This article highlights you all the tradition and cultural practices, which
leads to violation of women rights in region. It is totally based on secondary
data collected through surveys, studies, analysis and report from the various
data of regional, national and international organization.
Now coming to the
subject matter, feminism has been one of most hot and controversial topics arose
not only in our country but also in the whole world, which we'll discuss
further. Feminism provides a personal, philosophic and political means for
analyzing the realities of women's lives as lived in patriarchal systems. It is
not a single line of thought; multiple approaches have been developed that
provide diverse avenues for confronting systematic injustices while learning to
value ourselves as women.
Introduction:
Feminism, the belief in social, economic and political equality of the sex.
Although largely originating in the West, feminism is manifested worldwide and
is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf
of women's rights and interests. Throughout most of Western history, women were
confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved for men.
In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to study, to own property or to
participate in public organization.
At the end of the 19th century in France,
they were still compelled to cover their heads in public and in many other parts
of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife, this type of disgust
was going on at that time. Even as late as the early 20th century, women could
neither vote nor hold elective office in Europe and even in most of the United
States. Women were prevented from conducting business without a male
representative, be it father, brother, husband, legal agent or even son. Married
women could not exercise control over their own children without the permission
of their husbands. Moreover, women had little or no access to education and were
barred from most professions.
In some parts of the world, such restrictions on
women continue today. By considering the further knowledge of Indian feminism,
the history of feminism in India was divided into three phases, the first phase
was, beginning in the mid-19th century, initiated when reformists began to speak
in favour of women's rights by making reforms in education, customs involving
women and the second phase was from 1915 to Indian independence, when Mahatma
Gandhi incorporated women's movements into the
Quit India Movement and
independent women's organizations began to emerge, and finally and also the
third phase was post-independence, which has focused on fair treatment of women
at home after marriage, in the work force and right to political parity.
Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks
justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms. However, there are many
different kinds of feminism like Socialist feminism, Reformist feminism and
Radical/Separatist feminism. Feminists disagree about what sexism consists in
and what exactly ought to be done about it, they disagree about what it means to
be a woman or a man and what social and political implications gender has or
should have.
Here issue is about the inequality between men and women that there is no equal
rights and no equal access of the opportunities. It has been tweeted that:
It's critical to understand that
same doesn't mean
equal. The
discussion was like that women are not same so there can't be the equality. In
others words, because their bodies are different (many of them said
smaller
and
weaker) and because men and women have different physical capabilities, so
these physical difference means equality is not possible.
Men and women don't
have to be the
same in physicality to have the equal rights. If we come up
with the example, if there were two men in the workplace, one is physically
smaller and weaker than the other, would we believe it's right to keep smaller
and weaker one, by continuing with another example, if there are two young boys
in a classroom, and one is physically weaker and smaller than the other, would
we believe to give education to 'weaker' and
smaller one only. This means only
strong person can have equality in society, really? That also meant, the
'strong-people' can only maintain the equality in society and by considering
this we have to make woman stronger like a man to maintain equality in the
society, really?
The whole socialization process involves the construction of masculinity and
construction of what we can call
Feminism. Boys are always asked to be brave,
strong, articulate etc. Boys are encouraged to be tough and outgoing but girls
are encouraged to be homebound and shy. They are made to think that are superior
and they are going to rule this world and it is right, because the way we see
them growing and girls on the other hand are us to be subdued and don't be
argumentative, don't exercise and get muscles because you wouldn't look like a
lady, don't do haircut because you wouldn't look like a lady etc., and there are
many things which is prevented by the society on women and this side men are
even pushed to become alpha men and have strong muscles, six packs abs and what
not.
Girls are told to be gentle as said but further their movement are
controlled, they are told not go outside by yourself, come home before the
sunset or darkness spread, why are there all these restrictions on the women?
and this is not end, also they are being scared that don't go outside by
yourself and if you'll go, you'll get raped and then you're to be blamed for
this. Just imagine, the victim is blamed for the crime committed on her, what
kind of justice is this? Girls are always told to come home before the sunset or
darkness spread and boys can loiter hang around outside and have fun, why?
