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

Sociologist Janeen Baxter, through her research on perceptions of fairness in domestic labour, found that women often perceive the division of household work as fair, even when they perform the majority of it.

This is attributed to internalized gender roles, societal conditioning, and the normalization of domestic labour being a woman's responsibility.

Many women rationalize the imbalance due to men being the primary breadwinners or due to notions of "natural" gender duties.

Such perceptions mask the structural inequality in unpaid domestic work and reflect the deeprooted acceptance of gendered divisions of labour in family settings.

A. Laxmi Agarwal - IV: Monetary compensation and medical expenses covered for acid attacks: Laxmi, a survivor of an acid attack, became a powerful activist whose case led to changes in Indian law, including regulation of acid sale and provisions for medical treatment and compensation under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013.

B. Shayara Bano - I: Triple Talaq was made illegal: Shayara Bano filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2016, challenging the practice of instant triple talaq. The court ruled it unconstitutional in 2017, leading to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.

C. Nirbhaya (pseudonym) - II: Juveniles (16-18 years) will be tried as adults in heinous crimes: The 2012 Delhi gangrape case triggered nationwide protests and legal reforms. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 was amended to allow juveniles aged 16-18 to be tried as adults for heinous offences.

D. Bhanwari Devi - III: Vishaka Guidelines on sexual harassment at workplace were formulated: After Bhanwari Devi, a social worker, was gang-raped in 1992 for stopping a child marriage, the Supreme Court in 1997 laid down the Vishaka Guidelines, forming the foundation of India's workplace sexual harassment law.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, was the first legal and political framework that recognized that armed conflict affects women and men differently.

It calied for the inclusion of women in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and security processes and emphasized the protection of women's rights during war.

It launched the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, a global movement for integrating gender perspectives in conflict zones and post-conflict reconstruction.

• The concept of "Performativity", developed by feminist philosopher Judith Butler, suggests that gender is not an innate or fixed identity, but something constructed and reinforced through repeated acts, language, and social rituals.

• According to Butler, saying "I am a woman" doesn't reflect an internal essence but performs a socially constructed role based on societal norms and expectations.

• This theory challenges essentialist views of gender, instead arguing that gender identities are fluid, contingent, and performative rather than biologically determined.

LGBT++ studies within feminist discourse emphasize:

A. Promotion of gender inclusivity, advocating for policies, language, education, and practices that recognize and respect diverse gender identities.

C. Challenging heteronormativity, which assumes that heterosexuality is the norm, thereby marginalizing non-heterosexual identities. Feminist and queer theorists critique the binary and rigid classifications of gender and sexuality, arguing for more intersectional and inclusive frameworks.

(B) Advocating for traditional gender roles and (D) Prioritizing binary understanding contradict the core values of LGBT++ studies, which aim to deconstruct and go beyond such limiting views.

Grounded Theory, developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss in the 1960s, is a qualitative research method that focuses on inductively developing theories from systematically collected and analyzed data.

Instead of starting with a hypothesis or testing existing theories, researchers generate theories grounded in participants' experiences and field data.

It is widely used in feminist research because it allows concepts to emerge from marginalized voices, aligning with bottom-up approaches to theory-building.

• Feminist theorists argue that kinship is not a natural or fixed system, but rather a cultural construct that varies across societies and is deeply embedded in patriarchal norms.

• Classic works by Gayle Rubin, Carole Stack, and Sherry Ortner have shown how kinship systems regulate women's sexuality, reproduction, and roles, reinforcing male dominance and control.

• For example, marriage alliances, patrilineal descent, and dowry systems often marginalize women and reduce them to property-like status in some societies.

In her landmark book "The Second Shift" (1989), Arlie Hochschild identifies three types of marital role ideologies based on how spouses divide work at home:

A. Transitional: One partner (usually the woman) tries to balance work and home duties, while the other may retain traditional expectations.

B. Traditional: The husband is the breadwinner and the wife is responsible for housework and childcare.

C. Egalitarian: Both partners share responsibilities equally at work and at home.

D. Discriminatory is not one of the constructs defined by Hochschild in this context.

According to NFHS-5 (2019-21) and supported by education research:

A. Age at marriage increases: Educated women tend to marry later, often after completing schooling or higher education. The mean age of marriage has increased from 19.0 years (NFHS-4) to around 21 years in many regions.

B. Use of contraceptives increases: Women with education are more aware of reproductive health and are more likely to use family planning methods, contributing to declining fertility rates.

D. Experience of violence decreases: Educated women are more likely to recognize and report abuse, and education correlates with higher autonomy and decision-making power, which helps reduce gender-based violence.

C. Mobility of women and girls decreases INCORRECT: In fact, education enhances mobility by increasing access to jobs, public spaces, and participation in decision-making processes.