POLICY CENTRE AND GENDER LAB

Tracing the Adventures of Gender in History - By Astha Yadav  “The roots will, now, narrate the stories of some detrimental trees of truths.”   The wider scope of history and its base being anonymous with the present provides us with  ample information on various aspects of modern life. Everything we see today is an imprint of  yesterday’s life. Likewise, every social issue we face today has its roots in the past. Where did it all  start from? What caused it? Why is it still respiring in the society? Nivedita Menon, introduces her  book, ‘Seeing Like a Feminist’ by drawing a parallel between ‘nude makeup’ and the ‘socialization of  girls and boys’. The way we apply nude makeup to look good but don’t necessarily want to reveal that  makeup has been done, likewise, the way our society assigns the roles to respective genders has been  accustomed to a ‘normal’ way of living where the changes made...

                      Book Review of 'Seeing like a Feminist' BY SANIYA SHEKH “…the maintaining of social order is like no makeup, makeup look. It requires faithful performance of prescribed rituals over and over again throughout one’s lifetime. Complex networks of cultural reproduction are dedicated to this purpose. But the ultimate goal is to produce the effect of untouched naturalness.” I had come to read ‘seeing like a feminist’ by Niveditha Menon, one of the finest works on feminism recently, which compelled me to question the so-called social life which is assumed to be the “normal” under the deeply patriarchal society where  “in whichever ways women are different… their difference is considered to be an inferior difference, not just a difference, or not a superior difference.”  The book is a critical and thought-provoking exploration of femin...

                                GENDER SHAPES AND GETS SHAPED BY PARI PANDEY In how many ways, people do obvious things in their lives just because they are socially constructed and not on their own? In an evolving society, the differences between biological sex and identity have invoked significant discussions on notions of identity, equality, and freedom of choice.While sex provides for biological characteristics , gender governs roles, expectations, and behaviors that a particular culture and society assign to individuals. Such culturally prescribed roles that stem from stereotypes, prejudices, and customary norms often repress our yearning for selfhood.    Gender Norms: Culture-Shaped Expectations :- Gender norms reflect the social expectations for individuals in relation to their behavior, speech, and manner of dress based on how they a...