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Ind. J. of Applied & Clinical Sociology 10 (4), 2015, 63-66 ISSN: 2230-9772 (Print); 2347-5927 (Online) ©: Human Development & Welfare Institute Basics of Social Structure, Gender, Inequality and Feminism Suman Kumari Full text: Society is an integrated system of social structure and function (T. Parson). “Social structure is concerned with the principal forms of social organization i.e types of groups, associations and institutions and the complex of those, which constitute societies (Ginsberg). “The components of social structure are human beings, the structure itself being an arrangement of persons in relationships institutionally defined and regulated” (Radcliffe Brown). Society is an organism (Herbert Spencer). “Social Structure is a term applied to the particular arrangement of the interrelated institutions, agencies and social patterns as well as the statuses and roles which each person assumes in the group” (Talcott Parson). The structure of anything consists of the relatively stable inter relationships among its parts; moreover, the term ‘part’ itself implies a certain degree of stability (Harry M. Johnson). Primary Institutions Family Economics Secondary Institutions : : Education Religion State : : : Marriage, Divorce, Desertion Production, Distribution, Marketing, Banking, Share market, Insurance School, College, Universities Church, Mosques, Temples Democracy, Parliament, Courts, Political parties, Armed forces, Functions of social institutions: Institution Society is made of social groups, organizations-associations, and institutions. 1. Social groups: Race, Ethnicity, Tribe, Color, Caste, Varna, Gotra, Dynasty, Class, Age, Ashram, Sex, Family 2. Associations: Defined as a group of people organised for a particular purpose. According to Ginsberg “a group of social beings related to one another by organization with a view to securing a specific end or specific ends”. Examples- Family, church, trade union, association of people, clubs, political parties, philanthropic & charitable agencies. Family : Economics : Education : Religion : State : Manifested functions Unity of objectives, goals, efforts Promoting production, trade. Teaching, Providing skill Promotion of religious activities Security, welfare, International relations. Hidden functions Selfishness, Damaging for others Damage to economy, economical rivalry False and wrong education Conversions, Love Jehad, Riots, Tensions Terrorism, aggression, war, conflicts, invasions. Foundations of Social Structure: 3. Social Institutions: Institutions are means of controlling individuals. It depended upon collective actions. It is a stable means of social control. It has certain compulsory rules and symbols. According to Maclver “established forms or conditions of procedure characteristics of group activity”. According to Sumner, “An Institution consists of a concept (idea, notion, doctrine or interest) and a structure”. 1. Normative system 2. Position system 3. Sanction system 4. Anticipated response system 5. Action system Social Values: 1. Universalistic social values 2. Particularistic social values 3. Achieved social values 4. Ascribed social values. Types of social structure: Types of social institutions: 63 Talcott Parson describes four principal type of social structure based upon four social values. 1. The Universalistic- Achievement Pattern 2. The Universalistic- Ascription Pattern 3. The Particularistic Achievement Pattern 4. The Particularistic Ascription Pattern. marriage 7. Feticide- infanticide, 8. High and risky fertility, 9. Adverse sex ratio at birth etc. GENDER & INEQUALITY C. Economic factors: 1. Poverty, 2. Lack of employment, 3. Migratory jobs, 4. Economic underdevelopment, 5. Brawn-based production, B. Political democratization implementation, Gender is not something we are born with, and not something we have, but something we do (West and Zimmerman 1987). Sex is natural and comes first. Gender is perceived as a secondary construct that is imposed over the top of this natural distinction (Judith Butler). In the Western culture, women play the roles of the housewife and mother. The roles of men and women helps to support and maintain the patriarchal society (Oakley, 1972).Simone de Beauvior in her book The Second Sex says, one is not born, but rather becomes a woman. She explains that gender differences in the society make the man superior through his role as the breadwinner. Shulamith Firestone in her book, The Dialectics of Sex (1970) suggests that patriarchy exploits women’s biological capacity to reproduce as their essential weakness. factors: 1. 2. Policies Lack of and their D. Cultural factors: 1. Patrilocality, 2. Oldage support from sons, 3. Dowry system, 4. Patrilineality, 5. Role of sons in religious rituals, 6. Less physical mobility to protect female safety and purity, 7. Desire for sons and higher investment in sons, 8. Desire for sons & sex imbalance. Levels of gender inequality: 1. At policy levels 2. At Organizational/institutional level 3. Societal/ cultural levels Consequences of gender inequality: 1. No adequate contribution in GDP 2. Low number in production industries 3. Keeping away from technologies and its development 4. Gender gap in education 5. No energy safety 6. Environmental depletion 7. Unpaid jobs 8. Poor developmental indicators. Masculinity & Femininity: Male and female are sex categories, while masculine and feminine are gender categories. A woman is assumed feminine female, a man a masculine male. Male associated with masculinity and female with femininity. Both are the social constructions of the biological differences between men and women into social terms and descriptions. Sometimes due to works of several feminists, biological differences heightened through social descriptions of masculinity and femininity. Masculinity is not valued unless performed by biological male (Moira Gatens). Prevention from gender inequality: Article 15 of the Constitution provides for prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sex also apart from other grounds such as religion, race, caste, or place of birth. Article 15(3) authorizes the State to make any special provision for women and children. Article 51(A) (e) imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen to renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women. Article 16 provides for equality of opportunities in the matter of public appointments for all citizens. Moreover, the Directive Principles of State Policy also provides various provisions that are for the benefit of women and provides safeguards against discrimination. Gender Inequality: Because of sex if women or girl devoid of rights, opportunities, face barriers, controls, difference in power, status, prestige, participation in society, politics, and economy could term as gender inequality. It could also refer as unequal treatment and discrimination because of sex. The difference between women and men in attainments is called gender gap. Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, Equal remuneration Act 1976, Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, The Child Marriage Restraint Amendment Act. 1978, Special Marriage Act, 1954 to give rightful status to married couples who marry inter-caste or inter-religion; PreNatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Bill passed in 1994 to stop female infanticide. Section 304-B was added to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to make Causes of gender inequality: A. Social factors 1. Patriarchy, 2. Unequal socialization 3. Lack of education, 4. Dowry system, 5. Lack of gender egalitarian environment, 6. Early 64 dowry-death or bride burning a specific offence punishable with maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1976, provides for establishment of a Crèche where 30 women are employed as against one for every 50 women. while social constructionist explanations say that individuals, male and female, actively construct gender roles. Individuals in a society choose to saturate a particular structure with meaning create gender roles. March 8, is observed as women's day, Hostels for Working Women, Women's Training Centres/Institutes for the Rehabilitation of Women in Distress, Short-stay homes for Women and Girls, Family Life Institute, Education Work for prevention of Atrocities against Women, Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP), National and State Commissions for women, Women Development Corporations, Rastriya Mahila Kosh, ICDS, Central Social Welfare Board, Balika Poshak Yojana, Napkin Yojna, It identified patriarchy as a situation highly unjust for women. Through patriarchy male used chauhanism or sexism towards women. However, it is criticized because patriarchy is not just about women however it is more about overall power and control. Special measures: School intervention, Community intervention, Media intervention, Legal intervention, Gender budgeting, gender forecasting, women policing. Psychoanalytic model: Patriarchy: Patriarchy means rule of father, father like figure or male. There is difference between parental care, control, and patriarchy. Through patriarchy male, hold primary power to decide roles in politics, leadership, morality, social privilege, control of property; and authority over women and children. Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title inherited by the male lineage. The female equivalent is matriarchy. Control through patriarchy: Feminist theory: Aggressive mentality theory: Patriarchy may be seen as an expression of a stunted, immature form of masculinity and thus as an attack on masculinity in its fullness as well as on femininity in its fullness. Men become able to do patriarchy when he became old. That mostly not opposed by any member of the family. 1. Productive power 2. Reproduction- fertility 3. Social institution and their functions 4. Sexuality 5. Mobility 6. Property and other economic resources. Sexual division of labour, Production, and Reproduction: The sexual division of labour is central to feminism. Women considered suitable for childbirth, stay at home, rear children, and undertake all the domestic responsibilities because of their biology. Men undertake all the difficult tasks as a part of their biology. Thus after rise of economy work done by men termed productive and valued as labour. Traditionally girl and women considered a weak entity. According to Manusmriti “Women supposed to be in the safekeeping of their father during childhood, under protection of their husband after marriage, and under the charge of her son in old age or as widows”. Production and reproduction in gender terms aimed at highlighting the contrast between the paid and unpaid work of men and women. Reproduction refers to cyclical processes by which the initial conditions necessary for economic activity to occur are constantly recreated. It involves the physical production and distribution of goods and services, their distribution, and consumption. Karl Marx in Das Kapital showed the reproduction process that can take place in capitalist society by means of the circulation of capital. Women mainly face problems such as unpaid jobs, temporary jobs, unequal wages, or salary. Most of the modern sociologists considered patriarchy as root cause of gender inequality. Modern sociology differed from those ancient provisions that still prevalent in India and advocated total independency of women in decision-making. Theories of patriarchy: There are sociobiological and social constructionist explanations of patriarchy. Sociobiological explanations use human biology and genetics to explain male control, 65 Reproduction could also refer to the worker's daily reproduction of his or her own labor power. This consists of subsistence tasks such as food preparation, laundry, and all other that maintain the worker and his or her ability to work became responsibility of women. According to Silvia Federici "In the new monetary regime, only production-for-market was defined as value-creating activity, whereas the reproduction of the worker began to be considered as valueless from an economic viewpoint and even ceased to be considered as work". conscious action by women and men to alter the situation. 1) Liberal feminism: According to liberal feminist, the basic structure of the society should be reformed and not restructured. Voting rights in India, focus on women education, abolition of child marriage, sati pratha, remarriages, widow marriages influenced by this feminism. 2) Radical feminism: It considered men and patriarchy as responsible for women suppression. It further considers women as absolute positive value as men. It also said that roots of women’s subordination are in social distribution of power, wealth, and status, the hierarchical sexual division of society, sex roles. The public private dichotomy: Women expected to engage in productive work in private realm only such as household and family. Whereas male could work in public realm including household, family, economy, and polity. Feminist considered the public private dichotomy has played an important role in producing gender inequalities. 3) Post-Modernist or New wave feminism: The new age feminism developed around 1980s, do not take up women as a general category but focus on the factual and theoretical implication of difference among women. The difference resulted from the unequal distribution of socially produced goods and services because of position in global system, caste, class, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and affection preference. Studies showed a complexly inter-waves system of caste, class, race, gender and global expression and privileges. Those oppressive systems produces compulsive attitude, actions, and personalities, such compulsive personalities came up in new feminist movement, referred as global movement and futurist movement of the 21st century. Identity polities: Identities keep changing and there could be differences in identities among women also, and it needed to eradicate all those identities to create solidarity for women cause. There is emergence of international sisterhoods. Feminism: Feminism is an awareness of women’s oppression and exploitation in society at the place of work and with the family and the conscious action to change this situation. Feminism could also see as an awareness of aristocratic control, exploitation and oppression of material and ideological levels of women’s labour, fertility and sexuality in the family, at the place of work, and in society in general and Others categories may be 4) Socialist feminism 5) Marxist feminism 6) Eco feminism 7) Condition feminism. ***** 66