Essay Test – August 19, 2017

GENDER EQUALITY: MYTH OR HYPE
The divine is extremely happy where women are respected
And where they are not, all actions are fruitless
MANUSMRITI
The concept of gender equality is not new to human civilisation. It has been in vogue since ages. But what has changed is its meaning.In ancient times,there was a clear division of tasks which men and women were expected to perfom with utter perfection. And if they were allowed to excel in their field then it meant that there was gender equality in the society. But in contemporary times, this division is blurred. Today gender equality means ‘equal access of rights and opportunities irrespective of gender’. This definition incorporates LGBT communities too. Further this definition of gender equality is not confined to social aspect but also extends to political and economic level.
At social level,there is gender equality if women and transgenders have access to health and education.As far as India is concerned,literacy rate of women has increased since independence and stands at 65.46% today.In health sector too there has been improvement in child sex ratio and decrease in infant mortality rate.Other developed countries like US has more to delight as there women have outsmarted men in education and health.
Further social equality also means that women are at par with women.In some tribal societies of India matriarchy persists.Also in southern states like Kerala women are more socially empowered than men.Such socially empowered women are now extending their wings to economic equality too.
Economically,women have found themselves to be able to match shoulders with their men counterpart.they are emerging to be equal breadwinner of the families.Women like P.V Sindhu,Ira Singhal,Arundhanti Bhattacharya,kangana Ranaut and Sushma Swaraj etc have proved to be bosses of their respective field and are perhaps earning at par with males.Economic aspect also deserves mention of feminisation of agriculture.Though the phenomenon was the result of migration of men from agriculture to other sector.But it gave women of rural areas to earn a decent livelihood for the better of their children and family.Success of various SGHS in rural areas also proves the case of economic empowerment of women.
With great power comes great responsibility. So a socially and economically empowered woman is expected to be responsible at political level too.In this arena,our constitution has granted article 14,15 and16 to make sure that women are not discriminated.Further under article 265 universal adult franchise has been granted which proves the case for India’s aim of political equality.And women have been able to capitalise upon them.This can be seen in increasing voting turnout of women. Participation of women in PRIs has been tremendous due to 33% reservation for them. Also they have been leaders in forming pressure groups and civil society organisations to influence the political decisions taken for them.Huge turnout in the aftermath of Nirbhaya’s rape followed by amendment in Criminal law(amendment) act,2013 is the living example of women’s participation in politics of India.
Now,If the things are as best as have been stated in above paragraphs then why the question of gender equality being a myth or hype arises?Answer lies in the fact that if in depth analysis of gender equality is taken into account then things are not as rosy as has been stated above.
Firstly,patriarchy still persists even in most advanced section of the socities.In Haryana,sex ratio is still heart rendering.Maternal mortality has not decreased.Many girl children are married in Rajasthan and Haryana to the persons double than their ages.Female literacy is still a distant dream in many parts of rural India.So how can we talk about their social equality?
They are not allowed to have control even over their bodies.the decision to get married and Number of babies to be produced and raised is dependent upon male members of families.The girls in the age of puberty are not allowed to enter in a temple or in kitchen during menstruation.Above all of them incident of rape,stalking and voyeurism aggravate their pain.Though assaulted by others but they themselves are responsible for their assault if patriarchial minds of Indian socities are to be believed.Clearly social equality remains a distant dream as of now.
Secondly,economic equality is also a myth.In rural areas women of high class socities are not allowed to work unless they have not been marred by the fate of destiny.that is as long as male members are capable and are present in families women cant work.In urban India there is some liberty but that ends with the marriage and birth of babies.Many companies are reluctant to make women their top employer as they may take leave during their maternity period.they are paid less as compared to male counterparts.According to a paymonster report 2015,in India the gap between male and female payment is 38.2% in IT sector and 29.9% in manufacturing sector.On the same line economic survey of India 2015-16 opined that women in India do not prefer to work due to lack of employment opportunities near their residence and due to lack of facilities for their special needs at workplace.
The talk of economic equality is incomplete without talking about transgenders.Most of the transgenders are either involved in exploiting businesses or in begging.they cant even think of entering into any economic sector due to the stigma associated with them.
Lastly,political equality is also a herculean task to be achieved as of now.Though constitution was visionary enough to grant reservation to anglo-Indians in parliament and legislatures but not as visionary to do the same for transgenders or women in general.As a result women representation is abysmally low at 11% and 10.6% in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
In gram panchyats though pradhan is lady but work is being done by son or husband.What kind of political empowerment is this?
As far as formation of pressure groups and civil society organisations is concerned then very few women have been able to break the tradition. When girls contest the college elections or participate in peace march, our male fraternity does not remain behind in questioning their character and morale.
So indeed gender equality is a myth as of now upto some extent.But if it is hyped then it is blessing in disguise as it shows our mentality to change.It shows that our socities are becoming progressive.We get a glimpse of change when read the news that justice has been given to Bilkis Bano and Varnika Kundu.We see the economic equality when parliament takes up gender budget and schemes like Nai Roshni and Stand Up India are launched.And finally we get touched by the social reformation when we see that parents are doing everything to get their daughters educated and are giving equal share to them everywhere. We should be thankful to our founding fathers who faought hard against evils of sati and child marriage to give us a transformed society. Now onus is upon us to pass more reformed society to our future generation. Such reformed passages generations after generations will help us in realising Manu’s statement of respecting the women to have the showering grace of God the form of an egalitarian society.