“A patriarchal ethos dominates both the societies, American and Indian, but they operate in different ways. In India, despite the patriarchal ethos, powerful women leaders have emerged,” says political scientist Imtiaz Ahmed.

The most famous examples are BSP chief Mayawati and AIADMK head Jayalalitha. Both emerged from the shadow of iconic godfathers, to establish themselves as leaders with grassroots support.

It is not enough to be someone’s wife, sister or mistress in Indian politics. Neerja Gopal Jayal, professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s centre of law and governance points out that “Even at the panchayat level, we have had women from the member families being nominated. But the first time, patronage may work but not the second time. And this is true at the national level too.”

I myself have often wondered how, especially in the super-conservative state of Rajasthan, female leaders have established themselves. (See today’s article about Sonia Gandhi criticizing “the corrupt and inefficient [Vasundhara Raje] government.”)

Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research says, “What is unique to India, is the fact that women have the space to grow as leaders. Maybe, it has to do with our cultural ethos, where women are worshipped as goddesses.’’

I’m not so sure about the goddess worship argument, considering the low status of the majority of women; I think it could be more likely the ethos of ‘Mother India’ and the self-sacrificing stereotype of mothers/women.

Via Sify.

After centuries of living confined behind the veil, the so-called ‘weaker sex’ has finally come out in the open and conquered the world.

Just because the article is about three female executives, does not give the author the right to proclaim that Indian women have finally ‘arrived.’

If this were the case, articles like this would not be necessary, describing how Renuka Chowdhury is proposing that the government pay a stipend to poor families to raise girls instead of killing them before they’re born, just after birth or not feeding them properly so they die on their own, etc… I wonder if, as she says, the money will encourage families to educate girls and change their mindsets–or if they’ll just use the money for something else, like dowry. How will the government track how the money is spent?

Chowdhury’s at it again, this time with big plans to improve the status of the country’s 33 million widows. She would like to provide them with skills to earn a living, instead of living on the streets and begging in holy Hindu cities where they are deposited by their families. She also hopes to promote the idea of widow remarriage, traditionally frowned upon even by widows themselves.

Above is the trailer from Deepa Mehta’s film Water about the plight of a child widow. Note that this film was exceptionally controversial because of the subject and the approach taken by Mehta. It was even prevented from filming in India, so it had to be done in Sri Lanka.

The policy will include three key factors, the first being minimum protection, including minimum remuneration, insurance, childcare, skill development and literacy programmes.

Second, access to market and economic resources including raw material, marketing infrastructure, technology, credit and information.

The last point will include a voice in which voluntary organisations and other forums of women’s voice are recognised.

I don’t like how the article begins: “Qualified and skilled housewives can now cheer up with the government expected to come out soon with a national policy for home-based workers to enable them to work with ease. ” It seems obvious to me that this policy is not geared simply towards middle class housewives, but those more underprivileged women who are working at home on an informal basis.

It is good news, though, that now apparently even senior ministry officials have recognised that home-based workers play a huge role in economic growth.

“They should benefit for their role. Women are sincere and committed towards the work. If the benefits are ensured their contribution will increase. The policy is required in the larger interest.”

Sincere and committed? Sure, since they haven’t had much of a choice in terms of alternate committments. Does that mean that if they weren’t, they wouldn’t think of formulating such a policy??

Via Economic Times.

“While in 72 per cent of cases, the addresses of the pregnant women were either not mentioned or not complete, in 91 per cent cases the details of the father of the child were not mentioned. Ultrasonography was conducted at random in 67 per cent cases without proper referrals. Alarming discrepancies were detected,” he said.

The government cancelled the registrations of 102 diagnostic centres and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 as per the provisions of the law. “We made sure that killing a girl child was impossible in the city and its impact was evident in 2005 when more girls were born than boys,” he told HT.

Now Renuka Chowdhury is calling for all states to follow the Hyderabad model.

Via Hindustan Times.

The WCD Ministry is assessing the impact of gender budgeting by other Ministries. The WCD Minister, Renuka Chowdary, also plans to develop a sex disaggregated database; a Gender Development Index; and implement an intensive training and capacity building programme .

I wonder what the implications of this will be on my work in the realm of gender and trade–trade policy falls under the scope of gender budgeting!

Via the Hindu. 

Her point is that since technology stands in for brute force nowadays, why keep women out of the front lines? This debate has been ongoing in the US also, but I wonder: is this really the type of gender equality we’re going for? Shouldn’t we be putting more energy into reducing the need for combat in the first place? And there seem plenty of more pressing battles to choose than this one.

Some activists see the comment as regressive and counter-productive, because programmes directed at men promoting condom usage have seen considerable success. I see nothing wrong in urging women to be proactive in their own protection against HIV/AIDS, and indeed the use of the female condom is on the rise here. I’m not sure a lot can be gained by demeaning or blaming men for their behaviour, though, because they might be less than won over. And at the end of the day, they’re the ones who have to wear the thing.

A major problem with this thinking, however, is the assumption that the state actually has the power, political backing and resources to implement such a programme, which is highly unlikely here. An additional issue is that in a country where so few women have adequate health care in the first place, often because male heads of household do not authorise it, this plan could actually further impede women from getting adequate attention for fear of being tracked by the authorities, in addition to her family.