Tag: gender

Musings

IPC 497, 498: Am I still my husband’s property?

devayanitirthaliLeave a comment

I was agitated watching a Marathi soap opera that depicted a scene where a couple living out of wedlock was told there would be legal consequances. The man was told he can face jail time for adultery. ‘What nonsense’ I said, ‘these people should not show such blatantly untrue things’. I have had such bouts of frustration watching medical details portrayed eroneously as well. It has detrimental effect on societal understanding of medical and legal facts.

Before I started writing a scathing critique I decided to check the penal code related to marriage. Lo and behold, the soap opera writers are more knowledgeable about legalities than I thought I was:

Section-497- Adultery “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.”

Wow! how did I not know this? Note that it is about a man’s wife being ‘stolen’. It does not matter if a married man is stolen by another. I just assumed that we live in the 21st century and women are not considered a man’s possession anymore. I suddenly feel extremely uncomfortable being married under the marriage act in India. I wasn’t aware what I was signing up for.

The term adultery itself is a remnant of the patriarchical understanding of ‘Pavitrya’ (purity) of the woman that is necessary for the man to establish his genetic lineage. Woman’s womb being the ‘Kshetra’ (literally, the field) that needs to remain unadulterated and untouched by any other man.

Section-498- Enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a married woman “Whoever takes or entices any woman who is and whom he knows or has reasons to believe to be the wife of any other man, from that man, or from any person having the care of her on behalf of that man, with intent that she may have illicit intercourse with any person or conceals or detains with that intent any such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both”.

Taking a woman from her husband or from a ‘person having the care of her’ – This reads as if women are children who need a guardian at all times. ‘Enticing’ similarly makes women sound like naive juvenile beings without any agency or understanding of their own sexuality.

A little bit of digging shows that the law is contested couple of times without much success. However, I haven’t seen any information about a sustained movement to change these archaic laws. Time to find a women’s rights group that is working on it and see how I can support it.

 

Musings

Aren’t we beautiful enough

devayanitirthaliLeave a comment

Our first grocery shopping excursion in Delhi saw this and was apalled. I know Indians are obsessed with whitening creams but this was a bit much. A simple moisturizer doing double duty to make you lighter:

20180103_181307.jpg

Vaseline
healthy white 
lightening 
With vitamin B3 and triple sunscreen.
Restores for visibly
fairer skin in 2 weeks

Not just the lighter skin but I can see the obsession with ‘western’ features. All the shops I have seen so far in my area and in CP have mannequins looking like Europeans rather than Indians – Blue eyes, light skin, specific cut of the face and chin. First I thought it was in Western brand shops but apparently showcasing  saris and lehengas also need ‘European’ looking women. I wonder if this is a newer phenomenon or I just forgot how it used to be growing up.

Update Feb 17, 2018:
I was googling to see how the particular design for these mannequins came to be. Did not find anything specific about Indian or Delhi mannequins yet but found this interesting post on history of mannequins.

 

Musings

Women in the workplace: office housework

devayanitirthaliLeave a comment
That time when:
– a visitor asks if the coffee cabinet is open or locked and nobody except me, the only other woman in the room gets up to check and bring the key. Others (men) completely ignore the question as if it is not their speciality thus not their responsibility.  Interestingly I am the only one in the room that does not drink coffee.
– one of the men in the meeting leaves their coffee cup and spilled coffee on the table after the meeting. The only attendees who think about the mess and how to clean it are two women in the meeting, one of them higher in the institutional hierarchy than all the men who attended.
– in a meeting about collaboration possibilities with another group on campus, my male colleague is asked about his opinions about the plan while I am asked to book a meeting room.

There is a term for these kind of tasks ‘office housework’. Tasks such as – taking meeting notes, making sure that office supplies are stocked up, a late request for service is fulfilled, gatherings to bring the team together are arranged – are necessary for the healthy functioning of the team. However, men and women do not share these tasks equally in the workplace. Disproportionately more women take on or are expected to do the office housework but do not get credit for it. It doesn’t count when it comes to promotions.

A woman voluntarily taking notes in every meeting looses opportunity to contribute fully. It is not just the woman who looses opportunities but the team suffers as it does not get the unique perspective of one of their team members.

What can we do about this?

  • Women and men as allies: Now that you know this happens, observe what is happening in your team or organization. When you see a woman in the team being burdened with these tasks consistently, point that out and suggest taking turns so that the all members of the team pitch in.    
  • Supervisors (male or female) need to create processes that do not burden one person with such tasks. They can also create clear categories in yearly appraisals for tasks that helped keep the team together. 
Many people have researched this topic and written about it. If you want to read more here are some
readings to start with: