Topic India

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India is a very multicultural country with a large population. Therefore, there is a high chance that there will be resistance in change in modernisation and westernisation. The factor of inequality of gender roles in India has a large impact on the population; Specifically, those that are from a low socio- economic status. In this report i aim to investigate how modernisation and westernisation are considered and taken place in India. I will also discuss how some groups benefit from it and others don’t. Moreover, this will relate to the theory of conflict and the process of continuity and change in India.

Modernisation refers to transition from old to new. Modernisation is a continuous and open-ended process that will always be transitioning in countries that are not developed and will stay as a global process. Modernisation is a large factor currently. In a similar fashion Westernisation is also a major factor currently. Westernisation practises of western civilisation. When a non-western country gets influenced by a western country which then leads them to adapt to their way of life. The difference between westernisation and modernisation is that westernisation is about adapting to the culture, whereas modernisation is more focused on the adoption of technology and materialistic items. One country that I will be discussing is India and how India is transition into a modernised country and influenced by the westernisation and the concept of gender roles.

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India is in South Asia; it is the seventh largest country by size and the second most populated country. India is known for their highly sophisticated culture and religions and is one of the largest democracies in the world. However, India is also known for their spices and famous dishes.

Modernisation within India has grown rapidly and changed as whole, from economic, international funding, private cooperation and deploy capital and labour within India. India has also transformed its technology and finance and communications with other countries.

India has one of the oldest cultures and currently it is facing westernisation overlapping its country’s culture. Sadly, to see that the westernisation culture is taking over the original culture from a country. It is slowly showing its presence within India. Westernisation has affected India dramatically from its traditions to the people of India. And as society transforms in a country so does the people. One of the mains concerns citizens of the country have is that if western culture comes into India it doesn’t necessarily mean take over Indian culture but instead work together and combine both cultures and leave both the people who want either culture to be happy. The western culture is a extremely powerful threat and it is very easy to be adopted by any country that isn’t developed due to wanting change to their existing culture. There were some altercations between certain groups in India which lead to conflict.

“Gender roles in India is extremely simple and specific” . In the case of gender roles within India it is known that men should be the hardworking men they are must earn the financial support a family needs, whereas the women should be the one raising the child and staying at home and becoming a housewife who sits at home all day does the things that are labelled as women’s duty. Women in India are restricted from plenty of things and have little freedom. In a Indian family a woman is brought and raised to have little education, not being able to work and earn her own financial status but in the Indian culture the women is raised married early becoming mothers and basically working for her family and her husband at home while the man supports the family with money. The male on the other hand is raised with love and affection and taught to be outgoing. 80 percent of Indian males agree that the women’s job is to be a housewife and do the duties of child bathing changing diapers etc and they have nothing got to do with it. 65 percent of males also understand the fact of violence against women is wrong but still agree that there are certain circumstances were the women should be beaten and hurt physically. Gender roles in India is extremely not fair towards women especially regarding the fact they have little freedom and say during the life. Westernisation has impacted the subject of gender roles in India in a good way. The introduction of television, and the western lifestyle has helped India adapt to change their perspectives and stance about gender roles and equality between males and females.

In conclusion, India has experiences change in gender roles through modernisation and westernisation. It has developed new opinions, views, perspectives and lifestyle.

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Gender Roles Of The Indian Society

As we develop, we learn how to act from those around us. In this process, families are introduced to certain roles that are characteristically connected to their birth sex. The term gender role refers to society 's concept of how men and women are projected to behave. These roles are typically founded on customs or standards, fashioned and often enforced by society. In many cultures such as in the United States, male roles are usually related with power, and governance, while female roles are usually associated with passivity, fostering, and subordination. In India out of all the factors that dictate whether you will be successful-caste, class, economic status-the most important is something you have no control over, your gender . While several other countries are categorized by social discrimination, possibly nowhere else in the world has inequality been so intricately created as in the Indian society of caste? Although some upper class segments of Indians populace, down plays caste giving the illusion that it has been eliminated or that "no one pays attention to gender caste rolls any longer," such proclamations do not mirror reality. Even with the incorporation of religion and the female, Indian traditional society was fundamentally sexist. Social institutions such as purdah, created a culture where women underwent significant subjugation. Purdah once guaranteed the segregation of women particularly those of high caste from social and political life (Veiling and

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According to the Oxford Dictionary, a gender role is defined as the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. In modern day America, gender roles have been slowly dissolving, but nonetheless is still very much relevant. In our society, women have the capability of doing everything a man can do, but, in the eyes of some, women are still seen as the inferior gender. In general, women are still associated with the responsibilities of taking care of the household and the children. They are also perceived as being fragile and submissive. On the other hand, men are associated with being the primary breadwinner and were viewed as being strong and brave. In most civilizations, these associations have been and

My Forbidden Face By Latifa

This idea that men were the more powerful ones continued through history, during the time of British and American colonialism. In India even before the British arrived, there was oppression occurring towards the women of that nation because of religion. It played a large part in the inequality, because at the time, Islam and Hinduism both required women to play a submissive role in a relationship and left them with little to no rights. Females were seen as lesser human beings and practices such as “Sati...the act burning alive the widow of a Hindu man,...female infanticide, and child marriage” occurred, all of which was detrimental to whichever females were involved. Gender oppression was maintained because of the caste system, which was a patriarchal system that was used all throughout India, giving all power to men,

Essay on Gender Roles and Their Effect on Women

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The “gender role” refers to a theoretical construct in society that refers to the set of social and behavioral norms

Gender Roles Of The Middle East

In a society, gender roles are the roles that are restricted to males or females on the basis of their sexism. Conventionally, in numerous societies including the western society, it is supposed that females are more encouraged at any platform than the males. It is believed that for the development of a society, females should be treated in an encouraged way because encouragement of the females help in the betterment of society. Earlier, it was considered that females should remain at home and they should maintain the household things rather than working outside because outside work is only for the males, but it was a traditional way of treating women, which has been changed now.

My Antonia Gender Roles

Gender roles are the roles that men and women are expected to occupy based on their sex. Traditionally, many Western societies have believed that women are more nurturing then men . . . . One way that a woman might engage in the traditional feminine gender role would be to nurture her family by working full-time within the home rather than taking employment outside of the home. (Blackstone)

Constructed Gender Roles In David Brooks Mind Over Muscles

What is a gender role? It is the behaviors that are considered acceptable for people based on their sex. Throughout history, societies have constructed gender roles. As times change, roles tend to change. In the twenty-first century, American society has created the role of women being great academics and men only being athletes. This has not always been true in the past. Although America is not perfect, it is working on intellectual and physical equality.

Gender Roles Have A Change Over Time

The gender of a person is the masculine or feminine attributes of that individual with respect to the psychological and biological role in society. (Magar, 2009) A gender role can be defined as the way that a person lives in society with respect to its lifestyle. It can be argued that over time the major differences between men and women’s gender roles have faded. In the past traditional roles have been based in their society by their biological orientation. (Magar, 2009) Gender roles can also be described as the behavior and attitudes that are expected of men and women in a society. (Faqs.org, 2011) Although different cultures impose different expectations, many cultures have the same basic gender roles.

Analysis of the other wife

Gender roles have played a major part in society. According to the book “The Psyche of Feminism” “A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate

Gender Roles : African Americans

Gender roles describe the normative expectations of a culture group regarding the position that both sexes should hold in society. It also refers to the division of labor tasks, differences in behaviors, preferences, abilities; personalities that society expects of specific genders, (Kaiser, C. R., & Miller, C. T. 2009). It concerns the processes of how gender roles socialize and interact with each other in society as a whole and as an individual, (Stockard & Johnson, 1980; Thomas, 1986). Gender role deals with identity and at times are conceptualized as the acceptance and identification with social roles and behaviors associated with

Views of Voltaire and Molière on the Role of Women in French Cultural Life

  • 3 Works Cited

The role of women in society has been a controversial one. Most religions see women as being inferior to men and are of the view that women were created as a companion for men. A lot of our social morale stems from religion; hence this help to shape the view that woman is inferior and is to be submissive to their male counterpart. Society has set roles which each sex is expected to play. Gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex (Princeston.edu). Women are expected to be docile and agreeable, while men are expected to be head strong and

Gender Roles In Civilizations

From prehistory to 1450 CE, in many different and complex civilizations, religion has influenced the gender roles of many societies. From prehistory to 600 BCE, in Mesopotamia, women could own property, maintain their dowry, and even trade. However, from 600 BCE to 600 CE, in Rome, women were completely under the control of their paterfamilias. Than, from 600 to 1450 CE, in the Byzantine Empire, women were constrained to their homes, and when they went out, they had to wear veils over their faces. Religion influenced the gender roles of many societies and civilizations from prehistory to 1450 CE.

