Patriarchal Mindset Research Articles

The Trauma of Being a Woman: Oppression of Women in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

All around the world violence against women occurs daily. In India also women are subjected to oppression and humiliation in several ways day by day. Indian women are mainly oppressed because the country is built around a patriarchal mind set. Patriarchy is a social system in which each and everything in the family is controlled and decided by the males. They have the roles of political leadership, moral authority and property ownership. The patriarchal idea is that a woman’s only duty is to serve her father, brothers and her husband. Arunhati Roy’s The God of Small Things is a novel which is set in a patriarchal society. Breaking laws, forbidden relationships, the changing social order, oppression of women etc. are its main themes. This novel shows how differently men and women are treated according to the unwritten social norms. Women who stand against men and society are considered as the other and they will be punished accordingly. The present article analyses how Roy portrays an unpleasantly difficult situation of Indian women against the setting of Ayemenam, a southern Indian state of Kerala where the chain of relationships are very complex which traps the female characters subjecting them to repeated suppression.

Gender role stereotypes, patriarchal attitudes, and cognitive function in the elderly rural Korean population: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVESWe analyzed whether gender role stereotypes (GRS) and patriarchal attitudes are associated with cognitive function in an elderly community.METHODSWe analyzed data from 580 people enrolled in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. The degrees to which respondents held stereotypical beliefs about gender roles and had patriarchal mindsets were measured using a questionnaire. Based on participants’ responses, we divided respondents into 2 groups—those with conservative mindsets and those with open mindsets—according to the median score for each of the 2 variables. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean version (MMSE-K). Cognitive impairment was defined as an MMSE-K score ≤21 points. Multivariable logistic regression was performed, adjusting for gender, age, socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, and social network size. Age and lifestyle factors were stratified.RESULTSCompared to those with open mindsets, those with conservative mindsets regarding gender roles and patriarchal norms had adjusted odds ratios of 1.88 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11 to 3.19) and 1.67 (95% CI, 1.00 to 2.79) for cognitive impairment, respectively. In the stratified analysis, subgroups with younger age and a good lifestyle maintained a protective association with cognitive impairment.CONCLUSIONSGRS and a patriarchal mindset were marginally significantly associated with cognitive impairment among women later in life.

PREDATORS UNDER THE BLANKET OF PSEUDO FEMINISM

The concept of feminism is widely been misunderstood. The so-called feminists or let me correct, the pseudo feminists have forgotten the basic quintessence or essence of the feminist movement i.e. equality. While feminism has empowered the victimization of women to be recognized, further understanding of the victimization of men is required. Traditionally, rape was thought to be and defined as a crime committed solely against women. But there are so many men out there who had been a victim of female predators, and even male. On top of that, because of social stigmas and a lack of legal recourse, males are even less likely than females to report an assault. We will try to analyze the patriarchal mindset of society and put forward laws to protect the victims.

Mahesh Dattani’s Dance Like a Man: A Depiction of the Trials and Tribulations of an Androgynous Personality

Abstract Mahesh Dattani is one of the leading Indian dramatists who responded to the problems of sexuality on the canvass of Indian theatre. He examined various facets of subjugation and marginalization rampant in Indian society. His plays focus on the sub-urban Hindu family and its trifle with gender and alternate sexuality. His plots revolve around the damaging implications of patriarchal constructs and his characters strive for liberty and self-satisfaction beneath hegemonic masculinity, compulsive heteronormativity and prejudiced cultural domain. Regarding his famous play Dance Like a Man, this paper critically examines the existing socio-cultural domain which practices politics of exclusion of androgynous identities behind the façade of peacefully cohabiting heterosexual Indian family and shows how Dattani, has remarkably countered the presentation of the polarized association of gender roles with conventional practice through performance of his protagonist. Set against the backdrop of patriarchal mindset, this paper delineates that the victim of patriarchal norms is not a woman but a man, who has traits of androgyny. It gives a brief account to highlight the significance of androgyny and portrays how androgyny is directly proportional to creativity. It elucidates how androgynous men undergo searing experiences of stigma and social untouchability in a traditional setup and how patriarchal norms reinforce dominant powers of society to stunt the growth of their personality.

“He for She”: The new wave of the cultural revolution

A patriarchal society confers the title of “breadwinners” on ‘him’ and bestows them with the responsibility to earn for the family. This confers another title on him as “head of the family” which thematically corresponds to “white man’s burden” as it creates an illusion that only men are capable of earning for the family. Unfortunately, the phrase “the father is the head of the family” is taught already as a lesson in pre-primary school thereby sowing the seeds of inequality in innocent minds. This illusion, born from the patriarchal mindset, laid the foundation for the socio-economic gender inequalities present today and is the root cause of intergenerational inequality faced by women.

Willpower: auto-ethnographic insights into the challenges that women encounter in academia

ABSTRACT Women academics confront obstacles in their professional lives. This paper explores the challenges that these women face in Jordanian higher education. The study adopts a social constructivist approach that integrates auto-ethnography and co-constructed storytelling techniques. This is primarily conducted to provide an insider’s view into the academic experiences of Jordanian women. Such methods allow for the development of social insights that may be traditionally hindered when using positivistic methodologies. The findings generated from the stories narrated by three academic women indicate challenges allied to their experiences, expectations, and gender. The findings show that the identified challenges are culturally bound and are attributed to Jordan’s Arabic patriarchal mindset. Women academics in this study are considered ‘determined’, as they successfully overcome significant impediments.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and its topicality

ABSTRACT Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi is a recently released Indian historical biopic of Rani Lakshmi Bai. Through historical re-imagining, the film renders several potential social and political issues, which are topical and timely in contemporary India. The present article attempts to examine the topicality of the film. First, it discusses how it rekindles the female heroic tradition of India, which has been overshadowed due to the patriarchal mindset and historiography. Secondly, it explores how, through cinematic liberties, issues like gauraksha, Hindutva, and patriotism have been propagated. Thirdly, it argues how by foregrounding Dalits and Muslims, the film attempts to neutralise extremist Hindu prejudices, dominant in the hyper-nationalist climate of India. The article concludes that by recreating a crucial historical epoch and a legend, the film attempts to reinstate a secular heritage of India’s heroic tradition to rekindle nationalistic and patriotic sensibility among the contemporary masses.

Gender Differences in Work Trip Generation: Evidences from Bangalore

Many of the existing travel behavior models fall short in characterizing the gender differences in transportation. Understanding these differences aids development of sustainable cities typically from a social equity perspective. In this research paper, authors identify a modeling framework to determine the work choice propensity among females in the city of Bangalore. An initial data analysis provides a descriptive variation of the work choice propensity among males and females, and the further regression models elicits the impact of various factors on the work choice propensity of individuals. In the regression framework, the interaction model examines the existence of gendered variation in the influence of various factors, and subsequent models estimates the influence of these factors separately for males and females. The significant impact of the gender incorporated interaction terms in the study reflected the need for gender specific market segment. Further, the stronger influence of social conformation factors on the work choice of women indicated the need for flexible working hours and childcare facilities at work for women. In a developing country context, the study also elicited the role of awareness and educational programs to revamp the societal attitudes, rooted on the patriarchal mind-set, against women’s work participation.

Causes of Meager Participation of Women Parliamentarians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly; and way out

This paper aims to explore the causes of meager participation of women in Khyber Pakhtukhwa (KP) assembly. The study was conducted on the obstacle that was faced by these women parliamentarians in the KP assembly during the last three governments (2002-2008, 2008-2013, and 2013-2018) in the light of expert opinion of female political representatives, political activists and experts. Women as a constituent candidate, their role in the parliament and the problems they faced have been discussed. The paper is based on qualitative method. Total 20 MPAs, MNAs, and female rights activists were interviewed for qualitative analysis. The interviews were unstructured, allowing flexibility, liberty of conversation and flow of information. It was found that there are still many difficulties faced by these women parliamentarian in the KP assembly. The study concludes that ideological, economic and patriarchal mind-set are the main factors that hinders women participation in the assembly’s business. The findings of the study can be used effectively to increase women participation by bringing awareness at local level and making appropriate policies at national level.

Female Political Power and the Complexity of Social Barriers in Pakistan

Women constitute half of the world’s population; however, they are seldom represented according to their numbers. This underrepresentation is prevalent in all socio-economic aspects and in societies across the world. Irrespective of geographical location, women continue to be discriminated, especially in the political domain. This paper has deployed quantitative techniques, based on secondary data of independent sources. It is to check the actual level of female political participation in Pakistan, since independence. The level of female political participation in Pakistan union-council to upper-house (Senate) is studied in comparison with other nations in Asia and the world. It is even at the eve of Pakistan’s 70th anniversary, women are restricted to education and health sectors only, whereas, in the political arena societal factors, cultural taboos, and religious misinterpretation are found to be the main hurdles. Also, the persistent patriarchal mindset in the social system remains the underlying belief for low levels of female political participation.