Because women could be sexually assaulted, so by considering this, if men are
kept at the home and then they don't become the criminals and after that girls
can have fun and they'll be safe also, so we have to think innovatively of
changing the way we see men and women.
Article 14 of The Indian Constitution
Article 14 of the Constitution of Indian provides for equality before the law or
equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. It states:
The
State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal
protection of the laws within the territory of India.
Article 14 guarantees equality to all persons, including citizens, corporation,
and foreigners. Its provisions have come up for discussion in the Supreme Court
in a number of cases and the case of
Ram Krishna Dalmia vs Justice S R Tendolkar[1] reiterated its
meaning and scope as follows. Article 14 permits classification, so long as it
is
reasonable, but forbids class legislation.
A classification of groups of
people is considered reasonable when, the classification is based upon
intelligible differentia that distinguishes persons or things that are grouped
from others that are left out of the group and the differential has a rational
relation with the objective of the act.
In addition, the classification must be
non-arbitrary. Supreme Court in E.P.Royappa(1973)[2] provided guidance on
arbitrariness of an act, Equality is a dynamic concept with many aspects and
dimensions and it cannot be
cribbed, cabined and confined within the
traditional and doctrinaire limits. From the positivistic point of view,
equality is antithetic to arbitrariness. In fact, equality and arbitrariness are
sworn enemies. Where an act is arbitrary, it is implicit that it is unequal both
according to political logic and constitutional law and is therefore violative
of Article 14.[3]
Gender Imbalance
As we saw that, Article 14 of Indian Constitution gives equal rights to everyone
within the territory of India, then why society is making difference between men
and women? Why society is spreading this feminism more? Here, Article 14 of
Indian Constitution clearly says that each and every person will be treated
equally, that means women are also included in the definition of 'person', then
why they were not treated equally? Indeed, the struggle for equality has been
one of the major concerns of the women's movement in the world. 'Women is the
complement of the men not inferior'. In India, since long ago, women were
considered as an oppressed section of the society and they were neglected from
the centuries.
The birth of the sons is being celebrated while the birth of the
girls is filled with the pain like a gloom-day. Why this much inequality between
men and women? Because, all this difference between men and women is created by
the society. Still there are many places where they think the birth of the sons
will maintain their ancestry, will maintain their lands given by their
ancestors, will protect their family and while on the other side the birth of
girls is filled with pain like a gloom-day. Gender inequality is the conception
that men and women are not equal and that gender affects an individual's living
experience.
These differences arise from distinctions in biology, psychology,
and cultural norms. Some of these types of distinctions are empirically grounded
while others appear to be socially constructed. Studies show the different lived
experience of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy,
personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliations. Gender
inequality is experienced differently across different cultures.
When women go out to work, men think their pride and their family's honour will
be destroyed. Only because of this cheap thinking, women are still struggling
with their hard life, many of them are not allowed to go outside themselves,
many of them are even not have courage to do such act (for any job or workplace)
and not even have courage to fight against this cheap thinking. Their courage
has succumbed under this cheap thinking and obviously it'll, because they are
being pressured, they are being blackmailed, they are being coerced. Now
considering the further survey, society celebrates the day named 'International
Women's Day' on 8 March every year, why society is celebrating this day?
Because, this
International Women's day is celebrated since long back for
achievement throughout history and across nation. It is celebrated for the
women's achievement on worldwide level. They are celebrating this day, because
this day has occurred for well over the century, with the first IWD gathering in
1911. The question is again that, why we are celebrating this day?
Yes, that is
true that they fought their first fights and they won that, then why they are
not getting benefits of that fight? This day is celebrated in all over the
world, but you need to know that this world contains 195 countries and there are
still many countries where women are not treated equal like Jordan, Sri Lanka,
South Korea, Egypt, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, India etc. Then there is no need to
celebrate this day until the women are started treating equal in all over the
world.