Example Of Sexism In Ramayana

Sexism. Misogyny. Gender discrimination. You know this atrocity by many names but here is the naked truth of it’s real face. The unjust neglect towards the feelings and ideas of women is not something that could be considered as a problem of the modern age, in contrast, it’s something that has been going on since there era of the Lord Rama. It could perhaps be argued as the start of this suffocating, judgemental society we live in today.

The Role And Status Of Women In Ancient India

Traditionally, an Indian woman had only four roles and those were; Her role as a daughter, wife, sister, and lastly, a mother. The women in today’s time however are experiencing far reaching changes and are entering into new fields that were unknown to them. They are actively participating in social, economic and political activities. Unlike the older times, women today have received higher education.

Impact of Globalization on Non Western Culture Essay

An analysis of example can be derived from the aforementioned discriminatory sexist roles in India that prior to globalization highly favored the male population verses the female population. The female population in India has previously been less than second class citizens. Indian women's cultural roles have been previously defined by traditional customs that are centuries old and no longer apply in this day and age. Previous to globalization, Indian women were to take total domestic responsibility. They were not allowed formal education as the majority of teachers and pupils were male, and the chances of a female remaining chaste was slim in those settings, and related to tradition, females

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The oppression of women is based on false assumption and preconceived notions by the male domination world, has been obvious and responsible for paving the way for serious gender issues to emerge. Due to the narrow realms of activity in society, deprived from essential human rights, restricted educations scope, open to unhealthy physical and mental abuse, this society has not given women the opportunity to rise to their full potential. The impact of gender discrimination has not only affected the future of the women today but it has resulted in the slow progress of human mind in general.

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Gender Roles In India

[Type the document title] [Type the document subtitle] natallia [Pick the date] [Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.] Table of Contents Introduction 3 India Cultural Profile 4 India Religions 4 Ethnic Group 5 Language 5 The Family 6 Gender Roles 6 Introduction According to (Deresky, 2014) culture is the shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that over time are passed on and imposed by members of a group or society. Culture gives us an identity which makes us unique and different from people of other cultures. …show more content…

India is a land where people of different religions and cultures live in harmony. This harmony is seen in the celebration of festivals. India is famous for the wide range of exuberant festivals that take place throughout the year, including Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Holi, to name a few. Vedas and Upanishads are the holy books of Hinduism. While in India Hinduism teaches meditation, yoga and ascetic practices to cultivate self-discipline and unity. Additionally, the cow is considered a sacred animal in the …show more content…

It is common to see draped, flowing outfits, such as the sari for women, and the dhoti for men. Additionally, in the urban areas, it is common to see both men and women wearing more Western-influenced clothes, and in a business context suits and ties for men are the norm. Food Food in India is often served on a ‘thali’ – a tray or plate that can hold several dishes, the ‘Curry’ is a European term to describe the spicy dishes found in India. Indians are known for their love of curry. In some parts of India meals are eaten with rice (chawal), in others, flat breads (roti) are preferred. The food there is infused with spices such as cumin, turmeric, black pepper, cardamom, cloves and coriander etc. Most Hindus avoid eating beef since its a sacred animal. Economy The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing in the world; however due its enormous population, in terms of income and gross national product (GNP) per capita—one of the poorest. Indian labour force is estimated at 509.3 million, of this only 60% are employed in agriculture or related industries. Starting in 1951, the government based its economic planning on a series of five-year plans influenced by the Soviet model. The original plan was to boost the domestic saving rate which then doubled within the first half of the five year

Medicine Grizzlybear's Essay 'Two Kinds'

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Annotated Bibliography: 'Hinduism And Ecology'

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Gender Role In Native Society

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Gender Roles In American Indian Culture

Playing Different Roles Being the simple-minded conformist Western Americans that we are, it’s hard to have an open mind on topics such as gender roles, gender equality, sexual orientation, and so on. Most Americans don’t have a complete understanding of the world outside of the United States, so if we see or hear something we don’t feel is right, we automatically speak negatively on the subject. Western Americans have just passed the law of gay marriage being legalized in the United States. All this time most Americans we’re viewing same sex marriage is wrong, because that’s abnormal to us.

