Gender justice in India: Some complex dimensions

By Anit Singh. Dated: 9/14/2017 10:40:47 PM

Feminism is a fiendish muddle to get in. The contours of the debate regarding the topic are fluid, in part because our society is in a flux, there's no certainty about what the future would hold for us and depending upon one of the several hundred variations in which the future of our country and our world plays out, the debate on feminism could take a different turn.
There are no discreet modules for views on certain topics, if you accept the tenets of individual freedom, acceptance of multiple viewpoints etc, then you have to shift your views on all the connected topics. Cognitive dissonance occurs when you have a liberal online personality and a parochial offline one, something that my generation is in midst of, given that people can hold the latest scientific breakthrough in communications technology in their hands to support something like 'gau-raksha'.
Feminism in true sense can only begin in the homes of people, for it is in the individual that the shift in ideas and ideologies is required the most. What we say and what we do are two completely different things. When the movement for equal rights for women was at its peak in the 70's and 80's, no one could have thought that the condition of women in the corporate sector, arguably the most progressive sector of our society, would in fact worsen.
Could it be that the societal pressure against the movement is based on something more visceral than the ideal that propelled the feminist movement in the liberal age? Could it be that with the growing uncertainties of our future in the world, what with the constant technological disruptions and shifting of world powers, people have instinctively clung to what feels definite and by definite I mean any ideology that asserts its truth as being supreme, irrespective of whatever newer evidence might surface?
Costly Freedoms
If the trend is towards regression, then it's not only the changing ideals that we can blame. Supposing we all had the Nordic style social security, wealth and enforced equality, wouldn't the society have been more equal? Could it be that equality is the prerequisite for such a society? The argument is cyclical, but that doesn't change the fact that the 'felt' aspect of our environment changes the way we relate with it, the ideas that we end up accepting and the ideas that we condone. You cannot expect Rohingyas to invest their limited energy into changing gender norms. Conversely, a hyper stressed IT environment even in the first world have seen tirades by Ivy league, aware, rich professionals against the perceived discrimination to men.
Can a poor country like India afford a costly western Ideology of feminism? Some segments can, but what about the landless labourers? If the indebted man is beaten in the fields by the goons of the moneylender and he beats his wife in turn, which lawyer should she hire? Should she feed her children first or learn about her rights first? Conversely if both the husband and wife are working professionals, then why should only the wife get maintenance? We have to look at the context and the context includes the socio-economic factors too. Is the majority of our population even ready for reforms?
Ready solutions cannot be found for existential questions. What can be assured is the fact that our society values power, money and consequently people like CEOs and high power professionals. Our society respects people who put work before family and spend the majority of their time on their work, passion, art and not those who stay at home and play with their children. The cost of such an ideology would be the loss of family structure and if we are not going to accept the older roles, then we quickly need to find newer ones or live with our e-family!
Only One Ounce of Love
In this way, any call for reform becomes moot. A psychologist called Muzafur Sheriff conducted the now famous 'Robbers Cave' experiment in which he randomly divided children into two teams and put them into situations of conflict. Irrespective of the actual features of the newly formed enemy, children started hating the 'others'. They became convinced in a very short time that the other team was bad. Another psychologist Tajfel went to the extent of dividing groups based on coin tosses and still, people still discriminated against the 'others'.
No one can deny that India has millions of lines of criss-crossing identities, tearing the society apart into so many pigeon holes that gender becomes only one of the criterions of discrimination. Caste, class, colour, clothing, food preferences, taboos, language, place of origin, profession, parentage… need I go on?
Any debate on Feminism in our society has to take into consideration all these aspects before making a foray into the domain of gender justice. The discrimination that a Dalit would feel at the hand of a Brahmin woman would still be more than the gender injustice that she feels. Concurrently, the rights of an educated woman living in a metro city are far better protected than a tribal trying to protect his home in the jungles. Does that mean that women keep on waiting till justice is served to everyone before them?
Justice isn't a single use item. Iit's an empowering attitude that has to be blind towards the differences amongst individuals, but sensitive enough so that if you were yourself on the receiving end of it, then you'd feel that the right thing has been done. Not just the women, our entire society needs to recognise the percepts of justice, not from their coteries of selfishness, but keeping in mind the 'principle'.
Our consumerist culture promotes feminism not because it feels the need to construct an equal society but because a definition of feminism running parallel with power to buy makes them rich. This side effect isn't so bad, as long as we realise that the excessive materialism would permanently shatter the foundation of our society. A truly equal society would be based on contracts, law and culture would be stripped of every sticking point.
Replacement Equals Null and Void
Culture gave us a set of norms that had so far been fixed. The man earns, respects his wife and the woman serves her husband and she doesn't have to work outside her home. But now, since both men and women work in offices, the woman doesn't want to serve and the husband doesn't want to be chivalrous. The parents of both the husband and wife have to live in their own house, because there should be no preference for either one of them.
The husband would contribute in the housework and given no preferential treatment. But then, should women expect preferential treatment in trains, queues and emergency situations? Wouldn't it be wrong to tie a Rakhi to a brother as it purports the wrong stereotype? What about Karva Chauth? True the cultural norms have to change, but do we want them to? What about the feelings of love and stability in a family that these norms engendered? Do we have adequate replacement for them in our society?
The question of devising newer norms which work not only for the individual but also for the society as a whole is the biggest question of our times. People have realised that humans aren't solitary beings and no matter how many comforts we purchase, we have to learn to put up with idiosyncrasies of one another to be able to live together. Addictions whether to drugs, social media, alcohol, work or even brands is a symptom of the lack of love that our society is currently feeling because of the frictional norms we're living with.
An attitude of equality would also change the attitude of duty that the older norms gave. As a society we cannot expect children to be submissive to their elders any longer, simply because the elders are no longer fulfilling the duties that was supposed to give them the respect. Both the parents are working long hours and in lieu of love are giving their children material comforts. This situation requires an egalitarian family structure to work. What about the older parents who still expect their children to follow the norms of their own times? The cost of change would be more on some, otherwise how would the others enjoy its fruits?
If we are going be equal, then we need to have a bit of compassion, we need to be able to see things from a different perspective, we need to stop debating about the problems and start creating the solutions for them.
India has millions of lines of criss-crossing identities, tearing the society apart into so many pigeon holes that gender becomes only one of the criterions of discrimination. Caste, class, colour, clothing, food preferences, taboos, language, place of origin, profession, parentage… need I go on? Any debate on Feminism in our society has to take into consideration all these aspects before making a foray into the domain of gender justice.

 

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