Feminists Jurisprudence
Feminist Jurisprudence includes the study of different strands of feminist
theory and the themes that have emerged and developed within feminist logic, as
well as the application of theory to issue that interest members of class. It is
the law's neutrality as the very mechanism that perpetuates injustices against
woman. Feminists embrace a view that attempts to challenge the existing legal
status by focusing on what kind of institutions and laws would be necessary to
redress the imbalance against woman in society. It is the very core of our
society that the feminist jurists' question. They argue that we must look at the
norms embedded in our legal system and rethink the law. What is
equality or an
injury in light of broader understandings of those norms?
Feminist Jurisprudence helps to point out that what is neutral or natural for
one person is a distortion for another human personality. Pregnancy, child
rearing and other care giving activities are still treated in the workplace as
peculiar occurrences, rather than what they are, commonplace functions that
serve the larger good.
The pervasive influence of patriarchy on legal
structures, demonstrates its effects on the material condition of women and
girls, and develops reforms to correct gender injustice, exploitation, or
restriction. Promoting freedom and equality for women reflects a profound shift
in basic assumptions about the nature of women and their proper place in the
world: a shift from inequality to equality of the sexes, along with
re-examination of what equality itself requires.
Feminists believe that history was written from a male point of view and does
not reflect women's role in making history and structuring society. Male-written
history has created a bias in the concepts of human nature, gender potential,
and social arrangements. The language, logic, and structure of the law are
male-created and reinforce male values.
Deviation from the norm, by presenting male characteristics as a norm and
female characteristics as deviation from the norm, the prevailing conceptions
of law reinforce and perpetuate patriarchal power. Feminists challenge the
belief that the biological make-up of men and women is so different that certain
behavior can be attributed on the basis of sex. Gender, feminists say, is
created socially, not biologically. Sex determines such matters as physical
appearance and reproductive capacity, but not psychological, moral, or social
traits.
- Traditional or Liberal, feminism asserts that women are just as rational
as men and therefore, should have equal opportunity to make their own sides.
Liberal feminists challenge the assumption of male authority and seek to
erase gender-based distinctions recognized by law thus enabling women to
compete in the marketplace.
- Another school of feminist legal thought, cultural feminism, focuses on
the differences between men and women and celebrates those differences.
Following the research of psychologist Carol Gilligan, this group of
thinkers asserts that women emphasize the importance of relationships,
contexts, and reconciliation of conflicting interpersonal positions, whereas
men emphasize abstract principles of rights and logic. The goal of this
school is to give equal recognition to women's moral voice of caring and
communal values.
- Radical or dominant feminism focuses on inequality. Similarly, to
liberal feminism, radical feminism asserts that men, as a class, have
dominated women as a class, creating gender inequality. For radical
feminists, gender is a question of power. Radical feminists urge us to
abandon traditional approaches that take masculinity as their reference
point. They argue that sexual equality must be constructed on the basis of
women's differences from men and not be a mere accommodation of those
differences.[4]
(i) Liberal Feminism
The historical origin of contemporary liberal feminism goes back to 18
centuries. An important principle of this philosophy was individualism by which
was meant that individual possesses the freedom to do what he wishes without
interference from others. Liberal feminism is an individualistic form
of feminist's theory, which focuses on women's ability to maintain their
equality through their own actions and choices.
It emphasizes on making the legal and political rights of women equal to men.
Liberal feminists argue that society holds the false belief that women are by
nature less intellectual and physically capable than men, thus it tends to
discriminate against women in the academy, the forum and the marketplace.
Liberal feminists believe that female subordination is rooted in a set of
customary and legal constraints that block women's entrance to and success in
the so-called public word. They strive for sexual equality via political and
legal reform.
General view of liberal feminists is that women are caused by social and legal
barrier that blocks their access to public sphere of politics and economics.
Liberal feminists demand liberals follow their own principle of universal human
rights and equality and demand equal treatment of women and men, insisting that
women are fundamentally similar to men. The theorists argue for law to be gender
blind that there should be no restriction or special assistance on the grounds
of gender.
