PLUS TWO
ENGLISH
*****************************************************
LESSON 1
By Christine Lagarde
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
National Democratic Institute, Washington DC, May 19, 2014 As prepared for delivery
Good afternoon. It is great to be here today among friends and kindred spirits. The National Democratic Institute is a passionate advocate for the full participation of women in the life of nations. I admire you, I salute you, I am with you.
Let me begin by thanking Madeleine Albright, a great public servant, a great inspiration to us all, and to me personally. I would also like to thank Kenneth Wollack, the president of the Institute, and the talented Claire Shipman.
Let me also recognize the wonderful organization being honored today, Aswat Nisaa, and its president, Ikram Ben Saïd. This group is doing remarkable work in Tunisia in furthering gender equality and women’s leadership—and will set standards, I hope, in neighboring countries and around the world. The world needs more people who do what you do.
I want to begin today with a story—a well-known puzzle. A young boy is involved in a traffic accident, and is immediately rushed to the hospital for urgent surgery.
In the bustle and chaos of the hospital environment, the surgeon strides into the operating room. Think of a quintessential surgeon—brimming with confidence and authority, a true type-A personality, one who knows instinctively how to take charge.
Yet this distinguished surgeon looks down at the boy and gasps, saying: “I can’t operate on this boy… it’s my son”.
Indeed, the boy is the surgeon’s son. Yet the surgeon is not the boy’s father. Who then?
I know that everyone in this room can see the answer immediately. It is simple—the surgeon is a she, she is the boy’s mother.
Yet I also know that plenty of educated and erudite people—even educated and erudite women—do not see this at first blush. They puzzle over it and circle around it; suggesting uncle, grandfather, stepfather—answers that really make little sense.
Unfortunately, this is the rub. When it comes to thinking about women in powerful positions, we are too often blinded by the daggers of the mind, infected by the malignant mind bugs that mire us in the prejudices of the past.
You know this. It is what you fight on a daily basis all over the world. And because we know it hurts the global economy, it is on the radar of the IMF.
My message is simple: we need a 21st century mentality for women’s economic participation. We need to flush away the flotsam of ingrained gender inequality.
We need to, as I like to say, “dare the difference”. To “dare” means to take risks, to step out of our cozy comfort zones, to let hope extinguish fear and courage conquer timidity.
Ultimately, daring the difference means wedging open the door to the contribution of women—their learning, their labor, and their leadership. The “3 L’s” of women’s empowerment. Let me talk briefly about each of them.
Learning
Let me begin with learning. By this I mean the over-riding importance of women’s education, the foundation upon which everything else must be built.
Education is both an elevator and a springboard. It allows people to raise themselves up and to break down the divides that keep them apart. At its best, education is a breaker of shackles—the shackles of exclusion and insularity.
If we think of life as a long race, it is education that provides the training, the nourishment, and the support. Without good quality education, you walk up to the starting line with a severe disadvantage.
Education has always been the wide avenue of opportunity. It was the US’s trailblazing education policy that helped drive its economic leadership across the 20th century—and gender equality was a crucial component of that strategy.
Now, as we face up to the great challenges of the 21st century, we must continue to bet on education, especially for women. We still have some ground to make up here. For example, while women account for 41 percent of science and engineering doctorates here in the US, they form less than a quarter of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We can do better, and we must do better.
But where investment in education is mission critical is in the developing countries, where girls and women can make a huge difference.
The gains for girls are substantial. One study suggests that an extra year of primary school boosts earning potential by 10-20 percent—and by 25 percent for an extra year of secondary school.
Ultimately, when women do well, society does better. A study of 60 developing countries estimated that the economic loss from not educating girls at the same level as boys amounted to $90 billion a year.
Women are more likely to spend their resources on health and education, creating a powerful ripple effect across society and across generations. One study suggests that women invest up to 90 percent of their earnings this way, as opposed to just 30-40 percent for men.
As the old African adage goes: “If you educate a boy, you train a man. If you educate a girl, you train a village”.
So we must carry the banner for women’s education. Women’s education is not a threat, it is a blessing. We must make it a global priority, because it is one of the leading causes of our day.
This is why girls like Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, who faced down Taliban assassins to demand the right to an education, are admirable.
This is why groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria, who kidnap and sell into slavery young girls who simply want to go to school, are despicable—they themselves should be found and forced to go to school for life.
In a deep sense, the actions of Boko Haram represent the complete antithesis of the values inherent in education. For their action degrades the dignity of the human being, while education uplifts, enflames, and ennobles the human spirit.
So let us join our voices to the voices of the world, and let loose an impassioned plea: bring back our girls, bring back our girls. Respect our girls.
Labor
Let me now turn to my second “L” this morning, to what comes after learning—labor. Letting women flourish and achieve their true potential in the world of work.
Women represent half of the world’s population. Yet they represent far less than half of measured economic activity.
Today, there are about 865 million women around the world who have the potential to contribute more fully—almost a “blocked billion”.
Everywhere around the world, men participate more than women. These gender gaps range from 12 percent in the OECD economies to 50 percent in the Middle East and North Africa.
When women do participate, they tend to be stuck in low-paying, low-status jobs. Globally, women earn only three-quarters as much as men—this is true even with the same level of education, and in the same occupation. Surely one of the most basic norms of justice is “equal pay for equal work”?
Women are also over-represented in the informal sector of the economy—unprotected, in unskilled work, with unstable earnings.
Too often, they carry the burden of work that is unpaid, unseen, unreported—and underappreciated. Globally, women spend twice as much time on household chores as men, and four times as much time on childcare.
With this stark reality, it is not surprising that girls and women are the main victims of extreme poverty in the world today. They make up 70 percent of the billion people trying to eke out an existence on less than a dollar a day. They are the first to be submerged by economic crisis.
We must do better than this. Too many women are unaccounted for, underutilized, and over-exploited. It is a moral imperative, but it is also an economic imperative. The evidence is plain—when women contribute more, the economy does better.
We have done research on this at the IMF. We know that eliminating gender gaps in economic participation can lead to big jumps in income per capita, our crucial measure of economic wellbeing. These gains are visible everywhere, but they are especially large in regions like the Middle East and North Africa—27 percent—and South Asia—23 percent.
Remember, women control the purse strings. They account for over 70 percent of global consumer spending. So if we want more spending and more economic growth, then we need to empower more women as agents of aggregate demand.
How can we get women to participate more? Sometimes it is about changing laws—for example, to make sure that property and inheritance laws do not discriminate against women.
Economic policy can also be a forceful agent of change. In developing countries, the uplifting of women begins with better access to healthcare—and yes—to education and training. It means getting women greater access to credit, so that they can free themselves from dependency, and sow and harvest the seeds of a brighter future.
We take this seriously at the IMF. In our programs today, all across the world, we emphasize protecting social safety nets—even in tough times. We have evidence showing that, among developing countries, spending on health and education rises faster in countries with programs we support.
We are also doing work on the economics of inequality and exclusion—and it is usually women who are left out. I have just come from a conference in Amman on the Arab transition countries, where a big takeaway was that the region needs more of an inclusive economy. Again, I want to commend the great work that Aswat Nisaa—our award winner today—is doing to empower women across this region.
Richer countries also have work to do to level the playing field of labor. They need more pro-women, pro-family, policies. Policies like publicly-funded parental leave schemes; quality, affordable, childcare; individual instead of family income taxation; tax credits or benefits for low-wage workers.
For its part, the IMF has recommended policies to increase female labor participation in countries like Japan and Korea, where women could be more visible in the workplace.