The Importance Of Slavery

Planning Commission of India defines it as “a sort of patronage in which the minimum wage is barely enough to cover the living costs of the employee and relation between employer and employee is often characterized by unfixed and exploitative payment agreements which benefit for employer”. Forced child labor, commercial sexual exploitation, forced begging and forced marriage. The global slavery index mentioned that “India is undergoing a remarkable 'triple transition', in which economic growth is both driving and is being affected by rapid social and political change. Economic growth has rapidly transformed the country over the past 20 years, including the creation of a burgeoning middle-class. In 1993, some 45 percent of the population were living in poverty; by 2011 that had been reduced to 21 percent.

Psy 311 Week 2 Gender Roles Research Paper

Rosemary Okumu PSYC 1113 – Section 11/18 /2016 Gender Gender is the state of being male or female. Male are thought to be adventurous, aggressive, strong whereas females are to be affectionate, attractive, shy and sexy. While I highly identify with my feminine gender characteristics, at times l possess masculine characteristics like confidence, ambition, and sometimes aggression.

An Indian Father's Plea '

Every day we use our culture. Whether it be to argue claims, express opinions, or make decisions, culture plays a part in each area. Culture is who we are, one’s identity, its extent is enormous over our views and actions. A person grows up surrounded with culture at a young age. This can affect how they learn and what they learn.

What Role Do Gender Roles Play In Today's Culture

While gender roles and stereotypes may seem innocent and almost nonexistent in today’s culture, they are still present and cause a major effect on the current and future generations. They set limits on both boys and girls talents and skills. They try to force men and women into certain job categories. They affect education by telling boys to go to school especially in college and limit girls education, They affect the way a person is raised in the family from their childhood and how they keep themselves by labeling traits and behaviors as female or male. Gender roles limit the dreams of boys and girls alike, such as boys who want to be dancers and designers.

Gender Roles In The 20th Century

Armeen: Children’s roles are very significant to society now and even then. In the beginning of the 20th century, children had a very hard life. But slowly, technology has improved, and has made the life of children easier. Aashka:

'An Indian Father's Plea' By Robert Lake

Culture is the building block for life. It sets society's standards, it sets our own standards, and everything we know is all because of our culture. Culture is a way of thinking, a way of behaving and learning. We express our opinions based upon our beliefs, and define ourselves by what aspects of our culture we choose to show. Culture's impact on someone's perspective of others and the world is greater than its other influencers because it can change how you interact with people, your ability to change, and your opinions of the world.

En1320 Unit 4 Assignment

Piedad Molina Professor Ana Hernandez LIT 2480 October 7, 2015 Culture is the set of traditions, beliefs, and values, which are characteristic of a certain population. Each country or region has different parameters to determine their culture. The predominant values in the population, the language spoken, religious beliefs, and the way they dress; all these manners influence in the creation of a culture and what is autonomous of its region. Within a country we can find different cultures or ethnicities, social status, education and region make a population differ from another. The exchange of cultural ideas, beliefs, and values with the youngest members of the community make it possible for a culture to survive and to keep the legacy.

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Cultural Narrative Culture is recognized as a noun and according to the dictionary it is defined as, “The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation or people.” In other words, culture is the identity of a particular community that is learned by previous generations and is implied by certain institutions. Culture never remains the same because the future generations keep on evolving their beliefs and ways, of which they do things. There is a probability that your culture may differ from mine, and that is what makes our cultures so great! Our culture is what allows us to stand out and differ from one another.

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Hinduism was the first to start here in India. According to Document A, Hindu people believed in many gods and they believed in the process of reincarnation. There was also a caste system in Hinduism. This system separated the people into groups where they had different jobs. Also they believed in karma and dharma.

Literature Review On Gender Roles

This article, “Gender Development Research in Sex Roles: Historical Trends and Future Directions” was written in a 2011 on NCBI, which points towards how the gender roles are different and how the society views them. This text includes the study of gender development, sex roles and trends over the past 35 years. Today gender roles, especially in the United States, are different from what they were in the past. But there are still many differences in roles of sex in many places around the world where women are considered less than men. They are not allowed to go out without a man going along.

Essay On Gender Inequality In India

Introduction In India, discriminatory attitude towards men and women have existed for generations and thus it affect the lives of both genders. Although the constitution of India has granted men and women equal rights, but gender gap still remains. Female discrimination violates human rights. These are mostly seen in family land sharing among sisters and brothers.

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Gender Equity in India’s Clean Energy Transition

An event being organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in association with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

gender roles in india essay

Use of solar-based technologies in a village in Gujarat in India

gender roles in india essay

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This blog has been co-authored by Dhilsha Jubair and Charu Lata of NRDC India

On this International Women’s Day, the role of women in advancing the clean energy transition in India is taking center stage. Women are  disproportionately affected  by the impacts of climate change, but can bring unique insights and invaluable perspectives that are crucial for building resilience to the multipronged challenge of climate change. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy ( MNRE ) in association with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is organizing an event, Women in Renewable Energy: Inspiring Gender Inclusion Through Skill Development and Targeted Policies for Green Jobs . This is the  fourth convening under MNRE’s Women in Renewable Energy initiative and will bring together women leaders and stakeholders from across the government, grassroots organizations, industries, research think tanks, technology-use enablers, and academic institutions. The dialogue aims to bridge policy gaps and provide recommendations for inclusive green employment, with a particular focus on skill development and amplifying the involvement of women in the renewable energy (RE) sector. 

gender roles in india essay

Women in Renewable Energy event to be organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in association with NRDC on International Women’s Day 2024

The RE sector offers a variety of opportunities for women to become instrumental forces in addressing issues in the sector not merely as observers but as active participants, managers, and leaders. Economic empowerment of women through use of renewable energy interventions can play a pivotal role in fostering financial independence and shaping their decision-making agency within households, challenging entrenched gender norms. As the industry progresses, women have an opportunity to delve into diverse roles along the value chain, including manufacturing, installation, repair, and maintenance, as well as potential leadership positions, offering fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to energy challenges. It is crucial to acknowledge the current contribution of women to this sector, while attempting to uncover their untapped potential for the future. Active engagement of women in the sector not only empowers them financially but fosters enhanced community well-being through clean energy access and greater entrepreneurial opportunities within the sector. 

Women can play a vital role in RE solutions, however their participation is frequently hindered by  gender-specific barriers and obstacles such as limited access to finance, insufficient knowledge and skills, lack of gender-sensitive policies, inequity in ownership of assets and socio-cultural restrictions.  Recent studies emphasize the broader societal benefits of including women in the sector, such as elevating economic productivity and community well-being. Our upcoming report on green jobs created in the renewable industry will address these gaps to highlight the participation and role of women in the sector and how it can be strengthened through various policy measures. Preliminary findings, which will be presented at the workshop, highlights that there is a potential to include more women in both leadership and senior management roles in the sector. 

The Government of India has recently announced new initiatives to provide a significant opportunity for women to actively engage and participate in India’s clean energy transition. The new rooftop solar scheme, “ PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana ”, with an investment exceeding Rs. 75,000 crores (USD 9 billion) is set to be implemented in 10 million households across India. It aims to provide participating households up to 300 units of free electricity per month, potentially leading to annual savings of at least Rs. 15000, in turn providing an opportunity for women to directly manage, operate and maintain these solar installations. More such initiatives are needed to create equitable opportunities for women in the RE sector, so that they are not merely consumers, but also producers and managers of clean energy capable of upskilling and improving their livelihoods.