An Analysis of High School Students' Participation in Decision Making Mechanisms in Terms of Gender

The aim of this study was to analyze the distribution of male and female students’ participation in decision-making mechanisms in high schools and the effect of gender on the reasons that lead to this distribution. Sequential explanatory design was, a mixed method design, was followed in the study. The participants were students in a high school offering mixed-gender education located in a city center in Turkey in the 2016-2017 academic year. 'Decision Making Mechanisms Form' was used to collect quantitative data and descriptive statistics techniques (i.e. frequency and percentage) were used to analyze the data. 'Electee Questionnaire' and 'Voter Questionnaire' have been developed in order to collect qualitative data. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the data collected in this stage. The results showed that students did not have enough motivation to participate in decision-making mechanisms, there were fewer female students in both being the candidate and being the president/assistant/representative, the proportion of female students decreased as the level of representation in decision-making mechanisms increased, and there were problems in adhering to democratic election principles when selecting representatives at schools. The qualitative data analysis results suggested that students' purposes of being the representative were not in line with democratic values. Male students tended to prefer male candidates. Female students experienced problems both in the process of being the candidate and in the process of doing their job due to their gender. Students, mostly female students, did not make propaganda and did not use democratic propaganda methods. Students had gender stereotypes about women’s participation in decision-making mechanisms. Female students are aiming to break down the patriarchal mindset by supporting female students in elections.

“Qu’est-ce que c’est que l’amour?” Curiosité, amour et monstruosité chez Stendhal

“What is love?” (Lamiel, suivi de Armance, Hachette, Paris, 1965, 90) Stendhal’s characters wonder. In their quest to understand love, they encounter a hostile society. In response, they return to the self: instead of accepting the authority of tradition, they rely on their own observations and experiences. Stendhal, who defends intellectual equality, praises this concept of curiosity. Empirical curiosity is a response to a patriarchal mindset, to a mindset that clearly obstructs the cultivation of the self. In that regard, curiosity appears to be a subversive weapon, allowing the characters to deconstruct conventional roles. At the same time, this new form of curiosity is dangerous. As empirical curiosity escapes any kind of rules, it knowns no boundaries: the curiosity of the subject is unbridled, reckless, and savage. It is even so destructive that it threatens the integrity of the subject, that it turns the curious into a monster. In Lamiel and La Chartreuse de Parme, Stendhal reflects upon this paradox. He proposes three medicines to reckless curiosity: organization, concentration and reflection.

Locating Gender Through Norms, Theories and Social Constructions

The present article is a review of the various lenses that are used to conceptualize gender. The article traces the roots of patriarchal mindset as they shape are present day conscscience. Further, several psycholigcal perspectives shedding light on the concept are discussed. Finally, the post-modern idea that gender is socially constructed is described with due support of the research studies in the contemporary times.

Spousal role and family vacation decision making in India

Family purchase decision making has been an interesting topic of study for marketing researchers, after the ground-breaking work of Davis. Still, there is a lack of serious research in this area in developing countries. This research paper is an empirical study on the role of husband and wives in the purchase decision making process for family vacation of 125 couples in Delhi, India (Metro, Tier I city) and Aligarh, India (Tier II city). The role is examined on the basis of three major purchasing stages and the eight sub-decision stages encountered by the couple when deciding to go on a family vacation. After the analysis, it was found that the role structure for the vacation decision making in India is mainly joint, although, there is a difference between the role structure in Tier I and Tier II cities. In Tier II city like, Aligarh apart from joint decision, husband dominant decision making is also present. This shows that the patriarchal mindset still prevail in smaller cities as compared to a metro.

Harassment Act Implementation in Higher Education Institutions

Effective implementation of harassment Act might be inevitable to acquiring gender equality in higher education institutions and diminishing the influence of patriarchal and conservative mind set. This study intended to explore implementation of the harassment Act (2010) in universities. Although Government of Pakistan has enforced harassment Act and Higher Education Commission (HEC) made it mandatory to implement, none of the university in the sample has implemented it. Various incidence of harassment has been reported by study participants and in certain cases, victims are asked to resign the jobs as they refuse or fail to comply with the drives of male colleagues and heads. Lack of state and organizational control leads women to be silent and tolerant of harassment and ultimately, it encourages perpetrator to continue the derogatory behaviour.

Tafsir Gender dalam Tafsîr al-Manâr tentang Asal Kejadian Perempuan

<p>The Koran presents the topic of women in many verses and letters. But the most is in the letter <em>al-Nisâ’</em> so that he is often called <em>al-Nisâ’ al-Kubrâ.</em> Although the Koran is the holy book of eternal truth, interpretation cannot be avoided as a relative. Historical development of various sect of <em>kalâm</em>, <em>fiqh</em>, and sufism is positive proof of the relativity of appreciation of religious Muslims. At one period, the levels of intellect into dominant, on the other period, the levels of emotionality become prominent. That is why the perception of women among Muslims, especially in self commentators, also varies from age to age the majority of Muslims are stuck with so many results <em>ijtihâd</em> of the scholars then regarded as a religion that cannot brain-tweaking and could not be bothered. But this fact does not actually like it. Therefore, this paper attempts to dismantle understanding of religious texts that have been used as legitimating for patriarchal mindset away from gender equality.</p>