We know that these kinds of policies can work. Just look at Brazil: thanks to pro-family and pro-poor policies, it managed to boost women’s participation from 45 percent to 60 percent in two decades. Just look at Sweden: it has one of the highest female participation rates in the world, in large part because it invests heavily in childcare and early education, and puts a premium on flexible work arrangements and parental leave policies.
It is not just about policies, of course. It is also about culture, changing the way we work, and sweeping aside the macho mentality that still pervades the workplace.
In what she calls the “last chapter” of gender convergence, Claudia Goldin argues that the gender pay gap might go away if firms stopped insisting on people working excessively long hours. In other words, if they value creative time more than face time. This is already happening in areas like science and technology, but fields like law and finance—two professions I have seen firsthand—are still too wedded to old habits.
It is time to complete that last chapter. We must not rest until we have achieved gender equality in the workplace. It is within our grasp, if we reach out to all men and women of good will.
Leadership
This brings me to my third ‘L” today. I have talked about learning and labor—the final link in the chain is leadership, letting women rise to the top on their strength of their innate abilities and talents.
We all know the problem—across all fields of work, the higher you climb, the fewer women you see.
The evidence is painfully obvious. Look at the world of business—only 4 percent of CEOs in the Standard and Poor’s 500 company list are women. Plus, as this Institute has documented, only a fifth of parliamentary seats across the world are held by women. Less than 10 percent of countries have female leaders.
Here is the irony, though: when women get the chance to lead, they actually lead better. We have ample evidence of this. For example, one study shows that the Fortune 500 firms with the best track record in raising women to prominent positions are 18-69 percent more profitable than median firms in their area.
Women are also far less likely to engage in the kind of reckless risk-taking behavior that sparked the global financial crisis. For example, an experiment from the investment community in the 1990s shows that men trade 45 percent more than women, and are more likely to lose big.
Is it really any coincidence that, while the men were cheerleading, it was the women who were worrying most about financial sector excess and misbehavior before the crisis? I am thinking of women like Sheila Bair, Brooksley Born, Janet Yellen, and Elizabeth Warren. Too often, they were ignored and dismissed—but they were proven right.
We also know that women are good managers and good crisis leaders. For example, a study of over 7000 leaders showed that women fared better in 12 of 16 competencies in 12 of 15 sectors. Another recent study shows that women are often parachuted in to save companies in deep trouble—although they are also more likely to be fired from these positions, allegedly because of the risk taken in hiring them.
None of this will surprise you. It certainly does not surprise me. We know that women are more inclined to make decisions based on consensus-building, inclusion, compassion, and focus on long-term sustainability. They draw from deep wells of wisdom, from the tenacity taken from a lifetime of tempests and tribulations.
As one of my personal heroes, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, put it: the empowerment of women “cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all”.
Once again, real change must begin with changing attitudes. We need to put an end to the idea that toughness flows from testosterone, and that toughness is top.
Often, it all boils down to confidence. What holds women back is not competence, which they usually have; but confidence, which they often lack. While underqualified and underprepared men leap forward, overqualified and overprepared women hide in the shadows, doubting their abilities, holding themselves to an impossible standard of perfection.
This needs to change. How? By crushing these nasty mind bugs that dull our sentiments and sensibilities. By changing the mindset and resetting the narrative.
I have come to the view that gender targets and quotas must play a role here. The mountain is simply too steep to climb without a little help on the way up. We must force the change, or stay mired in the comfortable numbness of complacency.
I am also a passionate believer in mentors and role models. In survey after survey, women list this as a major barrier to advancement. We need to look out for each other.
Ultimately, I would love to see a world where women let their confidence roar from the rooftops; their cups run over with self-assurance; their voices resound across the pinnacles of power.
Conclusion
Let me conclude today with some words from Sylvia Plath: “We shall by morning inherit the earth—our foot’s in the door”.
We have certainly made great strides toward gender equality. But while our foot might be in the door, we are still standing outside—in the cold.
It is now time to fulfill the promise—to create a world where every little girl from every corner of every continent can fulfill her potential without impediment and without prejudice. To make sure that nobody ever again will doubt for even an instant that a woman can be a top surgeon, or indeed a leader in any field that she might choose.
If we dare the difference, the difference will deliver.
Thank you very much.
******************************************************************************* 'ANY WOMAN' -- Poem by Katherine Tynan
A Short Note:
ENGLISH
*****************************************************
LESSON 1
Daring the Difference: The 3 L’s of Women’s Empowerment
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
National Democratic Institute, Washington DC, May 19, 2014 As prepared for delivery
Good afternoon. It is great to be here today among friends and kindred spirits. The National Democratic Institute is a passionate advocate for the full participation of women in the life of nations. I admire you, I salute you, I am with you.
Let me begin by thanking Madeleine Albright, a great public servant, a great inspiration to us all, and to me personally. I would also like to thank Kenneth Wollack, the president of the Institute, and the talented Claire Shipman.
Let me also recognize the wonderful organization being honored today, Aswat Nisaa, and its president, Ikram Ben Saïd. This group is doing remarkable work in Tunisia in furthering gender equality and women’s leadership—and will set standards, I hope, in neighboring countries and around the world. The world needs more people who do what you do.
I want to begin today with a story—a well-known puzzle. A young boy is involved in a traffic accident, and is immediately rushed to the hospital for urgent surgery.
In the bustle and chaos of the hospital environment, the surgeon strides into the operating room. Think of a quintessential surgeon—brimming with confidence and authority, a true type-A personality, one who knows instinctively how to take charge.
Yet this distinguished surgeon looks down at the boy and gasps, saying: “I can’t operate on this boy… it’s my son”.
Indeed, the boy is the surgeon’s son. Yet the surgeon is not the boy’s father. Who then?
I know that everyone in this room can see the answer immediately. It is simple—the surgeon is a she, she is the boy’s mother.
Yet I also know that plenty of educated and erudite people—even educated and erudite women—do not see this at first blush. They puzzle over it and circle around it; suggesting uncle, grandfather, stepfather—answers that really make little sense.
Unfortunately, this is the rub. When it comes to thinking about women in powerful positions, we are too often blinded by the daggers of the mind, infected by the malignant mind bugs that mire us in the prejudices of the past.
You know this. It is what you fight on a daily basis all over the world. And because we know it hurts the global economy, it is on the radar of the IMF.
My message is simple: we need a 21st century mentality for women’s economic participation. We need to flush away the flotsam of ingrained gender inequality.
We need to, as I like to say, “dare the difference”. To “dare” means to take risks, to step out of our cozy comfort zones, to let hope extinguish fear and courage conquer timidity.
Ultimately, daring the difference means wedging open the door to the contribution of women—their learning, their labor, and their leadership. The “3 L’s” of women’s empowerment. Let me talk briefly about each of them.
Learning
Let me begin with learning. By this I mean the over-riding importance of women’s education, the foundation upon which everything else must be built.
Education is both an elevator and a springboard. It allows people to raise themselves up and to break down the divides that keep them apart. At its best, education is a breaker of shackles—the shackles of exclusion and insularity.
If we think of life as a long race, it is education that provides the training, the nourishment, and the support. Without good quality education, you walk up to the starting line with a severe disadvantage.
Education has always been the wide avenue of opportunity. It was the US’s trailblazing education policy that helped drive its economic leadership across the 20th century—and gender equality was a crucial component of that strategy.
Now, as we face up to the great challenges of the 21st century, we must continue to bet on education, especially for women. We still have some ground to make up here. For example, while women account for 41 percent of science and engineering doctorates here in the US, they form less than a quarter of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We can do better, and we must do better.
But where investment in education is mission critical is in the developing countries, where girls and women can make a huge difference.
The gains for girls are substantial. One study suggests that an extra year of primary school boosts earning potential by 10-20 percent—and by 25 percent for an extra year of secondary school.
Ultimately, when women do well, society does better. A study of 60 developing countries estimated that the economic loss from not educating girls at the same level as boys amounted to $90 billion a year.
Women are more likely to spend their resources on health and education, creating a powerful ripple effect across society and across generations. One study suggests that women invest up to 90 percent of their earnings this way, as opposed to just 30-40 percent for men.
As the old African adage goes: “If you educate a boy, you train a man. If you educate a girl, you train a village”.
So we must carry the banner for women’s education. Women’s education is not a threat, it is a blessing. We must make it a global priority, because it is one of the leading causes of our day.
This is why girls like Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, who faced down Taliban assassins to demand the right to an education, are admirable.
This is why groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria, who kidnap and sell into slavery young girls who simply want to go to school, are despicable—they themselves should be found and forced to go to school for life.
In a deep sense, the actions of Boko Haram represent the complete antithesis of the values inherent in education. For their action degrades the dignity of the human being, while education uplifts, enflames, and ennobles the human spirit.
So let us join our voices to the voices of the world, and let loose an impassioned plea: bring back our girls, bring back our girls. Respect our girls.
Labor
Let me now turn to my second “L” this morning, to what comes after learning—labor. Letting women flourish and achieve their true potential in the world of work.
Women represent half of the world’s population. Yet they represent far less than half of measured economic activity.
Today, there are about 865 million women around the world who have the potential to contribute more fully—almost a “blocked billion”.
Everywhere around the world, men participate more than women. These gender gaps range from 12 percent in the OECD economies to 50 percent in the Middle East and North Africa.
When women do participate, they tend to be stuck in low-paying, low-status jobs. Globally, women earn only three-quarters as much as men—this is true even with the same level of education, and in the same occupation. Surely one of the most basic norms of justice is “equal pay for equal work”?
Women are also over-represented in the informal sector of the economy—unprotected, in unskilled work, with unstable earnings.
Too often, they carry the burden of work that is unpaid, unseen, unreported—and underappreciated. Globally, women spend twice as much time on household chores as men, and four times as much time on childcare.
With this stark reality, it is not surprising that girls and women are the main victims of extreme poverty in the world today. They make up 70 percent of the billion people trying to eke out an existence on less than a dollar a day. They are the first to be submerged by economic crisis.
We must do better than this. Too many women are unaccounted for, underutilized, and over-exploited. It is a moral imperative, but it is also an economic imperative. The evidence is plain—when women contribute more, the economy does better.
We have done research on this at the IMF. We know that eliminating gender gaps in economic participation can lead to big jumps in income per capita, our crucial measure of economic wellbeing. These gains are visible everywhere, but they are especially large in regions like the Middle East and North Africa—27 percent—and South Asia—23 percent.
Remember, women control the purse strings. They account for over 70 percent of global consumer spending. So if we want more spending and more economic growth, then we need to empower more women as agents of aggregate demand.
How can we get women to participate more? Sometimes it is about changing laws—for example, to make sure that property and inheritance laws do not discriminate against women.
Economic policy can also be a forceful agent of change. In developing countries, the uplifting of women begins with better access to healthcare—and yes—to education and training. It means getting women greater access to credit, so that they can free themselves from dependency, and sow and harvest the seeds of a brighter future.
We take this seriously at the IMF. In our programs today, all across the world, we emphasize protecting social safety nets—even in tough times. We have evidence showing that, among developing countries, spending on health and education rises faster in countries with programs we support.
We are also doing work on the economics of inequality and exclusion—and it is usually women who are left out. I have just come from a conference in Amman on the Arab transition countries, where a big takeaway was that the region needs more of an inclusive economy. Again, I want to commend the great work that Aswat Nisaa—our award winner today—is doing to empower women across this region.
Richer countries also have work to do to level the playing field of labor. They need more pro-women, pro-family, policies. Policies like publicly-funded parental leave schemes; quality, affordable, childcare; individual instead of family income taxation; tax credits or benefits for low-wage workers.
For its part, the IMF has recommended policies to increase female labor participation in countries like Japan and Korea, where women could be more visible in the workplace.
We know that these kinds of policies can work. Just look at Brazil: thanks to pro-family and pro-poor policies, it managed to boost women’s participation from 45 percent to 60 percent in two decades. Just look at Sweden: it has one of the highest female participation rates in the world, in large part because it invests heavily in childcare and early education, and puts a premium on flexible work arrangements and parental leave policies.
It is not just about policies, of course. It is also about culture, changing the way we work, and sweeping aside the macho mentality that still pervades the workplace.
In what she calls the “last chapter” of gender convergence, Claudia Goldin argues that the gender pay gap might go away if firms stopped insisting on people working excessively long hours. In other words, if they value creative time more than face time. This is already happening in areas like science and technology, but fields like law and finance—two professions I have seen firsthand—are still too wedded to old habits.
It is time to complete that last chapter. We must not rest until we have achieved gender equality in the workplace. It is within our grasp, if we reach out to all men and women of good will.
Leadership
This brings me to my third ‘L” today. I have talked about learning and labor—the final link in the chain is leadership, letting women rise to the top on their strength of their innate abilities and talents.
We all know the problem—across all fields of work, the higher you climb, the fewer women you see.
The evidence is painfully obvious. Look at the world of business—only 4 percent of CEOs in the Standard and Poor’s 500 company list are women. Plus, as this Institute has documented, only a fifth of parliamentary seats across the world are held by women. Less than 10 percent of countries have female leaders.
Here is the irony, though: when women get the chance to lead, they actually lead better. We have ample evidence of this. For example, one study shows that the Fortune 500 firms with the best track record in raising women to prominent positions are 18-69 percent more profitable than median firms in their area.
Women are also far less likely to engage in the kind of reckless risk-taking behavior that sparked the global financial crisis. For example, an experiment from the investment community in the 1990s shows that men trade 45 percent more than women, and are more likely to lose big.
Is it really any coincidence that, while the men were cheerleading, it was the women who were worrying most about financial sector excess and misbehavior before the crisis? I am thinking of women like Sheila Bair, Brooksley Born, Janet Yellen, and Elizabeth Warren. Too often, they were ignored and dismissed—but they were proven right.
We also know that women are good managers and good crisis leaders. For example, a study of over 7000 leaders showed that women fared better in 12 of 16 competencies in 12 of 15 sectors. Another recent study shows that women are often parachuted in to save companies in deep trouble—although they are also more likely to be fired from these positions, allegedly because of the risk taken in hiring them.
None of this will surprise you. It certainly does not surprise me. We know that women are more inclined to make decisions based on consensus-building, inclusion, compassion, and focus on long-term sustainability. They draw from deep wells of wisdom, from the tenacity taken from a lifetime of tempests and tribulations.
As one of my personal heroes, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, put it: the empowerment of women “cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all”.
Once again, real change must begin with changing attitudes. We need to put an end to the idea that toughness flows from testosterone, and that toughness is top.
Often, it all boils down to confidence. What holds women back is not competence, which they usually have; but confidence, which they often lack. While underqualified and underprepared men leap forward, overqualified and overprepared women hide in the shadows, doubting their abilities, holding themselves to an impossible standard of perfection.
This needs to change. How? By crushing these nasty mind bugs that dull our sentiments and sensibilities. By changing the mindset and resetting the narrative.
I have come to the view that gender targets and quotas must play a role here. The mountain is simply too steep to climb without a little help on the way up. We must force the change, or stay mired in the comfortable numbness of complacency.
I am also a passionate believer in mentors and role models. In survey after survey, women list this as a major barrier to advancement. We need to look out for each other.
Ultimately, I would love to see a world where women let their confidence roar from the rooftops; their cups run over with self-assurance; their voices resound across the pinnacles of power.
Conclusion
Let me conclude today with some words from Sylvia Plath: “We shall by morning inherit the earth—our foot’s in the door”.
We have certainly made great strides toward gender equality. But while our foot might be in the door, we are still standing outside—in the cold.
It is now time to fulfill the promise—to create a world where every little girl from every corner of every continent can fulfill her potential without impediment and without prejudice. To make sure that nobody ever again will doubt for even an instant that a woman can be a top surgeon, or indeed a leader in any field that she might choose.
If we dare the difference, the difference will deliver.
Thank you very much.
******************************************************************************* 'ANY WOMAN' -- Poem by Katherine Tynan
A Short Note:
“Any Woman” written by Katharine Tynan , an Irish poet, speaks about the role of a mother. The sentiments of a mother expressed here by a mother poet about her part in a family is true in every place and time.
In this poem the poet says about the importance of a mother in a family. She is the keystone of the house. If something happens to her, the poet warns, the whole family will be ruined. Children live because of the warmth of mothers' love. She walls all dangers and protects her family from 'wind and snow' which stands for external forces trying to harm the family.
In the last part of the poem the mother makes her humble wish to live long enough to see her children grow. She is selfless enough to think of her young ones.
Indeed she is the pillar of house without which it is certain the house – family – will fall apart. Now a days the presence of a mother in a family is rarely noticed. She is considered only as a machine who never gets tired of anything. She is neglected and confined within the four walls of her house. This poem demands all readers to open their eyes to be considerate towards a woman's inner feelings and to regard her as an individual.
This poem 'Any Woman' presents the all-embracing power of a woman to hold her family together. The mother figure in the poem and her private emotions are presented through a lot many metaphorical images such as pillars, keystone, fire on the hearth, light, etc. Except for the first stanza the rhyme scheme in the poem is to be identified to be ab, ab, cd, cd, .....
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‘MENDING WALL’ --Poem
by Robert Frost
Summary:
Lines 1-9:
Lines 1-9:
The narrator expresses his
wonder about a phenomenon, through these lines, that he has observed in nature.
He says that he has observed something mysterious takes place in nature which
does not love the existence of walls. That ‘something’ makes the frozen ground
to bloat under the wall and topple the stone wall on the boundary of his
property. Hence, a gap is created in the wall through which two people can pass
together. Robert Frost says that sometimes even careless hunters damage the
walls but he drives them away and repairs the gap. The hunters pull down the
stones of the walls. This way they search for rabbits hiding under the wall to
please their barking dogs.
Lines 9-22:
The poet rehearses the mystery of the wall. He says that no one
has seen or heard the noise when the gaps in the walls are made. But these gaps
are realities which are found during the spring when it is time for mending
walls. The narrator makes his neighbour go beyond the hill to see the
conditions there. One day, the narrator along with his neighbour decides to
walk along the wall which separates their properties. They find stones fallen
on the ground while they are walking. They pick up those stones from their
respective sides. Some stones are shaped in bread loaves or some are shaped in
round balls. Hence, the narrator and his neighbour are unable to put those
stones back in their position. The narrator feels they need to use some kind of
magic to put the stones back on the wall. During the process of handling the
stones, their fingers are chapped and they feel tired. But the narrator and the
neighbour look at it as an outdoor game, a kind of net game, where the wall
acts like a net and the narrator and his neighbour are opponents.
Lines 22-36:
The narrator tries to convince his neighbour that the wall is of
no need because the narrator has an apple orchard while the neighbour own pine
trees. He says that the apples that grow in his orchard would not trespass and
eat the cones of his pine trees. To this, the neighbour replies, ‘Good fences
make good neighbours.’ The narrator is not sure whether he can put an idea into
the neighbour’s mind- the idea why good fences are required to keep cows at
bay. If there are no cows, fences are not needed either. The narrator tells
that if he has to ever build a wall, he will ask himself whom he will be
protecting by constructing a wall and whether the wall will offend anyone. He
believes that there is something that does not love walls and wants it to be
pulled down.
Lines37-46:
The narrator tells his friend that he believes some non-human entity like elves break the walls. The elves are tiny, supernatural beings from folklore and myth. But then the narrator changes his opinion and feels that it may not be the work of the elves but the power in nature which works against building of walls and barriers. The narrator sees his neighbour holding firmly a stone looking like an ancient stone-age man, armed to fight. The narrator feels that his neighbour is living in the darkness of ignorance. His neigbour does not want to go against his father’s words that good fences make good neighbours. Thinking for a while, his neighbour reiterates that ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’
The narrator tells his friend that he believes some non-human entity like elves break the walls. The elves are tiny, supernatural beings from folklore and myth. But then the narrator changes his opinion and feels that it may not be the work of the elves but the power in nature which works against building of walls and barriers. The narrator sees his neighbour holding firmly a stone looking like an ancient stone-age man, armed to fight. The narrator feels that his neighbour is living in the darkness of ignorance. His neigbour does not want to go against his father’s words that good fences make good neighbours. Thinking for a while, his neighbour reiterates that ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’
Analysis:
The theme of the poem is about two neighbours who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating the properties, but also acts as a barrier to friendship, communication. From the narrator’s view, barriers lead to alienation and emotional isolation and loneliness. The narrator cannot help but notice that the natural world seems to dislike the existence of a wall as much as he does and therefore, mysterious gaps appear from nowhere and boulders fall for no reason. The poem portrays the lack of friendship between two neighbours, they now each other but they are not friends. There exists a communication gap between them; they meet each other only on appointed days to fix the wall separating their properties.
Thus, the poem is a sad reflection on today’s society, where man-made barriers exist between men, groups, nations based on discrimination of race, caste, creed, gender and religion.
The theme of the poem is about two neighbours who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating the properties, but also acts as a barrier to friendship, communication. From the narrator’s view, barriers lead to alienation and emotional isolation and loneliness. The narrator cannot help but notice that the natural world seems to dislike the existence of a wall as much as he does and therefore, mysterious gaps appear from nowhere and boulders fall for no reason. The poem portrays the lack of friendship between two neighbours, they now each other but they are not friends. There exists a communication gap between them; they meet each other only on appointed days to fix the wall separating their properties.
Thus, the poem is a sad reflection on today’s society, where man-made barriers exist between men, groups, nations based on discrimination of race, caste, creed, gender and religion.
Form and Structure:
“Mending Wall” is a poem of 46 lines without a neat stanza structure. It is a dramatic narrative poem composed in blank verse and also comprises of balanced strict Iambic pentameter lines.
The language of the poem is conversational in tone.
“Mending Wall” is a poem of 46 lines without a neat stanza structure. It is a dramatic narrative poem composed in blank verse and also comprises of balanced strict Iambic pentameter lines.
The language of the poem is conversational in tone.
Poetical Devices:
Robert Frost has used a number of poetical devices to enhance the perception and feelings that he wants to communicate to the readers through an inanimate object, a wall.
Robert Frost has used a number of poetical devices to enhance the perception and feelings that he wants to communicate to the readers through an inanimate object, a wall.
Metaphor: Examples
of metaphors in the poem are listed below;
1. The ‘wall’ in the poem is a metaphor for two kinds of barriers- physical and mental.
*Something there is that doesn’t love a wall
*And set the wall between us once again
*We keep the wall between as we go.
1. The ‘wall’ in the poem is a metaphor for two kinds of barriers- physical and mental.
*Something there is that doesn’t love a wall
*And set the wall between us once again
*We keep the wall between as we go.
2. In
another metaphor, stone blocks have been compared to ‘loaves’ and ‘balls.’
*And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance.
*And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance.
Simile:
Example of simile from the poem,-
“…I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed..”
Example of simile from the poem,-
“…I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed..”
In the above lines, Frost describes
his neighbour who was holding a stone firmly in his hand and looked like some
primitive man armed to fight.
Personification:
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;”
In the above lines, an unseen force in nature has been personified. It is this force that breaks down the boundaries that man has created.
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;”
In the above lines, an unseen force in nature has been personified. It is this force that breaks down the boundaries that man has created.
Parallelism:
It is a figure of speech that has a similar word order and structure in their syntax.
“To each the boulders that have fallen to each.”
Here, ‘to each’ is parallelism as it emphasizes that fact that the narrator and his neighbour are on the opposite sides of the wall.
It is a figure of speech that has a similar word order and structure in their syntax.
“To each the boulders that have fallen to each.”
Here, ‘to each’ is parallelism as it emphasizes that fact that the narrator and his neighbour are on the opposite sides of the wall.
Pun:
An example of Pun in the poem is “And to whom I was like to offence.” Here, the word ‘offence’ is a pun as it sounds like ‘fence.’
An example of Pun in the poem is “And to whom I was like to offence.” Here, the word ‘offence’ is a pun as it sounds like ‘fence.’
Paradox:
Frost’s poems are famous for juxtaposing the opposites for life. The poem has two famous lines which oppose each other.
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”
“Good fences make good neighbours.”
Frost’s poems are famous for juxtaposing the opposites for life. The poem has two famous lines which oppose each other.
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”
“Good fences make good neighbours.”
Allusion:
“Mending Wall” has an allusion to elves, the tiny supernatural creatures drawn from folklore and myth.
“Mending Wall” has an allusion to elves, the tiny supernatural creatures drawn from folklore and myth.
Alliteration:
The examples of alliteration in the poem are the following:
*We wear our fingers with handling them
*Before I built a wall
*What I was walling in or walling out.
The examples of alliteration in the poem are the following:
*We wear our fingers with handling them
*Before I built a wall
*What I was walling in or walling out.
Symbolism:
Frost’s poems are known for his distinctive use of symbols. These symbols enhance the significance and deeper meaning of the poem.
*The fence symbolizes national, racial, religious, political and economic conflicts and discrimination which separate man from man and hinders the ways of understanding and cultivating relationships.
*The dispute between the two neighbours symbolizes the clash between tradition and modernity. The young generation wants to demolish the old tradition and replace it with modernity while the old wants to cling on to the existing tradition and beliefs.
Frost’s poems are known for his distinctive use of symbols. These symbols enhance the significance and deeper meaning of the poem.
*The fence symbolizes national, racial, religious, political and economic conflicts and discrimination which separate man from man and hinders the ways of understanding and cultivating relationships.
*The dispute between the two neighbours symbolizes the clash between tradition and modernity. The young generation wants to demolish the old tradition and replace it with modernity while the old wants to cling on to the existing tradition and beliefs.
In “Mending Wall”, Frost has taken
an ordinary incident of constructing or mending a wall between the his and his
neighbour’s garden and has turned it into a meditation on the division between
human beings.
Pine trees
Pine cones
Apple orchard
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Pine trees
Pine cones
Apple orchard
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MATCH BOX
“Matchbox” written by Ashapurna Debi tells the story of a married couple. It unveils the unhealthy man-woman relationship existing in most Indian families. She compares women to matchboxes. Matchboxes have the potential to light up everything into fire. But in appearance, they are meek and harmless. It is the same with women in their outlook. They also appear to be meek and harmless, but they can set everything into fire within no time.
The central character of the story is Nomita. Her married life really reveals the above truth in a simple and touching manner. Her husband Ajit has the habit of opening his wife’s mail and reading it. He argues that it his right to screen her mail to confirm any case of lovers. He doesn’t pay any attention to Nomita’s protest. Whenever she protests him, she is treated badly. Besides her poor family background makes her suffer everything in silence.
The readers become very much empathetic with Nomita as they understand the poverty and other miserable conditions of her mother. Her mother has the habit of begging money from her daughter and son-in-law. The other members of the family too pinch her with sharp words. Really the letters she received were from her loving mother. Mother used to write about her misfortunes and the miserable conditions of their house. She asks for money to find a solution. She is afraid of dying under the weight of a collapsed roof.
When we come to the climax of the story we see a woman who gets angry and goes out of control. She even threatens him that she would teach him a lesson. But he is making humorous comments at her raging phrases. In the end she frightens him by setting fire the anchol of her own sari. This story really describes the consequences of her rage at the misbehavior of her husband. It is really interesting to see the husband’s efforts to make her calm and normal.
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Problems of
Women in Modern India :
Women in independent India are
comparatively in a more respectable position. Some of the problems which had
been haunting the community of women for centuries are not found now.
Problems such as child marriage, practice of
‘sati’, prohibition on widow remarriage, exploitation of widows, devadasi
system etc. have almost disappeared. Development in the field of science and
technology, universalisation of education, socio-political movements, modernisation
and similar developments have changed the approach of people towards women to a
certain extent.
These developments boosted
the morale and self-confidence of women. As a result, Indian women now feel
that they too have their own individuality, personality, self-respect, talent,
capacity and efficiency.
Many of those women who
could grab the opportunities extended to them have proved that they are
capable of discharging the responsibilities assigned to them on par with men.
The nation which neglected almost 50% of its population for several centuries
has now understood the necessity of giving equal rights and opportunities to
its womenfolk.
The Constitution of India
provides equal rights and opportunities to women. It does not make any
discrimination on the grounds of sex. Indian women are also responding
positively to this changed socio-political situation. This does not mean that
our women are completely free from problems. On the contrary, the changing
situation is causing them new problems. They are now beset with new stresses
and strains. Some of the major problems haunting the modern women may briefly
be analysed here.
i. Violence is almost universal:
Most societies exhibit violence in one way or another. Violence
against men or women is a social problem because; a large number of people are
affected by it almost every day. Each of us is affected in countless ways by
the climate of violence. Violence disrupts society.
Every society creates institutions designed to achieve certain
ends. Violence cuts short normal institutional functions. Every act of
violence, from assault to armed revolution, detracts to some degree from the
authority normally vested in society.
ii. Women as Victims of Violence:
Who is most likely to be victimised by violent crime? Women are
less likely to be victimised by violent crime than men, though or some crimes
and among some groups of women, victimisation is higher than men. Violence
against women is not a new phenomenon in India. “Women in Indian society have been victims of ill-treatment,
humiliation, torture, and exploitation for as long as written records of
social organisation and family life are available.
These records are replete with incidents of abduction, rape, murder, and torture of women. But, regretfully,
female victims of violence have not been given much attention in the literature
on social problems or in the literature on criminal violence.
iii. Increasing Crimes against Women:
Crime against women is an ever-increasing problem. This problem
has been growing more and more acute in India during the recent years. Crimes against women include violence
against women, rape, molestation, dowry harassment, wife-battering, kidnapping
female children to be sold into brothel homes, forcible embracement, forcible
religious conversion, cheating young women with a promise to marry them or
fetch them a job and various types of sexual harassments and abuse of women
including eve teasing.
As per the report [1994] of the “Crime Record Bureau” of the
Central Home Ministry, crimes against women increased to a great extent in the
year 1993-94. As per this report, in India on an average,
(i) every day for every 6 minutes one atrocity is committed
against woman; (ii) for every 44 minutes a woman is kidnapped;
(iii) for every 47 minutes a woman is raped;
(iv) every day 17 dowry deaths take place. The same report says
that crimes against women increased two times in the last 10 years; instances
of rape by 400% in the last two decades; instances of kidnapping and
blackmailing women by 30% between 1974 and 1993. In 1993 alone about 82,818
instances of crimes against women were registered. Many cases are not
registered. It is said that only 10% of the rape cases are reported.
In a male dominated
society like India violences against women are unfortunately increasing at an
alarming rate. Such violences can be grouped into two types: (a) violence
against women within the family, and (b) violence against women outside the
family.
(a) Violence against
Women within the Family or Domestic Violence:
Women are often subject to
violence within the family, a place which is expected to protect their dignity
and assure their safety. This type of violence includes crimes such as — dowry
related harassments including death, wife-battering, marital rape, sexual abuse
of female children and women of one’s own family, deprivation of sufficient
food to female members, committing incestuous offences, inducing female members
of the family to resort to sex-trade, female genital mutilation, abusing female
servants of the family, and so on.
(b) Violence against
Women outside the Family or Social Violence:
Kidnapping, raping and murdering women are
very serious offences. The society at large itself is to be blamed for many
types of violence’s that are committed against women especially outside the
family.
Such violence’s include compelling women for abortion and to undergo tubectomy operation,
eve-teasing, kidnapping girls of pre-matured age and forcing them to marry,
sexual harassment of women employees in work place, immoral trafficking in
women and girls, forced prostitution, kidnapping and mutilating the organs
[such as hands, legs, ears, nose, etc.] of female children to use them for the
purpose of begging, resorting to forcible religious conversion of young women,
blackmailing of women, throwing acid at the faces of girls who refuse to marry,
the police and the jail personnel committing sexual crimes against female
prisoners, the police, armed forces and the border security forces committing
sex crimes against the female citizens in the border areas and so on.
Gender discrimination
refers to “the practice whereby one sex is given preferential treatment over
the others. The practice of giving social importance to the biological
differences between men and women is there everywhere. In some societies, these
differences are very much pronounced while in others, they are given less
importance. Even the Indian society is not an exception to this.
In comparison with some
other social problems, “gender discrimination!’ does not “appear” to be a
serious problem in India. It “appears” to be so because; it has not been made a
very big social issue so far. But in reality, it has weakened the strength of
the female community of India.
Though constitutionally
men and women are equal, socially men are given priority and importance
sometimes to the disadvantage of women. There are various areas wherein this
discrimination is apparent.
(i) Discrimination in Socialisation:
In our socialisation
process female children are becoming victims of discrimination. In the Indian
social context even today male children are preferred to female children.
Hence, female children are subject to discriminatory treatment. Male preference
and female negligence has almost become a working policy especially in the
rural areas.
Discrimination between male and
female children is made in matters relating to food, dress, health, education,
domestic work etc. The policy of male preference and female negligence has led
to what is known as “female disadvantages “. In India, mothers show preferences
for male children.
They give them importance because – males are wanted during their
old age to offer protection, males have greater scope than women and
occupational avenues are also wider for males than for females.
This male preference has led to the abuse of advanced technology.
The sophisticated scanning and supersonographic equipments are being misused to
find out the sex of the child; that is to go for abortion if the child is found
to be an unwanted female child.
These medical tests which would cost between Rs. 80/-to 800/- are
within the reach of the middle class and even the upper-lower class resulting
in the killing of the female foetuses in large number. Between 1978 and 1982
more than 78,000 foetuses were killed mainly because of these medical tests.
(ii) Discrimination
in the Distribution of Power and Work:
Most of the Indian families are
patriarchal. Hence, the philosophy of equality of sex is not acceptable to
them. Domestic works such as – cooking, looking after the children, washing
clothes and vessels, keeping the house neat and clean, looking after the domesticated
animals, serving family members like a nurse on all days and especially when
they fall sick, etc., are branded as “women’s work”. Very rarely men do these
works.
But
when the question of exercising power comes, it is always the man who
dominates. His decisions are final and his orders are ultimate. The female
voice is always suppressed.
(iii) Women’s Health
is ignored:
Women suffer from some
distinctive health problems from which men are free. Women have to undergo the
distinctive biological process of pregnancy, or child-bearing, delivering,
nursing, feeding, child-caring or rearing etc. These are their maternal
functions. But the insistence on the family planning has posed many health
hazards.
The use of
contraceptives, Copper-T, sterilisation, abortion and hormonal drugs has an
adverse effect on health. Those who make use of them suffer from problems such
as bodily weakness, bloodlessness, high bleeding, fatness, problems in uterus,
discomfort in breast, chronic backpain, etc. As Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel
have criticised, the advocates of family planning do not seem to bother much
about these problems.
a. Women neglecting their Own Health:
Studies have revealed
that our women themselves are neglecting their own health. Normally Indian
women consume less food [that is, on an average 100 calories a day] and spend
more energy on work. Women toil for the good of the family and children even at
the cost of neglecting their own health.
Women very rarely complain about their ill-health because of their
virtue of “self-denial”. The records in the health centres reveal that women
are lagging behind men [that is, 1:3, meaning one woman taking medical help for
every 3 men] even in matters of availing of medical help.
b. Women have their own reasons to neglect their health:
Not finding free time to go
to health centres because of heavy work at home; non-availability of proper
medical facility to test the health or ill-health of the mother and the child
especially in the primary health centres; inability to walk a long distance to
reach a well equipped health centre in the absence of proper transportation
facility; non-availability of female doctors in the nearby health centres,
etc., are some such excuses.
(iv) Decline in the
Female Population:
Normally, in the
population of any country, male- female ratio remains more or less the same,
that is, 50:50. In India as the census reports reveal female population has
been steadily declining ever since 1901.
It is for this reason Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel raised the
point whether the womenfolk in India represent a “declining sex”. According to
2001 Census, there is a deficit of 35 million women as compared to 3 million in
1901. For every 1000 men, we have only 933 women at present as against 972
women in 1901.
The male preference has led to the abuse of technology. Thousands
of “unwanted female” children are killed at the stage of foetus itself. It is
said that in India, out of 12 million female children born every year, around
25% of them die before they attain the age of 15. Of the children who die every
year, about 3 lakh female children, that is, more than the number of male
children, die for one or the other reason. Of the children which die every year
in India, the 6th child dies due to gender discrimination.
(v) Gender
Discrimination in Occupations and Public Life:
Women workers are paid less
than the male workers for the same type of work. Much labour is extracted from
women by giving them very minimum wages. In matters of giving treatment,
promotion, increment, facilities, etc., discrimination is normally made. In
public life also men are given priority.
Excepting the glamorous film actresses and politicians, in all
other fields, women are not given importance on par with men. Government
officials also practise this discriminatory treatment in dealing with the
people.
Social reformers and social thinkers believe that in a nation like
India giving education to women in as large a number as .possible can prove to
be a panacea for many of the problems of women.
Accordingly, much attention is paid to the education of women
after independence. The female literacy level is also increasing steadily. It
has increased from 18.7% in 1971 to 39.42% in 1991 and to 64% in 2001. In spite
of this change in the trend towards literacy, some problem has cropped up. We
find glaring differences between the level of education of men and women. For
example,
i. It is found that girls are being discouraged to go for higher
education and also for professional and technical education.
ii. There are regional imbalances also. In states like Kerala,
Karnataka and Maharashtra, female education is encouraged and given almost
equal importance. Whereas in states like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh etc.
education of girls is neglected even today.
iii. Increasing drop-out of female children from schools is
another problem. Though female children are getting admitted to primary, middle
and high schools in a substantial number, many of them drop out of the school
in the middle without completing the course.
For example, as per the data furnished by the Ministry of
Education [New Delhi], in 1984-85 the number of female children enrolled at
primary school crossed the figure of 34.2 million, and at middle school level
the enrolment crossed 9.2 million. More than 74% of these female children,
between the age-groups of 6-14 years, quit schools and lapsed into ignorance.
iv. Admission to School: Even in the matter of admitting children
to school at elementary level, female children are discriminated against male
children. For example, in 1984-85, the admission of male children to school was
around 90%, the percentage of female children was only 66.2. It means complete
awareness is not there among people regarding female education.
In the economic field the situation is such that majority of women
who are ready to work are not finding suitable work to their satisfaction.
Those who are in the employment sector are becoming the objects of exploitation
and harassment.
Though an increase in the female literacy level and extensions of
employment opportunities for women in the non-agricultural sector, have added
to the trend in favour of female employment, these two problems continue to
exist.
i. Large Number of Employed Women is Illiterate:
Of every 100 women employed, 52.59% of them are illiterate and
28.56% of them have studied only up to elementary level. Of every 100 women
working in the rural areas, 88.11% are illiterate.
These illiterate women in the unorganised sector are totally exploited
by their employers. Women working in factories, mining industries, building
construction process, in dams, bridges and road repair or construction work are
not only paid less but also made to work in unhealthy surroundings.
ii. Decreasing economic participation of women:
Technological development
seems to have a negative effect on employment opportunities of women. Studies
conducted between 1975-85 have revealed this fact. Application of new
technology in agrarian sector, textiles, mines, jute, pharmaceuticals, small
scale industries like coir, handloom, weaving, spinning, cashew, fisheries,
tobacco, animal husbandry, fruits and vegetable processing etc. rendered many
women jobless. Computerisation has also adversely affected the job prospects of
women as clerks, typists and accountants.
Women constitute an
important labour force in all the countries. During the recent years there are
an increasing number of women especially in the Indian context, who are working
outside the family to get more income for the family. In fact, “the term
working woman ” refers to one who works outside the home for a wage or
salary”.’
Nearly 1/3 of our labour force [32%] consists of women. Working
women constitute 16.43% of the female population of the country. As per 1991
Census, the number of working women was around 278.35 million, representing a
growth rate of 26.12% over the previous decade.
The percentage increase of working women during the last decade
was double that of male workers. The main problem with these female workers is
that they are harassed in work place in different ways. “Harassment” refers to
the basic violation of an individual’s rights. Not only the rights of working
women are violated, they are often sexually harassed also.
i. Economic Exploitation:
Women workers are given
much work but are paid less wages or salary especially in the unorganised
sector. “Equal pay for equal work” remains only a slogan. “EqualRemuneration
Act, 1976 has proved to be a dead letter in this regard. There are also
sufficient instances of such exploitation even in the organised sector.
ii. Threat of Removal from Job:
In the Indian context,
majority of women go for work not for fun but out of necessity. Some are
compelled to work because of poor family conditions. Employers who are aware of
the helplessness of these female employees exploit them in all the possible
ways. They do not tolerate any type of opposition or protest from the side of
the female workers. Due to the fear of losing the job, women bear all the
exploitations, and do not protest.
iii.
Women are given More Work:
Women normally work with devotion, seriousness and sincerity. This
commitment to work is proving to be a big disadvantage for them. Hence, every
time they are given more and more work which is not duly rewarded.
iv.
Discrimination in Giving Opportunities:
In spite of the hard work which women do, many employers consider
these working women as “non-serious workers”. They are also regarded as “non-
permanent employees” especially in the case of unmarried female workers. They
are discriminated with regard to recruitment, promotion, increment, training,
over-time allowance, facilities at work place, and so on. Male workers are
given preference in these matters.
v.
Sexual Harassment of Women:
Sexual harassment of women at workplace refers to giving indecent
treatment to women workers by violating all the norms of modesty. Many female
workers have complained of such harassments during the recent years.
This harassment by men includes – continuous staring at women,
making women the targets of lewd remarks, dirty jokes, repeated invitation to
meals and outings, offers to drop them home, making unwanted comments about
dressings, making “accidental” touches and dashes, making them stay back in the
work spot even after the working hours, male bosses calling smart female
employees to their chambers and making unwanted “advances” towards them,
molesting women workers and so on.
The mass media such as the radio, television, news papers and the
cinema play a vital role in social change and social development especially in
the modern societies. But unfortunately, the media has not been playing a
positive role in the case of women. The media is even condemned of exploiting
and misrepresenting women.
(i) Journalism as Print Media and Women:
Newspapers, weeklies, monthlies or other types of magazines seem
to be interested in increasing their circulation by rousing the cheap emotions
of the people. “They target the woman’s body to get their things done.” Papers
no doubt give due publicity to some unfortunate events under the captions such
as “Atrocity against Women”, “Dowry Costs A Woman’s Life”, ‘Mass Rape of a
Woman’, ‘Sexual Harassment of Women’, etc. But in doing so they give the least
information about the culprit of the crime. On the contrary, they take more
interest in weaving stories about the victim of the event which often amounts
to character assassination.
(ii) Visual Media and Women:
Since about 35% of the people in our society are illiterate,
visual media such as television and the cinema have a greater impact on people.
The Indian visual media is a failure in playing a positive role in educating
people and enriching their knowledge.
Like the newspapers, they also exhibit the female body and make it
their main capital to mint money. Modern movies believe in achieving success by
portraying more and more sex, violence and murder. Women are shown as targets
of attack, sex, rape and such other exploitations.
Unfortunately, our T.V. is also following the example of the
movies. With the invasion of our skies with a number of T.V. channels, the
choice of T.V. viewers has greatly expanded. T.V. channels such as the Star
Plus, MTV, Asian TV Network, Zee TV, and other Cable channels, are promoting a
lifestyle which is totally alien to us. As usual women are presented in these
channels in an indecent manner. Indian movies and T.V. serials are playing
havoc with our values and morals.
(iii) Advertisements and Women:
Advertisements whether in newspapers or T.V. play no less an
important role in debasing women. Advertisement firms also make use of female
body in a cheap manner to get publicity for things.
(iv) Media and Women Movements:
Media has an important role to play in strengthening women’s
position. While pronouncing women’s weaknesses, it must also emphasise their
strength. It must awaken women from the slumber of centuries, inform them,
mobilise them and motivate them whenever required. It must give due publicity
to women’s struggle for justice, equality and fairplay. This will help them in
regenerating power. The present role of the media in this regard is not that
encouraging, but disappointing.
i.
Legislation to Regulate the Media:
The Government had passed as early as in 1986 a legislation
namely; “The Indecent Representation of Woman [Prohibition] Act, (1986) in
order to prevent the media from misrepresenting the women. Any attempt to
degrade and discredit women, insult and humiliate them, assassinate the
character of women, and present them in an indecent manner is declared
punishable. The provisions of this Act are applicable to all the means of the
mass media and also to advertisements, books, handbills, posters, etc.
Violation of this Act is liable for punishment, which amounts to 2000 Rs. fine
and 2 years imprisonment.
During the recent years, instances of desertion and divorce are
increasing making the lives of many women very miserable.
(a) The Hardship of Desertion:
Desertion is defined as “deliberate abandonment of conjugal
relationships.” As a matter of fact, desertion may take place at the behest of
any one of the two, or both together. In actuality, in the Indian context, it
is mostly the husband who goes away from the family leaving the wife and
children at home to fend for themselves.
Desertion causes lot of hardships especially for women. It
immediately drives a woman to a state of uncertainty and helplessness. Deserted
women belonging to poor families all of a sudden become orphans especially when
they are disowned by their own parents. Some of them may resort to immoral
activity, some others fall prey into the hands of anti-social elements, while a
few of them may commit suicide.
