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patriarchal

Menstrual Hygiene and Mother Nature

by Shivangi Sharma 08/12/2024

written by Shivangi Sharma

By Shivangi Sharma

One in every three girls around the world do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. The data speaks a lot about the discrimination faced by menstruating people around the world leading to periods illiteracy amongst the mass as well as sanitation industry. In India specifically, 71% of the menstruating girls remain unaware of menstruation until their first cycle and the culture of shame related to menstruation has ensured the lack of awareness on menstrual products. Studies indicate that most girls do not have consistent access to good-quality menstrual hygiene products with 88% of women and girls in India using homemade alternatives, such as old cloth, rags, hay, sand or ash making them susceptible to all kinds of diseases. All of these factors play into the lack of research in creating hygienic comfortable, economical and sustainable menstrual products. Despite a huge lack in usage of these products, every year India produces around 12.3 billion of waste created by menstrual products, most of which is non-biodegradable. The sheer lack of awareness about the same is contributing largely to the degradation of the environment.

https://youtu.be/C85tb2sTzIk

The Womb team member Shivangi discusses some of the menstrual products she has used and shares her experience of her efforts in making sustainable choices. Any statement made for any company in the video are made in personal capacity as a consumer. The Womb holds no liability to any statement thus made.

08/12/2024 0 comments 28 views

Karnataka Minister K. Sudhakar says – “Modern women want to stay single and childless, it’s not good”

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Neha Bhupathiraju

At a World Mental Health Day event at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS), Karnataka’s Health & Family Welfare Minister K. Sudhakar expressed his disappointment at the “paradigm shift in thinking” that women choose to stay single and childless.

“(I’m) sorry to say this, a lot of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don’t want to give birth – they want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking which is not good.” He also said that western influence is the reason Indians also choose to not live with their parents.

Social media is flooded with anger at the Minister’s bizarre remarks. A day after his remarks, he issued a clarification that he “had no intention to single out women”. “Through my address during the World Mental Health Day program at NIMHANS, I intended to send across the message on how our Indian family value system can address the mental health issues that we are facing today”. He also alleges that those remarks were only a part of his 19 minutes speech and are being taken out of context.

His remarks are rather disappointing coming from the Health & Family Minister. The underlying principle behind (even his clarification!) is the notion that women are expected to be flag-bearers of the value system. It’s not uncommon for the word ‘modern’ to be used in a derogatory fashion – when modern often means, especially in a feminist context, somebody who stands up for themself or makes a choice about their own body. When will we stop vilifying those who dare to breakfree from the shackles of binary notions?

Women, not just in India but around the world, especially in US give a variety of reasons why they may choose to be single or not have kids. While some fear lack of support, some simply enjoy the independence. A lot of women have seen their mothers sacrifice their own lives to raise them up, a choice that they may not prefer to make. So the question is – “why should anyone except a woman or a couple in question, decide what’s right for her or them?” Well, the health minister certainly should not. This incident is also a reminder as to why representation matters and why we need women in decision making, otherwise there would be no recourse to laws, policies and opinion that are fundamentally androcentric.

08/12/2024 0 comments 22 views

Sexism in Indian Advertisements

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Pooja Bhattacharjee

Advertisements have been an important medium for companies to promote their products through powerful messaging. Thus many companies try to come up with unique taglines or innovative ideas that people associate with their brand products. Marketing in India has become increasingly focused on gender roles, family hierarchy, and traditional marriage practices. Companies usually resort to ad campaigns which have a major issue of objectification and stereotyping women. In the process of attracting attention to aid recall, advertisers often resort to sexual themes. Evidently, such themes demand the presence of attractive women and explicit plots. These themes often lead to portrayals of a particular gender (mostly women) in a derogatory fashion.

When we act out our roles in everyday life, we internalize received information on our identity in the form of social “scripts” that we repeat and perfect over time. Popular culture often provides striking examples of such gendered scripts, as evident from studies on television and advertising as well as in social media and music. Traditional scripts require rewriting to fit new and previously unimagined situations. The makers need to be conscious of what they are putting out in the public sphere, either way, even as an act of morality and responsibility towards the society. This is the right time to revisit the advertising culture in India over the years and studying its relevance in the 21st Century.

