Tag: gender

Paternity Benefit Bill: The Gender We Talk About, The Benefit We Don’t

Amidst all the expectations around the male gender since his birth, there is secretly an expectation which every spouse hopes for. Time has developed since the only job of the male co-partner remained until the “sperm fertilised the egg”. The couples grow in love as they call themselves ‘pregnant’ and not just the technical one. The change in the ideologies was very well understood by the law presenters of the country. The idea to give chances to the father to be able to be completely devote to the upbringing of his junior. The benefits to be able to not lose work, not to miss deadlines but to be able to absorb the presence of a new member in the family.

‘Paternity Benefit Bill’ made rounds in the corner of the Parliament in 2017 with a view to benefit the fathers to oblige to their parental duties. It stated to give all workers, including men in the unorganised and private sector, to be benefitted with a paternity leave of fifteen days which could be extended up to three months.

The bill introduced stated for the employees to receive payment at the same rate as the average daily wage or even so, on a minimum rate of wage as revised. The same could be availed from an organisation if he had already served not less than eighty days in the last twelve months immediately preceding the delivery date of the child. However, the clauses require fathers with only less than two surviving children to opt for the same.

The gender benefits do not end here as the bill further stated to introduce proper guidelines in order to provide benefits to every man. A crucial affair that the bill brought was the Parental Scheme Benefit Fund. Under this, the government would create a fund specifically for purposes of paternity benefits where employers irrespective of genders would contribute. It was to meet the costs which would be induced through the availing of the particular benefit and the loss of work. Not to forget to mention on how the bill boldly announces that on death of the man during the following tenure, the nominee has rights of receiving payments till the end of it.

The beauty of the bill is not restricted to the birth fathers. The Bill allows the adoptive father of a child below three months of age or the legal husband of a mother in the cause, to be given the same benefits.

The objective of the bill is to ensure to the mother gets constant support in the process. It is not only through looking after the child together but when the father gets time with the child, the mother gets a chance to resume her work. Usually during the commissioning period, the mother develops a distant connection with her work until her child grows to handle himself. Such an act of love unfortunately also throws the woman out of the race of the market. Her positions degrade after she resumes and the restoration is more often than not, impossible. The option of choosing between the newborn and the profession is unjust and the bill certainly helps the attain the goal.

Through the bill, the perception of gender roles gets on hold. It creates an aura of gender equality at home. The shifts of looking after the child when divided among the two parents can lead to none of them having major deviations from their works to only allow the emotions of seeing their child grow into a form of their own reflection.  

Despite the benefits kept in front, a lot of issues persisted to not allow the bill to go further. The Maternity Benefit Act shifts the entire financial burden on the employers and through an introduction of system which would allow funds, the work place might discourage the driving force of the other objectives of women employment. Furthermore, the Paternity Bill necessitates to be extended to all sectors whereas the Maternity Act has only limited applications. It creates inequality, not only with the Maternity Benefit Act but also with the fact that the objective of the Paternity Bill is not merely paternal benefits but also equal opportunities to both the genders.

However, this creation of inequality is amendable.There can be similar benefits to both the parents and if it requires anything urgently, it is the mindset to evolve that both of it can co-exist.

Trailing blaze of Workplace Discrimination

Clara did not get her due promotion to be the Associate VP because she was expecting her first child. Mike was not allowed to put up his rosary bead on his computer. Gloria was not allowed to welcome her client because she was of ‘differential’ color. Sabrina was not given employment because she requested two 5 minutes break each day for her prayers. Satarupa was denied to be a part of the upcoming ‘big-client project’ because she was getting married in a month. Rahul never hangs out at the coffee spot, fearing his colleagues might ask him about his ‘personal’ life. Taylor was asked to resign because of a brawl with his ‘white‘ colleague.

Direct Discrimination. Religious Discrimination. Colorism. Religious Discrimination. Gender discrimination. Sexual Orientation Discrimination. Racial Discrimination.

The 21st Century Spectrum of Racism in America – Blue Delaware
Racial Discrimination

Almost everyday, we read about discrimination and how it is affecting lives worldwide. We read about it and for a few days, we feel very infuriated with it and then, like any other news, we just forget and move on. Then again a headlines come up and then the cycle continues. So did we actually manage to make any progress in that area. I believe we have, just momentarily.

Let me narrate a personal incident. It was about 3 years back. I recently joined a premium service-based organization after my graduation. After a month, my boss announced that our client is throwing a project success party. I was excited since that was going to be my first ‘corporate’ party. I got dressed up into, what people usually call as ‘one-piece’. It was pretty normal for me to be dressed like that. But the moment I stepped into the cubicle to leave with my colleagues for the party, one of my male colleagues looked at me directly and said:

“You are looking different. In fact, to tell you the truth, you are looking great in that short dress.”