@mnreindia will be bringing together two incredible panels to discuss discuss possible pathways to bridge policy gaps with a focus on skilling and capacity building to improve green employment, especially amongst women. pic.twitter.com/c9GCZnCSf3 — NRDC India (@NRDC_India) March 7, 2024

Please join us this Friday, March 8 at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, New Delhi for a conversation on bringing women to the forefront of India’s clean energy transition and to hear from leaders and stakeholders across the renewable energy value chain. The event will also be livestreamed on  MNRE’s YouTube channel .

Please also visit our LinkedIn page for regular updates.

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COMMENTS

  1. How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society

    India's main religious groups have widely divergent opinions about gender roles in the family. For example, while nearly three-quarters of Indian Muslims (74%) say that sons should have the primary responsibility for a parent's burial rituals, just 29% of Sikhs say that sons alone should handle last rites.

  2. Key findings on Indian attitudes toward gender roles

    Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to find out how Indians view gender roles in families and society. It is based on the March 2022 report "How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society," and is part of the Center's most comprehensive, in-depth exploration of Indian public opinion to date.For this report, we surveyed 29,999 Indian adults ages 18 and older living in 26 ...

  3. In India, little gap on views of gender issues between men, women

    In 14 countries, including Brazil and Poland, roughly the same shares of men and women say equal rights for women are very important, and in an additional seven countries, gender gaps on this question are 10 percentage points or less. In India, women (75%) are only modestly more likely than men (70%) to support equal rights for both genders.

  4. Gender issues in India: an amalgamation of research

    A steady increase in female voter participation has been observed across India, wherein the sex ratio of voters (number of female voters vis-à-vis male) has increased from 715 in the 1960s to 883 ...

  5. Gender attitudes in India: What's changed and what hasn't

    Every year the World Economic Forum publishes a Global Gender Gap Report, which looks at gender equality around the world. In 2022, India ranked 135 among 146 nations, which was a slight improvement than the previous year. However, it still had the lowest ranks in terms of health and survival, and economic participation and opportunity for women.

  6. Masculinity and Challenges for Women in Indian Culture

    locked into lack of a decision-making power, invisibility, multiple roles in the gender injustice society. This article stress the esneed for sustained efforts to increase the involvement of both men and women to remove socio-cultural barriers, stereotypical attitudes, and violence against women for creating a gender-balanced society.

  7. (PDF) Gender Inequality in India: A Comprehensive Analysis and

    Gender inequality i n India: The role of caste. ... Gender inequality in health care in India: Evidence from NFHS-3. Economic Papers. A journal of applied economics and policy, 36(2), 184-197 ...

  8. Gender Equality in India

    Gender Equality in India is good for the economy of the Nation. Gender equality in India is also fundamental, as well as the human right of women. Gender Equality in India makes our society safer and healthier. Challenges Involved. Every girl of our Nation and across deserves to reach her full potential, but the gender disparity hinders reality.

  9. Gender equality

    Across India gender inequality results in unequal opportunities, and while it impacts on the lives of both genders, statistically it is girls that are the most disadvantaged. Globally girls have higher survival rates at birth, are more likely to be developmentally on track, and just as likely to participate in preschool, but India is the only ...

  10. PDF Exploring Gender in the Literature of the Indian Diaspora

    "Reading Gender", includes essays which reflect the way in which writers of the Indian diaspora approach contexts within the nation to re-define significant ways of approaching politics and gender. Thus Gemma Scott's essay discusses the feminising of Indira Gandhi's Emergency in India by

  11. Gender Inequality: A Comparison of India and USA

    The paper makes an attempt to compare gender inequality in a developed (USA) and developing (India) country on dimensions such as education, health, labour force participation and politics based on Gender Data Portal of World Bank for the period 2007-2017. In terms of Government Expenditure on Education, USA spends much more than India on ...

  12. Empowering women: 5 voices shaping gender equality in India

    Empowering women: 5 voices shaping gender equality in India. In India's dynamic landscape, women are breaking barriers and fostering inclusivity across sectors. As we celebrate International Women's Day, let's explore their stories of resilience and leadership in driving change for gender equality. In a world where diversity, equality, and ...

  13. Essay on Gender Equality in India

    List of Essays on Gender Equality in English Essay on Gender Equality in India - Essay 1 (100 Words) One of the most alarming facts of India is that the Gender Inequality is at its heights. Gender Equality basically means equality for both men and women in every aspect of life, politically, economically, in health, education etc.

  14. A Brief History of Indian Women Protesting Gender Inequality

    The Indian women's movement began in 1975, working toward intersectionality and catapulting gender violence into national discourse. While a barebones women's movement was being carried out in India since the 1920s, it only served as a complement to the political revolution taking India by storm. In 1920, even Mahatma Gandhi, who touted ...

  15. Gender roles and social reform in colonial India

    Core course essay 'While the idea of 'saving Indian women' became central to nationalist contestation of colonial civilisational discourses, Indian women themselves remained marginal to debates on gender roles and social reform.' ... There is a rich literature on female gender roles in nineteenth century India;38 Susmita Roye and ...

  16. (PDF) "GENDER INEQUALITY IN INDIA"

    Priti Jha, Niti Nagar, A Study of Gender Inequality in India, The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISS N: 2349-3429(p) Volume 2, Issue 3. 10.

  17. Gender roles in the family in India

    3. Gender roles in the family. While most Indians say that men and women should share some family responsibilities, many still support traditional, patriarchal values. For example, a slim majority of Indians (54%) say that both the men and the women in a family should be responsible for earning money. But 43% instead take the view that men ...

  18. History of Gender Inequality in India

    Gender inequality is a situation in which women and men are not equal. Gender inequality refers to health, education, economic and political inequalities between men and women in India. Gender inequalities, and its social causes, affect the sex ratio of India, life of women's health and including also their educational avail and economic ...

  19. Gender Roles & Relations in India Essay Example

    Gender Roles & Relations in India Essay Example. Throughout history the roles and relations between the different genders has dramatically changed. In most societies, gender is a term that is socially constructed in that society plays an important role in shaping the different behaviors and attitudes of the members of society.

  20. Gender Roles In India: Modernisation And Westernisation

    The introduction of television, and the western lifestyle has helped India adapt to change their perspectives and stance about gender roles and equality between males and females. In conclusion, India has experiences change in gender roles through modernisation and westernisation. It has developed new opinions, views, perspectives and lifestyle.

  21. Gender Roles Of The Indian Society

    Gender roles describe the normative expectations of a culture group regarding the position that both sexes should hold in society. It also refers to the division of labor tasks, differences in behaviors, preferences, abilities; personalities that society expects of specific genders, (Kaiser, C. R., & Miller, C. T. 2009).

  22. (PDF) Gender Dynamics in Indian Agriculture: Roles ...

    Abstract. Agriculture is the primary source of food production for the survival of the human population. It supports millions of people in terms of livelihoods and the development of local and ...

  23. Gender Roles Essay

    10 Lines on Gender Roles Essay in English. 1. According to Abrahamic myth, Adam was the first man, and Eve was the first woman. 2. There are four genders and a minimum of 15 sexualities in 2020. 3. 62 million girls had declined education all over the world in 2015. 4.

  24. Modeling the antecedent and impacts of gender inequality in Indian

    Gender inequality in the workplace is a universal issue that is persistent despite ample progressive efforts. The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 states that at the current progress rate, another 100 years are required to achieve gender equality. Gender inequality is quite prominent in the Indian Corporate culture but has not been systematically studied. The study, therefore, attempts to model ...

  25. Gender Roles In India

    Table of Contents Introduction 3 India Cultural Profile 4 India Religions 4 Ethnic Group 5 Language 5 The Family 6 Gender Roles 6 Introduction According to (Deresky, 2014) culture is the shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that over time are passed on and imposed by members of a group or society. ... Essay On Gender Inequality ...

  26. Gender Equity in India's Clean Energy Transition

    The Government of India has recently announced new initiatives to provide a significant opportunity for women to actively engage and participate in India's clean energy transition. The new ...

  27. Gender diversity makes most financial sense: Smriti Irani

    Hiring more women and retaining them for C-suite and P&L (profit and loss) roles also makes financial sense for businesses. The numbers speak for themselves. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that if the gender gap in participation, total working hours and productivity were all bridged, the world economy would be up 26%.