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This Usha ad from 1980s has the tagline, ‘train’ her to be the ‘ideal housewife’. The idea behind the ad that all girls should be raised to be the ideal housewives is problematic since it doesn’t directly target women to buy their products, however, it’s speaking to the parents or the person who has authority over the girl to ‘train’ her to be ideal housewife by getting this product. This ad is highly misogynist in the sense that it’s setting a bar for women to be ‘ideal’, which shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Furthermore, the fact that this ad aired in the 1980s, the highly patriarchal era where women did not much autonomy, it can only be inferred how much added stress they might have to endure to be the ideal type. This and many other sexist ads which came out decades ago cannot be absolved of the liability just because it came out a long time ago. They did contribute to the set gender norms which we are still fighting today.

An analysis of Indian advertisements on television and YouTube has shown that while they are superior to global benchmarks, insofar as girls and women have parity of representation in terms of screen and speaking time, their portrayal is problematic and have misogynist roots, as they further gender stereotypes – women are more likely to be shown as married, less likely to be shown in paid occupation, and more likely to be depicted as caretakers and parents than male characters.

A study by UNICEF and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI) titled “Gender Bias and Inclusion In Advertising In India” finds that female characters dominate screen time (59.7%) and speaking time (56.3%) in Indian ads, but one of the drivers of this is their depiction for selling cleaning supplies, food and beauty products to female consumers. For example, almost all the detergent and food commercials depicted a woman caretaking for her family who speaks directly to women viewers about caring for their families. In comparison, in a separate study by GDI for setting global benchmarks it was found that ads in the U.S. show women with half the screen time (30.6%) and nearly half the speaking time (33.5%).

A few years ago, HUL was criticized for a misleading Vim bar ad. The ad video depicted the life of Afroz – who was the Pradhan and encouraged to stand for the elections by her husband as he felt that she was a better candidate for the post than him because she had studied more than him. The ad then shows clips of Afroz working and interacting with locals. Afroz tells us that she’s the Pradhan but she’s also a homemaker. The ad ends with a shot of her washing dishes with Vim soap. For few people, this ad may look innocent enough – a woman in power in a professional capacity comes home and does the domestic chores. Maybe this perception comes from the misogyny that we have internalized over the years – and the juxtaposition of women’s professional success with their efforts on the domestic front all the time.

There’s nothing wrong with washing dishes and the backlash that this ad got is not a criticism of Afroz or her husband. This is about how Vim appropriated this story and the way in which they chose to tell it. Making it palatable enough for those of us who cannot handle a woman’s success if she isn’t also simultaneously a domestic goddess.

The study shows that two-thirds of female characters (66.9%) in Indian ads have light or medium-light skin tones — a higher percentage than male characters (52.1%). Female characters are nine times more likely to be shown as “stunning/very attractive” than male characters (5.9% compared with 0.6%). Female characters are also invariably thin, but male characters appear with a variety of body sizes in Indian advertising.

A greater percentage of female characters is depicted as married than male characters (11.0% compared with 8.8%). Female characters are three times more likely to be depicted as parents than male characters (18.7% compared with 5.9%). While male characters are more likely to be shown making decisions about their future than female characters (7.3% compared with 4.8%), the latter are twice as likely to be shown making household decisions than male characters (4.9% compared with 2.0%). For characters where intelligence is part of their character in the ad, male characters are more likely to be shown as smart than female characters (32.2% compared to 26.2%). Male characters are almost twice as likely to be shown as funny than female characters (19.1% compared to 11.9%).

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This unimpressionable ad of Jack & Jones released in 2016 shows a man objectifying women and letting them ‘hold him back’. The picture provides an apt summary of what the campaign is about. ‘Don’t hold back’, usually used as an empowering message is used here for a man to assert his power over a woman. Moreover, this ad seems to glorify sexual assault at work. Many ads objectify women by using them as ‘props’ in the ads- meaning that their presence limited to the background solely to provide a sexual appeal.

Airtel recently released an ad – it begins with a man sitting at the head of the table while his daughters, wife and mother are asking him to pay their bills. The man then looks at the camera and says it’s his duty to pay the bills since he’s the CEO of the house. Though this one didn’t gain as much criticism as the other ads, the subtle undertone of sexism does not go unnoticed. They all played a role in stereotyping the gender roles.

Misrepresentation and harmful stereotypes of women in advertising have a significant impact on women — and young girls — and how they view themselves and their value to society. While we do see female representation dominate in Indian ads, they are still marginalized by colorism, hyper-sexualization, and without careers or aspirations outside of the home,” said Geena Davis, Academy Award Winning Actor, Founder and Chair of the GDI adding that the stark inequality evident in portrayals of females in these advertisements must be addressed to ensure an equitable society.

Some ad campaigns are becoming increasingly aware of their presence in this industry. Social marketing has brought forth different forms of ‘femvertizing’– which is female empowerment through socially-focused marketing. This is done in a way that not only challenges but also reverses the traditionally dominant roles that Indian fathers, sons, and husbands assume with the women in their lives.

The ads of the detergent brand Ariel with tagline ‘share the load’ has been applauded for its inclusivity and helping in demystifying the pre-set gendered notions through this platform.

Also, more than a quarter of a century after Cadbury released its advertisement featuring model Shimona Rashi on the sidelines of a cricket match and zoomed past the security to celebrate with a dance on field when the cricketer – presumably her boyfriend – scored the winning run, Cadbury has reimagined this advertisement – changing very little except gender roles. This time it’s the same scene, expect it is a man on the sidelines and it’s a women’s match. Inter changing the gender in this advertisement also magnifies women’s achievements after the struggles women had to endure to reach this position.

Only time will tell which course the advertising sector will take. It is high time that the advertisement makers stop using satire while referring to women. Especially in this world where a new generation of feminist Indian marketers are using publicity to reach larger consumer audiences and to reframe the dominant gender discourse, recognizing the hugely important role that women play in global consumption.

08/12/2024 0 comments 23 views

All In A Name

by Elsa Joel 08/12/2024

written by Elsa Joel

Dr. Elsa Lycias Joel

I am not a staunch feminist and I don’t wake up to antagonize men. Reiterating this has become a habit as part of explaining why I continue using my maiden name after marriage. I don’t complain about other people’s assumptions on my identity. But do they know there are a lot of women in the world who carry on with their maiden names, an identity and are glad and proud to be so? There are dads who wish their daughters didn’t adopt their husbands’ surnames once they are married off.

My mom did change her surname for some special reason that nobody knew, except that she never wanted any so called feminist friends to blame my dad for the name change. She still remains happy with her surname because only after the name change she etched her dad’s name in her heart, I guess. My hubby just wasn’t concerned enough about my surname as long as I remained his doting wife while some of my friends, much senior to me dismissed my identity as mere rebellion and was so kind to tell me that they had harbored similar thoughts when they were young. And I work out ways in vain to make them understand that I’m not a sort of person who drifts into doing what the majority does, whatever their reasons.

These days, I try hard to brush aside any reaction from family and friends by distracting them. If any of you face a similar problem, try talking about films or trees or clubhouse or if Cardi B got a boob job and lipo or global warming and see for yourselves how they happily make a few interesting points forgetting about the issue of ‘surnames’. That shows the intensity of their concern over a particular issue they rant about. As long as there are people who take others’ opinions too seriously for themselves, silly suggestions and opinions will keep flowing on how to be that responsible wife a society looks up to. So whether it is entertainment or knowledge or timely information, people do their bit to assist and foster the spirit of whiling away time and socializing. Without the inherent curiosity that permeates humans about another one’s way of life, where would all this socializing and house visiting and juicy gossip be?

To adopt a surname that’s laden with a history to which one has no connection is not easy. Symbolically stepping into a new stage of life doesn’t mean we have a bounden duty to flatter a handful. About those who write my name wrong by assuming I had taken my partner’s surname to my own, I respect their thoughts for they seem to believe changing one’s surname is a tradition worth honoring a husband or a way to unify a family or a patriarchal tradition with no functional purpose. People have a million reasons to change or not change their surnames but I for one have only one, that is, I just don’t wish to bury any small bit of my identity as my parent’s daughter. Years after my dad passed away, many of his friends who haven’t met me even once, join the dots through my name.

