UGC NET/JRF EXAM, JUNE-2025 WOMEN’S STUDIES

The National Commission for Women (NCW) was established under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. Although the Act was passed in 1990, the Commission was officially set up in January 1992.

It was created to review constitutional and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate grievance redressal, and advise the government on policy matters affecting women.

The Bengal Sati Regulation (Regulation XVII) was enacted in 1829 by Governor General Lord William Bentinck.

This law abolished the inhumane practice of Sati-the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre-in British India, declaring it illegal and punishable by the criminal courts. It marked a major social reform influenced by reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon are radical feminist theorists known for their anti-pornography stance. They argued that pornography is not mere expression or erotica but a form of sexual subordination and violence against women.

They proposed treating pornography as a civil rights violation, framing it as discrimination rather than just obscenity.

Under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code, gang rape-where a woman is raped by one or more persons acting in a group or with common intent-carries a minimum punishment of twenty years of rigorous imprisonment, which may extend to imprisonment for life.

This provision was strengthened after the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 following the Nirbhaya case.

The idea that "the original class distinction is between men and women" and that "women's oppression provides a conceptual model for understanding all other forms of oppression" comes from Shulamith Firestone, a key figure in radical feminism.

In her book "The Dialectic of Sex" (1970), she argues that biological reproduction forms the basis of women's subjugation and calls for its elimination through technology and social revolution.

Feminists such as Karen Horney and Luce Irigaray have critiqued Freud's psychoanalytic theory but also used his ideas productively to challenge biological determinism-the notion that gender roles and differences are solely determined by biology.

Horney reinterpreted Freud's theories by emphasizing social and cultural factors in shaping female psychology, while Irigaray reworked Freudian and Lacanian ideas to expose the patriarchal bias in psychoanalysis and develop feminist alternatives.

Among the listed names, Bell Hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, and Audre Lorde are all prominent Black feminists, known for integrating race, class, and gender into feminist theory.

Betty Friedan, on the other hand, was a White liberal feminist, best known for her book "The Feminine Mystique", which focused primarily on middle-class white women's issues, not on Black feminist perspectives.

In Classical Economic Theory, the key distinction between productive and nonproductive work lies in economic value generation. Productive work is that which produces tangible goods or services and is paid labor contributing directly to national income.

Non-productive work (like domestic labor) is unpaid and not counted in traditional measures of economic productivity, even though it sustains the workforce.

A key trait of successful entrepreneurs is innovativeness and risk-taking ability. Entrepreneurs identify opportunities, introduce new ideas, and take calculated risks to transform them into viable ventures.

Unlike risk-averse individuals, they accept uncertainty as an inherent part of creating and growing a business.

Self Help Groups (SHGs) primarily empower women by enabling collective savings and access to microcredit.

These groups encourage economic independence, mutual support, and entrepreneurship among women, particularly in rural areas.

Through microfinance and joint decision-making, SHGs help women gain financial literacy, confidence, and social capital.