From Swami Vivekananda’s belief that “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved,” to the idea that “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus”, perceptions of gender have deeply influenced cultures and societies.
In society, men are often expected to be the primary breadwinners while women are seen as caregivers at home. Men are encouraged to be strong and stoic, while women are expected to be nurturing and emotional. Men are typically expected to take the lead in decision-making and leadership roles whereas women are often expected to prioritize family over career advancement.
Gender inequality
It is a difference in treatment or perception based on gender. These differences are a result of socially constructed gender roles.
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- Until now, there has been no woman Chief Justice of India. The first woman judge on the Supreme Court bench was Justice Fathima Beevi in 1989. In the high courts too, in over seven decades there have been only 16 women chief justices. So, leading by example is not on the cards.
- Despite the dire need to bring more women into policing to make it more responsive and humane and despite long-agreed targets to bring their representation up to 30 per cent and more, the percentage of women in police hovers around 12 per cent, with most of them huddled at the lower ranks.
Gender inequality influencing social norms
Gender inequality and social norms are closely connected in society. Gender inequality means that men, women, and people of other genders don’t have the same opportunities and rights. These inequalities are often based on old ideas about what men and women should do. Social norms are the unwritten rules that say how people should behave based on their gender. These norms support and justify inequality by telling us what is normal or acceptable for men and women to do.
For example:
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- Social norms say that women should stay at home and take care of children, while men should work outside the home. These norms reinforce inequality and make it harder to change. As women increasingly enter the workforce and work unconventional hours, societal norms often resist this change, labeling such behavior as immoral or inappropriate, particularly for women working late at night. These attitudes reflect ongoing challenges in achieving equality in both work and society.
| Recently, a Greater Kailash I resident, who works as a radio jockey, was stopped from entering her society by a security guard when she returned home late after work. According to a tweet posted by her, the guard refused to open the society gate and asked her to use another gate which was farther away. The post added that the RWA president’s wife supported the guard and that the resident had repeatedly been subjected to “character assasination” by the RWA president for returning late at night from work. Over the years, NCR residents have claimed that RWAs discriminate on the basis of working hours, gender, marital status. Most women who stay in gated communities in NCR and return from work late at night say altercations with security guards are common. This moral policing disproportionately targets women & reflects deeper inequalities in societal norms that perpetuate gender-inequality. |
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- From a young age, people learn gender roles through family, friends, and society. Children see and absorb these norms from caregivers, media, and schools. This process keeps gender inequality alive by setting expectations for what boys and girls should do, reinforcing old social norms and limiting opportunities for all genders.
| Recently, Divya Modi Tongya, has challenged a government notification that requires married women to submit a ‘no-objection certificate’ (NOC) from their husbands if they wish to legally change their surnames back to their maiden names. The requirement violates the fundamental right of a woman to decide her identity. The petitioner has said that it is against Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. She has rightly contended that it is “patently discriminatory” and displays “evident gender bias” by imposing additional and disproportionate requisites exclusively on women. Women are forced by rules, procedures and social norms to adopt their husband’s surname. They face many difficulties if they don’t do so when they apply for official documents like the ration card, Aadhaar, etc., or when they want to open a bank account or claim welfare benefits. Apart from the official requirement, social pressure also works on a woman to accept the husband’s identity as her own. That is in line with the patriarchal idea that a woman’s identity and role in society are subservient to a man’s. Women should have the freedom to choose their own surname or to go without a surname. |
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- For so long, society has been male-dominated, with strict norms about what is acceptable. Social norms do not accept ‘unmarried women with men’ as right women or consider them as morally corrupt. This was evident in the Nirbhaya incident, where a young woman and her boyfriend were brutally attacked on a bus. The attackers felt justified in controlling the woman’s behavior, reflecting deep-rooted gender biases. Attackers felt right to assault her because she was already with her boyfriend, revealing the twisted logic used to justify such horrific acts.
A positive example
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- A man grates a coconut in the kitchen while his wife cooks a meal. Their daughter helps by putting a can back in its place on the kitchen cabinet, and the son plays with a soft toy.
- The textbook also illustrates three girls playing football, a game conventionally played by men.
- Another image in the same book shows a young boy folding clothes. This helps spread a message in a society where household chores are still considered a woman’s responsibility.
This scene, though it may seem unconventional in a traditionally patriarchal society, is from the newly introduced Malayalam textbook for Class 3 which tries to convey the idea that it is normal for boys to play with soft toys and for men to work in the kitchen.
It is one among the many changes introduced by the Kerala government in the textbooks for Classes 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, as it aims to shatter patriarchal gender norms.
Conclusion:
The above relationships show that ethics is influenced by them and it incorporates their universal elements. Therefore, Ethics does not exist in a vacuum and at the same time ethics is not law or religion but it’s based on universal standards.
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