FYI, gifts, cards and emails that come addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Prem doesn’t bother me at all.

08/12/2024 0 comments 25 views

Shun Ignorance, Embrace Enlightenment – Buddha Purnima, Women and Feminism

by Elsa Joel 08/12/2024

written by Elsa Joel

By Dr. Elsa Lycias Joel

As we celebrate Buddha purnima (on 26^th May, 2021), I am reminded of a great quote — ‘Women are the sun of the family.’ With the sun shining bright and beautiful in Tamil Nadu and DMK’s long engagement with women’s welfare programmes, be it micro credit or several assistance schemes for women, women are hopeful. Beyond the good and bad of the poll promises, women-centric government schemes have undoubtedly changed lives.

On 14 October 1956, at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, over 20 years after he declared his intent to convert to Buddhism, Dr. Ambedkar along with 365,000 of his followers decided to embrace Buddhism. He is perhaps one of the biggest champions of women empowerment to have existed in India. His roar, “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved” is still heard all over. The Hindu Code Bill challenged the basic patriarchal foundation. Women’s empowerment in the Buddhist period, even before 25 centuries, carried a contemporary significance because empowerment would bring enlightenment irrespective of gender and thus enable humanity as a whole to tread the path of righteousness, truth, peace, progress, prosperity and justice. Going by history, Buddhism is known to have flourished in Tamil Nadu in two phases, firstly in the early years of the Pallava rule 400-650 AD, and secondly in the Chola period mid 9th to the early 14th century AD with centres of Buddhism in Kanchipuram, Kaveripattinam, Uraiyur and Nagapattinam. At some point of time, Buddhism declined in Tamil Nadu after contributing a great deal to the enrichment of Tamil culture and spiritual consciousness.

Teachings and practices of Buddhism assert that in the woman lies the womb of progress. Progressive societies owe a lot to this ideology that enabled women to have control over their own life. To give women full freedom to participate in a religious life inspite of being criticized by the prevailing establishment is a task and Buddhist teachings are halfway there. People still live to tell the history untold in textbooks. That is, people who resisted the imposition of Hinduism’s varna system were marginalised. Existential issues facing marginalized women are subjugation and arbitrariness masquerading as cultural practices. Lakhs of people are embracing Buddhism in various parts of India going on to prove the relevance of the faith in today’s society. Almost 87% of the 8.4 million Buddhists in India are converts. According to an IndiaSpend analysis of 2011 Census data, female literacy among Buddhists in India is higher (74.04%) than the total population average (64.63%).

India being the birthplace of Buddhism, this religion is part of India’s spiritual heritage. Indian women must be proud to know that the core Buddhist doctrine and its salvific path are essentially inclusive and do not discriminate between genders as much as the major religion of India. That’s why women were admitted into the monastic order. Today, centuries after Buddha advocated the right of women to be ordained, I’m not surprised to know that the status of nuns has declined. Sadly, deep sexism exists in religious institutions although the founder of the religion made sure the influence of Buddhism should be such that women must always have fair play. In a country where women are reminded in no uncertain terms that this is no ideal country for women — within or outside the home, it’s not unusual to know that nuns are placed at an inferior position as compared to monks like in every other religion. That nuns should speak after the monks have spoken, sit behind the monks in rituals and ceremonies, cannot hold the highest positions in any ceremony and bow down to a monk who has just been initiated shows how inferior the women have been placed in Buddhism too. Above all, the religious assertion that a female nun can never reach Buddhahood though she can become an arhat is farcical. Modern scholars are unsure if these rules even go back to the times of Buddha at all.