(ii) Radical Feminism
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical
reordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and
economic contexts. Radical feminists view society as fundamentally a patriarchy
in which men dominate and oppress women. Radical feminists seek to abolish the
patriarchy in order to liberate everyone from an unjust society by challenging
existing social norms and institutions. This includes opposing the sexual
objectification of women, raising public awareness about such issues as rape
and violence against women, and challenging the concept of gender roles.
A perspective within the feminism, radical feminism believes that patriarchy is
the overarching structure that oppress women due to their sex. Unlike those
strands of feminism that sought to address gender inequality through reforming
the existing socio-political- legal system, radical feminism believes that a
radical restructuring of the society through eliminating male supremacy and
challenging social norm is the only thing to bring about a gender just society.
Taking an example of the law of adultery which is now unconstitutional earlier
in the case of
W. Kalyani v./s State Tr. Insp. Of Police & Anr on 1st December
2011.[5], it was held that only men can be prosecuted for the offense of
adultery and women cannot be prosecuted. The judgment was further criticized on
the grounds for showing a strong gender bias making the position of a married
woman almost as a property of her husband.
The women were seen as it was subordinate to men and in the jurisdiction of
them. It took almost 160 years for the court to understand that women are not a
chattel and have certainly equal status that of men. After having the provisions
of equality in article 14. The absence in understanding the concept of gender
neutrality by the courts after having the provision laid down in the
Constitution has resulted in the prima facie violation of women's independent.
In
Independent Thought v. Union of India[6], a division bench of the
Supreme Court of India read down exception 2 to Section 375, Indian Penal Code
(hereinafter referred to as the lPC for short), which now stands thus
altered, Sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, the wife not being less than
18 years of age, is not rape. Earlier the provision had prescribed the age as 15
rather 18. Sexual violence apart from being a dehumanizing act is an unlawful
intrusion of the right to privacy and sanctity of a female. It is a serious blow
to her supreme honor and offends her self- esteem and dignity it degrades and
humiliates the victim and where the victim is a helpless child, it leaves behind
a traumatic experience.
End Matter:
In the ancient time, women were not allowed to go outside by themselves, they
were even not allowed to take off their veil, not allowed to talk with others.
At that time, there were no one to fight for them against this cruelty. but now,
there are numbers of debates that, now women's have their rights, they are
getting free and have their protection. Indeed, there has been vast change in
last few decades, laws were created, they are become free, they have their
rights now, they are being in protection, and after this all, if they have
rights to raise a voice, then why they are scared to raise their voice. Do you
really think that they are safe? and if they are, then why in every 15 minutes
rape commits in India according to survey.
If a woman, who is victim of rape, tries to file a case, then death threat,
threat-notes, blackmailing and also all the ways possible are used to pressurise
her for not starting the legal battle or for not raising voice against the
crime. That is just a tag that women are being protected, actually they are not.
That is just a tag that women are being treated equally, actually they are not.
Feminists are doing much more things related to this by various women
organizations, they are doing protest, many of the movements are still running,
etc. but while this, we need to do a lot of things about this word called
Feminism. If we want to end this inequality from the society, we have to
change the way of thinking and we have to think innovatively.
Women demand rights today and the world needs to step-up and stand for it. It is
universally accepted that even if the world wants peace, a group of few people
could disturb the stability periodically and yet peace could be established.
Let's dream about that day when the world would want equal women's rights and no
periodical disturbance would be able to break the foundation of such noble
thoughts. Remember, we are not talking about reservation for women, we are
talking about equality.
End-Notes:
- Ram Krishna Dalmia vs Justice S R Tendolkar
- E.P.Royappa (1973)
- Article 14 of Indian Constitution,
- Legal Information Institute (LII), Cornell Law School
- W. Kalyani v./s State Tr. Insp. Of Police & Anr on 1st December 2011
- Independent Thought v. Union of India
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