Class-X:
Social Science
Gender,
Religion and Caste
Gender Division
• Sexual Division of Labour: A system in which all work inside the home is
either done by the women of the family while men are expected to work outside
to earn money.
• This belief is not based on biology but on social and expectations and
stereotypes.
Feminist movements
• Social movements that aim at
establishing equality between men and women are called feminist movements.
Women’s Oppression in various
ways
→ Literacy Rate: The literacy rate among women is only 65.46% compared with
82.14% among men.
→ Jobs: There is very low percentage of women in the high paid and high
value jobs as just a few girls are encouraged to take up higher education.
→ Wages: Despite the Equal Wages Act, women in all areas are paid lesser
than men, be it sports, cinema, agriculture or construction works.
→ Sex Ratio: Most parents prefer boy children to girl children. Female
infanticide and feticide are common in our country. This has resulted in
unfavourable sex ratio.
→ Social Evil: Society in general and urban centres in particular, is not
safe for women. Dowry harassment, physical abuse, sexual harassment are routine
tales.
Women’s political
representation
• Political representation of
women in India is very low. It has never crossed 5% in any of the Vidhana
Sabhas and never crossed 12% in Loka Sabha.
Religion, Communalism and
Politics
Religion Differences in
Politics
• Human rights activists
allege that people from minority religious community suffer a lot whenever
there is communal violence.
Communalism
• Extreme and partisan
attachment to one’s own religion is called Communalism.
What is Communal Politics?
• Problem in the society
begins when one religion is pitted against the others.
• The problem becomes serious
when demands of one religious groups is formed in opposition to other
religions.
• The problem becomes very
acute when the Government uses its power to fulfil the demands of only one
religious group.
• This kind of using religion
is politics is called Communal Politics.
The Theory of Communal
Politics
• Religion is the main basis
of formation of the society.
• The followers of a religion
must form one community.
• Their fundamental interests
are the same.
Why is theory of Communal
Politics wrong?
• People of the same religion
do not have same interest and aspirations in every context.
• Everyone has different
identities in different contexts.
Steps taken to combat
communalism
• India is a secular state.
There is no official religion or state religion in India.
• Everyone is free to
practice, profess and property any religion.
• The constitution prohibits
discrimination on grounds of religion.
Caste and Politics
Caste Inequalities
• Members of the same caste
group formed the social community that practiced the same or similar
occupation, married within the caste group, and did not eat with members from
other caste groups.
Why does caste system still
persist?
• Most people prefer to marry
within their own caste or tribe.
• Untouchability has not ended
a completely.
• The caste groups that had
access to education have continue to do well.
How Caste Influences Politics
• When parties choose
candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste the composition of the
constituency.
• Political parties and candidates
appealing to the caste sentiment of the people.
Caste alone cannot determine
Indian Elections
• No parliamentary
constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste.
• No party wins the votes of
all the voters of a caste our community.
• If that caste group has many
to choose from, the other caste groups have none, if they were to vote only on
the basis of caste.
• The voter’s attachment to
his party and the party ideology can be stronger than his attachment to his
caste group.
The Outcome of Political
Expression of Caste
• It has provided space and
opportunity for the disadvantaged groups to demand their share in power.
• It also has helped them to
fight for social justice.
• Caste based politics is
certainly not healthy in democracy.
• It can divert attention from
other important issues like poverty, development and corruption.
• It can also lead to
tensions, conflicts and violence.
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