Many a time I wonder if a religion that went beyond times to lay the essential foundations for eradicating discrimination towards women has patterns of misogyny in the form of Eight Garudhammas or it is the cultivation of the mind (bhāvanā) that ultimately uproot the innate conditioning of all genders. There were times when nuns of Ladakh had no food to eat and a few even served their own families as domestic help. Despite the region being home to 28 nunneries, nuns never had a designated place to pray or live until 2012. Chattnyanling nunnery built by the Ladakh Nuns Association with the help of local villagers came as a much needed relief. Before the champions of women’s emancipation who advocated educational facilities and opportunities for women to make them efficient and active units in the process of religious, socio-economic and political development ushered in, women were considered inferior in India. And men seemed to have influenced the compiling, editing and interpreting of the religious doctrines. That’s why we see shades of misogyny in Christianity, Islam, Sikhism Jainism and Judaism and a whole lot in Hinduism. This inferiority issue is sure to have a greater impact in the Indian society for a long duration of time. Whatever be the Buddhist ethos, it’s effect will be negated in varying degrees by masculine superiority, by misinterpreting at least. I wish I could ask Buddha the reasons behind his initial refusal to grant the request of his aunt and foster mother, Prajāpati Gautami and her women to become monastics three times. Blame it on societal pressure and emotional barriers. After all, interacting positively with society and it’s prevailing norms helps a religion to thrive, doesn’t it! About the 85 extra rules for the nuns and eight special rules influencing the position of women in Asian societies that are slow to evolve, one must know that the teachings of the Buddha were only committed to writing long after his demise and whether the accounts had any veracity is still debatable.

Leaders of Buddha’s Light International, Taiwan have publicly rejected part of the Eight Garudhammas and other rules and teachings that imply that women are inferior to men. Before and after the pandemic hit, the world has come to know Taiwan fares better with a woman at the helm of affairs. Fortunately, Buddhism has found its way everywhere. In Sweden organized Buddhism has its roots in the 1970s and traditions flourish. Sweden has almost closed 82% of its gender gap. In highly modernized societies, deeply rooted Buddhist traditions have persisted, have been adapted to changing conditions, including only those which are necessary for an inclusive society and ignoring few writings of disciples prejudiced towards women. As the most trusted religion in New Zealand, Buddhism has in a way, directly or indirectly, contributed towards a rapid social and economic change wherein women are well treated and respected and discrimination on the basis of gender is illegal. Examples are many. So, Buddhism is also like a seed. If it falls on good soil, then it produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Ideals of unconditional loving kindness and respect espoused by Buddhism will be relevant today if the gap between the ideal and practice is bridged with wisdom and nobility. Discriminatory practices and attitudes still exist in Buddhist spheres as doubts about the accuracy of the scriptures exist and misrepresentations are not clarified but viewed through the opaque prism of each culture as it spread across different regions. In India, monastic women are taking on key roles and with feminism gradually evolving, outdated religious prejudice and barriers are beginning to crumble. Virulent passages that present an ambiguous view of women must be ignored if not removed for Buddhism to flourish, so that more women walk the path of liberation to become arhats and to educate all about the consequences of discrimination. Around the world, an unacceptably large number of women are the victims of domestic violence, rape and even murder each year. Buddhism at its pristine and transformative core is genderless. It’s high time we promote any ethico-psychological system that facilitates the innate moulding of minds that makes social reforms a reality. On this Buddha Purnima, may we all reiterate the belief in Ahimsa (non-violence) and Karuna (compassion).

To this day, religious scholars and feminists are trying to figure out what it was about that time or moment when Prince Siddhartha Gautama decided to leave behind his wife, Yasodhara, and son, Rahula to pursue enlightenment.

Practicing an ideology/religion can sometimes be like maintaining, operating and flying a helicopter irrespective of its design and manufacture. If someone decides to fly one, its design and manufacture doesn’t absolve the right minded aviator the responsibility of ensuring that safety and quality controls are given the highest priority. Just as insurance agencies must play a constructive role in support of better safety norms, religious leaders can choose what they profess or advocate for the betterment of humanity. Ultimately, it is the person who maintains/flies the machine, irrespective of the make, must ensure that the highest professional standards are adhered to at all times. Or don’t choose to fly it.

May good seeds fall on fertile soil. May the dark, darker and darkest holes of religions shrink and disappear. Happy Buddha Purnima to all who practise, profess and appreciate the goodness of Buddhism.

08/12/2024 0 comments 30 views

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patriarchal

Menstrual Hygiene and Mother Nature

Karnataka Minister K. Sudhakar says – “Modern women want to stay single and childless, it’s not good”

Sexism in Indian Advertisements

All In A Name

Shun Ignorance, Embrace Enlightenment – Buddha Purnima, Women and Feminism

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