UGC NET/JRF EXAM, December-2023 WOMEN’S STUDIES

The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) conducts its studies every five years since its inception in 1995. This project is the largest and longest-running research initiative in the world that systematically studies the representation and portrayal of genders in news media.

It provides critical data on how gender roles are depicted in the media and tracks progress or setbacks in gender representation across different countries and media platforms. The periodic reviews allow researchers and advocates to measure changes over time and assess the impact of efforts to promote gender equality in media content.

Alice Walker defined the term "womanist" with the metaphor "womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender." This definition reflects a deeper, richer, and more inclusive approach to feminism that Walker advocated, particularly emphasizing the experiences and challenges of Black women and other women of colour.

Her concept of womanism expands on traditional feminism by including racial and class issues, aiming to address the unique struggles faced by these groups, and promoting a broader, more inclusive feminist ethos.

Gender Budgeting involves analyzing and planning government budgets to ensure they positively impact gender equality. This approach assesses how budget allocations affect women and men differently and aims to address gender disparities through targeted fiscal policies.

Gender budgeting helps in ensuring that public resources are effectively utilized to promote gender equality, enhance women's empowerment, and improve the economic and social outcomes for all genders. It involves a critical evaluation of both revenues and expenditures to align them with the goals of gender justice.

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain is the author of the short story "Sultana's Dream: A Feminist Utopia." This pioneering work, published in 1905, presents a reverse-genderrole society where women rule and men are secluded, inverting the traditional norms of her contemporary society.

The narrative is considered ahead of its time, advocating for women's education and participation in public life, while critiquely highlighting the absurdities of gender discrimination. Hossain's work remains a significant early piece of South Asian feminist literature.

"The Culture Industry" is a chapter from the book "The Dialectic of Enlightenment," authored by Theodor Adorno and Maх Horkheimer. This influential work critiques the role of mass culture and the entertainment industry in perpetuating social domination and conformism.

Adorno and Horkheimer analyze how popular culture, as part of the culture industry, manipulates and stifles individuality and creativity, serving the interests of capitalist society by producing standardized cultural goods that pacify and distract the masses.

Mohammad Yunus is widely credited with pioneering the concept of microfinance and women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs) through his work in founding the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

Although SHGs existed in various forms, Yunus' initiatives focused on empowering women economically by providing them with small loans.

These groups enable women to engage in incomegenerating activities, thereby promoting financial independence and socio-economic development among communities traditionally excluded from formal banking systems.

Chandra Talpade Mohanty is known for her critical analysis of the "colonization" in academic and global feminism, which she discusses as the appropriation and codification of knowledge.

Her work critiques Western feminist scholarship's tendency to generalize and misrepresent the experiences of women in non-Western societies.

Mohanty argues that such approaches can lead to a form of intellectual colonization, where Western paradigms dominate and overshadow local, indigenous knowledges and practices, effectively marginalizing them in global feminist discourses.

Sarladevi Chaudhurani moved a resolution supporting voting rights for women at the Indian National Congress session held in Delhi in 1918. Her advocacy was part of the broader struggle for women's rights in India during the freedom movement.

Chaudhurani was a prominent figure in the social and political spheres, actively working to promote women's participation in the nationalistic activities of the time and championing the cause for their voting rights in the newly envisaged democratic structures.

Vandana Shiva is a prominent thinker and activist known for her work in ecofeminism, which draws connections between environmental issues and gender.

Her theories explore how the exploitation of the environment and the subjugation of women are interconnected, arising from a patriarchal framework that also dominates nature.

Shiva's work emphasizes sustainability and the vital role women play in maintaining ecological balance, advocating for both environmental conservation and gender equality as integral to social justice.

The proposed name for the new Criminal Procedure Code in India is "Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita." This new name reflects an effort to modernize and localize the legal framework, aligning it more closely with contemporary Indian socio-legal contexts.

The renaming is part of broader reforms intended to make the criminal justice system more effective, accessible, and equitable, addressing longstanding issues such as procedural delays and the need for more comprehensive protections under the law.