(b) The Agony of Divorce: Divorce is “…an institutional
arrangement for terminating marital relationship…”
Causes
of divorce are many:
Sociologists like Damle, Fonseca and Chaudhary together conducted
a study in India which revealed the following causes of divorce : marital disharmony,
sexual conflicts, maladjustments between husband and wife, marital desertion,
husband’s cruelty, prostitution on the part of wife, sexual impotency, severe
and unmanageable clashes with the in-laws, mother-in-law’s harassment,
including dowry harassment, illicit sex relationship on the part of either the
husband or the wife, irreparable health hazards, mutual distrust, total
irresponsibility of the husband or wife towards the family matters and so on.
Divorce causes lot of hardships especially for the women. It
damages the social image of the wife. It becomes a permanent stigma in her
life. Many sensitive women find it difficult to come out of the shock of
divorce. The impact of divorce on children is also very severe.
The burden of protecting and rearing of children also lies on the
wife. Jobless and resourceless divorced women find themselves in a big economic
crisis. Young and beautiful divorced women find it difficult to suppress their
sex urge. They are often forced to resort to illicit ways of satisfying it. It
usually leads to family disintegration.
Dowry is both a practice and a problem associated with the Indian
marriage. Though it was more in practice among the Hindus, it has now spread to
almost all the religious communities of India.
i. Dowry refers to “….the property, money, ornaments or any other
form of wealth which a man or his family receives from his wife or her family
at the time of marriage.”
The age-old practice of dowry has now assumed the form of a social
evil because the bride’s family is compelled to give some dowry as a price for
marriage. It has become a social bane and a kind of bargain.
It has caused unhappiness, misery and ruin of the bride’s family.
Huge amount of money is demanded at the time of marriage and the failure to
give the promised amount would make the bride to suffer the consequences at the
hands of her in-laws and also the husband.
ii. Dowry harassments are many. Women are ill-treated,
disrespected, man-handled, tortured and subject to all sorts of cruelties in
the name of dowry. Very often, our daily papers flash news about the tragic
results of the dowry system, in which the newly married girls are always the
victims of harassment, violence, murder and suicide. Dowry is demanded as
though it is a fundamental right of the bridegroom.
Violence against women who bring less dowry or no dowry include –
wife battering, emotional neglect / torture, verbal abuse, refusal of
sufficient food, imposition of heavy physical work, severe physical harassments
to the extent of killing the victim, and so on.
In spite of the legislation against the practice of dowry, it
persists. Demands for dowry have even caused dowry deaths. According to an
estimate, as many as 4148 dowry deaths were reported in the year 1990 and it
increased to 4366 in the year 1993, and to 6205 in the year 1994, that is, at
the rate of one dowry death for every 17 minutes.
iii. Dowry leads to the degradation of women. Prevalence of the
practice of dowry reflects the inferior status of women in society. It makes a
girl a great liability on her family’s resources. Some unscrupulous and money
minded young men contract more than one marriage just for money.
It disturbs the normal relationship between the married women and
her in-laws in the husband’s family. Some poor parents, who cannot pay a huge
amount as dowry, are often compelled to arrange the marriage of their daughters
with old men, or physically or mentally handicapped persons. Such marriages
prove to be miserable for women.
As early as in 1961 itself, The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed
in order to prevent the practice of dowry. It was amended in 1986 to make its
provisions more severe and stringent. In spite of this Act, the practice
continues to be in vogue.
Participation of women who constitute 50% of our total population
in politics and public life is very much negligible in India. We find only a
negligible number of women in prestigious positions like those of Central and
State cabinet ministers, governors, secretaries and legal advisers to the
governments, ambassadors to other countries, IPS, IAS, IFS officers, judges in courts,
mayors of big cities, office bearers of all-India parties, etc. No political
party of India has given position to women in accordance with their number in
the total population. In some areas seats are reserved for women as we find in
Gram Panchayat, Jilla Panchayat, University Senate, etc. Even in these areas
women have not constituted themselves into a “pressure group “. Hence in our
political life, we have caste lobbies, linguistic lobbies, capitalist lobbies,
minority lobby, etc. but we do not have “-women lobby ” to bring pressure on
the government.
i.
Increasing Violence and Terrorism in Politics:
Political corruption, criminalisation of politics, erosion of
political values, disappearance of political decency, instability, lawlessness,
terrorism and confusion have been increasing in our public life since 1980s.
This state of confused political situation has discouraged women from taking
active role in politics.
ii.
Minimum Representation of Women in Lok Sabha:
The representation of women in Lok Sabha has been very poor since
1962 elections. For ex: there were only 33 elected women members in the third
Lok Sabha [out of 494 members] after the 1962 elections. In the 6th Lok Sabha
out of 544 elected members there were only 19 women members and their
percentage was only 3.4. In the 10th Lok Sabha [1991 Elections] there were 39
elected women members and their percentage was 7.4.
iii. In the 1996 Elections for the 11th Lok Sabha though the total
number of women voters increased to 28.24 crores [47%], only 477 women
candidates as against 14,250 men candidates contested for 543 seats. [In the
1991 Elections for the 10th Lok Sabha 325 women candidates contested as against
8,374 men candidates for 521 seats]. These figures reveal that only a small
number of women are interested in political life.
iv. In the 1999 General Elections for the 13th Lok Sabha also
women’s participation was the poorest one. Though political parties were
speaking vociferously in terms of 33% reservation for women in legislative
bodies including the Parliament, no political party had given tickets to women
in more than 10%. In some parties, the percentage of women candidates was not
even 2 to 3.
v.
Poor Participation of Women in the Party Politics:
Not only in the
legislative bodies but even within the framework of the political parties also
the participation of women is very poor. Political parties are still
male-dominated and unwilling to give sufficient representation to women.
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PLUS TWO HOME
SCIENCE
CHAPTER 1 & 2
MARASMUS
Marasmus
is a serious worldwide problem that involves more than 50 million
children
younger than 5 years. According to the World Health Organization
(WHO),
49% of the 10.4 million deaths occurring in children younger than 5
years in
developing countries are associated with protein-energy malnutrition.
Various
extensive reviews of the pathophysiological processes resulting inmarasmus are
available. Unlike kwashiorkor, the clinical sequelae of marasmus
can be
considered as an evolving adaptation in a child facing an insufficient
energy
intake. Marasmus always results from a negative energy balance. The
imbalance
can result from a decreased energy intake, an increased loss of
ingested
calories (eg, emesis, diarrhea, burns), an increased energy
expenditure,
or combinations of these factors, such as is observed in acute or
chronic diseases.
Need for early detection of
osteoporosis stressed
The Association
of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI) have stressed the need for
early
detection and timely treatment of osteoporosis, the high incidence ofwhichisemerging
as a major cause of concern in the country. About 20 per cent
of women
and about 10 to 15 per cent of men above the age of 50 years in Indiawere
osteoporotic. Yet, the condition continued to be under-diagnosed
andinadequately managed, ASSI pointed out on the occasion .WorldOsteoporosis
Day on
October 20.
SAMPLE
QUESTIONS
1. State
the dimensions of health.
2.Differentiate
optimum nutrition and malnutrition.
3.Choose
the correct statement from the following
a)
Sucrose
is also known as invert sugar
b)
Fructose
is known as table sugar
c)
Glucose
is known as milk sugar
d)
Galactose
is known as malt sugar
4. Compare
osteoporosis and osteomalacia
5.Analyse
the symptoms ofinfantile scurvy and adult scurvy
6.Evaluate
the effects related to water in our body
7.Select
sources of soluble fibre from the following
Apple,Wheat bran,Banana,Whole grain cereal
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BOTANY
BOTANY
NICE WORK
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