I felt uneasy. The word ‘short’ made me uncomfortable. I did not say anything, I just smiled and went to the party.

At the party, I sat at the bar and ordered beer. My manager, who came with her family, appeared out of nowhere and gave a look at my bottle and said:

“How can a girl drink beer or any other hard drinks.”

I was astonished. I did not say anything and simply stood up and left. I was afraid to say anything because I thought that it might ruin my career in that company.

At the turn of the decade, gender inequality still affects ...
Gender Discrimination

But few years later, I ended up leaving the place because of multiple social reasons but that is not the point. The point is how on earth, even in this 21st century, are we dealing with such petty issues.

DISCRIMINATION.

Long word. Even have longer implications on the people who face it. Discriminatory remark, in its simplest form is very subtle and people usually fail to realize it. Like in my instance, I found those two comments to be quite derogatory but I was not sure whether to label it as discrimination.

Recently, CISCO was sued by the State of California because of it racial discriminatory actions against a ‘Dalit Indian-American’ employee as well as allowing him to be harassed by a couple of managers. Infosys is also facing a lawsuit due to racial discrimination which was filed by the diversity head of Infosys. Long back, Walmart faced a lawsuit due to gender as well as racial discrimination where they paid a black woman very less as well as denied her rightful promotion for years. Abercrombie &Fitch faced racial discrimination because of allowing the Latino and the Asians to work in the stock room and the ‘classically American’ on the shop floor. Nike faced lawsuit due to gender discrimination for violating Equal Pay Act and treating the women employees inferior to the male employees.

These are just few of the reported cases in the new. What goes unnoticed are the hundreds of such cases where the victims usually do not have the support to report it. It’s quite imperative that it’s high time for the Human Resource Manager to come into the play. They should take measures to curb such forms of discrimination at the workplace. Even though corporate and industries are embracing diversity and inclusion, HR Managers should promote this ‘diversity and inclusion‘ as a practice rather than an activity. A workplace is like a second home where we spend one-third of our day. We feel safe with our family, because they embrace us despite our flaws. AT the same time, HR should also make sure that the work environment should be inclusive enough to accept our diverse profiles. Such discrimination only creates differences and headlines which is like a blooming path for our competitors. Rather it is important that being an HR, we should promote this diversity, and use it to our own competitive advantage.

Be different. Be unique.

Source:

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/15/17683484/nike-women-gender-pay-discrimination-lawsuit

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/infosys-faces-fresh-race-discrimination-suit-in-us/articleshow/76347038.cms

Gender stereotypes present in Indian cinema

Gendet stereotypes are present in every society. There are certain roles, behaviour, profession and even dresses which are defined for a particular sex. And if we talk about our film industry, it is also not free from gender stereotypes, infact it is highly gender stereotyped.

If we see the plot of the films in 60-70% films, the main character is a male, or the plot is revolving around a male character. In movies woman are always shown physically weak and she always need a man to rescue her from danger.

In hindi films objectification of women is done .Her sexuality is always shown as a source of attraction mainly in item songs. In films ‘ideal’ women are shown as self sacrificing, controlled and present in a saare, proper bindi, sindur and who treats her husband like a god even if he mistreats her. This shows that women having these characteristics are considered as ‘ideal’ and ‘good’ and if they aren’t fitting in this definition then they are considered as ‘bad’. So ‘bad’ women are individualistic, sexually aggressive, westernised and not sacrificing.

If we see how characters are described in movie, women are often described as attractive, beautiful, whereas males are described as strong and successful.

When a male is introduced in from of other in the movie he always introduced by his profession, but if we talk about females they are often introduced from their bodily features like beautiful or with respect to someone like xyz’s daughter or a very big buisnessman’s daughter or wife etc which shows that women don’t have their own identity and their identity depends on the male member of the family.

The profession or roles which is shown in movies for different sexes are also stereotyped like generally women are shown as housewife, taking care of home and children and if they are shown working then their profession are like teacher or doctor only. Role like police, sports, pilot arr always played by male.

Male characters are shown sometimes betting for girls with his friends as if she is an object.

Boys are shown as someone who should be capable of taking burden of the family. If the wife us earning in the house, then he is insulted in the society.

So we can see that how gender stereotypes are present in the society and these stereotypes are present in our mind in such a way and it becomes so normal for us that we don’t give it a second thought that wrong and those who are a little different from this ‘ideal’ notions and are not fit in this criteria of so called ideal male or female are not considered as part of the society and make them feel excluded.

So, it is necessary to critically think about everything present around us and see the difference between what is right and what is wrong.