If you are someone who says misguided things like all this feminism is getting out of hand or who uses ignorant words like Femenazi, rejoice! The patriarchy is still very much alive and well. There may be legislation meant to bring about women's equality, schemes with snappy alliterative names and much symbolism, but we still have a long way to go before women are considered truly equal in our society. We may be progressing in some ways, however puzzlingly, women are falling out of the work force rather than joining it.
Over the last twenty years or so, India has become more prosperous. However women’s participation in the work force has actually declined according to studies. This is strange because where we see falling fertility rates and a declining gender gap in education, we typically see more working women. However this is not true for Indian women.
We still have the world's lowest female labour force participation rates. Employed women are still not the norm in our society which seeks to ‘protect’ women by keeping them at home. The working woman is still stigmatized and disapproved of because she is seen to ‘neglect’ family as a result of her professional duties. Many families still think that women working should not be a matter of her own choice --- she should work only if the family needs her to. There is also still a significant wage gap (this is all over the world), so women's jobs are always viewed as less important and consequential.
The COVID 19 pandemic and resultant lockdown only made things worse. While everyone lost jobs during the lockdown, women were worse hit. Domestic workers (who are overwhelmingly female) were made redundant overnight for instance. If there were labourers to be hired, most preferred hiring men over women. After April when lockdown started to be eased, men were seen to rejoin the workforce in disproportionate numbers compared to women. So, while unemployment impacts everyone, the labour force shrank by 13% of women but only 2% for men.
I said ‘gainfully employed’ and not ‘working’ very mindfully. The fact is that the idea of homemakers being paid for their efforts still attracts derision. The fact is that women have nowhere near the kind of financial autonomy, decision making authority or social empowerment that men take for granted. Gender roles and expectations are still very much in place and women are treated differently simply because they are women. The glass ceiling still very much exists and women are few and far between in top executive/decision making positions. Social attitudes are still very regressive in a way that continues to demean and objectify women --- just look at some of our revolting adverts.
Also importantly, women are still the primary caregivers in the family, no matter how demanding their job is. She may be highly qualified and may hold a very responsible position in her workplace; may even be earning very well. However, if someone is expected to stay at home with a sick child or give up their job because of home exigencies, who do you think will be expected to prioritise home over work? The man or the woman? The answer, in most cases is that the woman will be expected to make the professional sacrifices and adjustments. According to economist Mitali Nikore, when economic conditions are tough, women are discouraged from working. We saw this following the devastation wrought by demonetisation and then during the lockdown.
For most women, the lines between professional and house work blurred during the lockdown. Many women found that work-from-home was tough in the absence of domestic help. Men did learn to help, but the home front is still expected to be managed largely by women. There was increased need for house work, childcare, elder care, home schooling supervision during this time. Guest who was expected to pick up the slack?
Clearly it is a complex bunch of social factors that keep women out of the workforce. As a society we need address basic gender imbalance. We must recognise the fact that women employment should be about individual autonomy and not because others in the family see a need for it.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at share@thestorypedia.com