Black Masculinity and Plantation Patriarchy in Margaret Walker’s Jubilee

In Jubilee, Margaret Walker depicts plantation patriarchy as a racial and gendered context that coerces black men to redefine their masculine conceptualizations. The fictitious slave plantation represents the system which commodifies and divides black people “into those with skills [...], field hands, ‘breeding females,’ concubines, and children” (Nichols 1972, p. 10). This portrayal of slave plantation is congruent with historically documented circumstances, when “Much of [the slave] labor was gender- or age- specific” (Ash 2010, p. 20). As far as the position of black men is concerned, ascribed a subordinate status to that of white masters, overseers, and servants, both free and enslaved black men begin to imbibe patriarchal mindset and redefine their own masculine prowess. As Margaret Walker portrays, this response to oppressive plantation patriarchy effects multifarious black male postures, ranging from resisting and self-asserting warriors to humiliated and silenced victims.

Black Masculinity and Plantation Patriarchy in Margaret Walker’s Jubilee

In <em>Jubilee</em>, Margaret Walker depicts plantation patriarchy as a racial and gendered context that coerces black men to redefine their masculine conceptualizations. The fictitious slave plantation represents the system which commodifies and divides black people “into those with skills […], field hands, ‘breeding females,’ concubines, and children” (Nichols 1972, p. 10). This portrayal of slave plantation is congruent with historically documented circumstances, when “Much of [the slave] labor was gender- or age- specific” (Ash 2010, p. 20). As far as the position of black men is concerned, ascribed a subordinate status to that of white masters, overseers, and servants, both free and enslaved black men begin to imbibe patriarchal mindset and redefine their own masculine prowess. As Margaret Walker portrays, this response to oppressive plantation patriarchy effects multifarious black male postures, ranging from resisting and self-asserting warriors to humiliated and silenced victims.

Bol Ke Labb Aazad Hein Tere Speak for You Must, You are Free to Speak

When Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a revolutionary Urdu poet wrote these lines "Bol ke labb aazad hein tere…" he must have visualized of a free world where every soul is liberated and free to speak her own mind. Similarly, Rabindranath Tagore, the Noble Laureate from Bengal, in his famous work titled, 'Where The Mind is Without Fear' composed imagined a world where mind and soul are independent, think freely, are fearless and liberated from any form of oppression. Emancipation of mind and soul holds utmost significance in these verses and more importantly, these words elicit courageousness and inspire to speak out boldly. However, in the contemporary world, these words are continuously losing their meaning especially in a region like South Asia, which gained independence from colonial rule decades back, yet it remains enchained by its own conservative, patriarchal, narrow and constricted mindset. Repressive regime continued and imposed restrictions in different forms in the free nations. Bans are being imposed and freedom is being curtailed while threatening the very democratic essence and the spirit of diversity laid by the leaders during the freedom struggle within the territory. Although, freedom of speech and expression is a right recognized by the constitutions, yet it is constrained using all forms of limitations like the absence of net neutrality, bans, threats, murders and killing of people who speak in diverse dissenting voices. Dissents are being criminalized and different voices are silenced by the ruling elite using the weapons of censorship, prohibition, erasure, sedition and above all by controlling the mind and bodies of those who are already on margins. However, the persistent battle is being fought by those who are oppressed and subjugated and are striving for 'Yes we can' against those who impose 'Thou Shall we Ban’. This piece looks at this process of imposing restrictions by the dominant elite, the dissent by the subalterns and the marginalized to assert their right to speak and express themselves using different modes, means, languages or expressions and consequently the encounter between the 'oppressor and oppressed' or the 'powerful and powerless'.

Breaking Silence - Christian Women's Inheritance Rights Under Indian Succession Act, 1925

Christian constitute the third major population in India after Hindu and Muslim but still has been not able to act as influential group either socially or politically to draw sufficient attention of the Legislature to their problems in personal law particularly in field of succession. Majority of Christians are governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (ISA, 1925) in matters of succession. The ISA, 1925 guided by patriarchal mindset allows unfairness to women in intestate succession. The irony is that the law framed more than one and a half century ago discriminating women in succession rights continues even today. The share of Christian widow fluctuates with the presence or absence of lineal descendants, she gets rights over entire property only in absence of distant kindred of the deceased husband extending up to great great uncle or great uncle’s son, widowed daughter-in-law has no right in her father-in-laws property. Mother has been relegated to lower position as she inherits only in absence of father and even when she inherits she gets rights with the deceased’s brother and sister. There appears no justifiable reason to continue with such provisions which do not give equal rights to women. The present study deals with the drawbacks in the ISA, 1925 with respect to inheritance rights of Christian women, the transition of law for granting her such rights with the reports of Law Commission of India and the proposed amendments in the existing legal framework to ensure them such rights based on principle of rationality and fairness.