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

The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is a savings scheme launched under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative to promote financial security for the girl child. The details of each statement are as follows:

A. Money can be deposited only by the parents - Incorrect. A legal guardian can also open and deposit money. After the girl turns 10, she can operate the account and make deposits herself.

B. The maximum limit for deposit in the account is1,50,000 per year - Correct. Deposits can be made up to 1.5 lakh in a financial year.

C. Interest rates are calculated on the 10th day of every month - Incorrect. Interest is calculated on the lowest balance between the 5th and the end of the month.

D. Even after maturity the account will earn interest - Correct with clarification. The account earns interest until maturity (21 years from opening or marriage after 18 years). After maturity, no interest accrues.

Hence, the correct statements are B and D only.

The CBSE Merit Scholarship Scheme for Single Girl Child aims to promote education among single girl students by recognizing academic excellence. Its key objectives are:

A. To provide scholarships to meritorious single girl child students.

B. Eligibility requires having passed Class X CBSE Examination with 60% or more marks and continuing studies in Classes XI and XII.

C. The scholarship amount is 500 per month.

D. The scholarship is granted for a maximum period of two years (Classes XI & XII), not three. Thus, A, B, and C are correct.

The Annapurna Scheme is implemented by the State Bank of India to support women entrepreneurs who wish to start or expand food-based businesses such as catering, canteens, or tiffin services.

B. It is meant for food-related ventures.
C. Beneficiaries can access a loan of up to ₹ 50,000 (working capital). Thus, the correct options are B and C.

According to Gita Sen, the control over female sexuality is a central mechanism of women's subordination within patriarchal and class-based societies. Her key arguments are:

A. In India, unlike in the West, women are not primarily sexualized through consumer commodification but through more direct patriarchal control - correct.

B. Sexual objectification is personal and immediate, influencing women's participation and treatment in the labour market - correct.

C. Landholding classes exercise control over women's sexuality to ensure paternity certainty and inheritance legitimacy - correct.

D. Public spaces are dominated by men, and the threat of violence is used to control women's movement and autonomy - correct.

E. The idea that sexual control is not important for the landless is incorrect, as patriarchal sexual control operates across all classes, though differently. Hence, the correct set of statements is A, B, C & D only.

In her study of female-headed households in Mexican shanty towns, Sylvia Chant found that:

A. Women and children often suffered secondary poverty in male-headed families, as men withheld income for personal use - correct.

B. Female-headed households were sometimes better off financially after desertion or widowhood because women managed resources more equitably - correct.

D. In single-women-headed families, children contributed more to domestic work, easing the burden on mothers - correct.

E. Authority in male-headed households was often repressive, limiting women's and children's autonomy - correct.

Hence, the correct combination is A, B, D & E only.

"Gender Trouble" (1990), written by Judith Butler, is one of the founding texts of queer theory. Butler critiques the heteronormative assumptions within traditional feminist and gender theories, arguing that gender is performative-a set of repeated acts rather than a fixed identity. The text challenges binary understandings of gender and sexuality but is not homophobic.

Thus, the correct statements are:

A. One of the founding texts of queer theory - correct.
B. Critical of heterosexual assumptions in feminist theory - correct.
D. Written by Judith Butler - correct.

Feminist Standpoint Epistemology argues that knowledge is socially situated, and those in marginalized or less powerful positions can develop more comprehensive insights into social structures because they experience both their own oppression and the workings of dominant systems.

В. Less powerful members have a more complete view of social reality, as they can see both dominant and subordinate perspectives - correct.

D. Their disadvantaged position gives them the potential for "double vision", allowing them to understand both their own world and that of the dominant group - correct.

Hence, the correct combination is B & D only.

Under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, sexual harassment is defined broadly and includes:

A. Any unwelcome acts or behaviour, whether directly or by implication - correct.

B. Physical contact and advances - correct.

D. Demand or request for sexual favours - correct.

It also includes making sexually coloured remarks and showing pornography, covering physical, verbal, and non-verbal conduct.

The writings of Bhakti women saints such as Mirabai, Akka Mahadevi, Lal Ded, and Andal reflect early forms of feminist thought in India. They challenged both religious patriarchy and caste hierarchies through their poetry and devotion.

B. Their work shows indigenous roots of feminism in India - correct.
C. These writings express resistance to religious and caste subordination - correct.
D. They are part of early modern Indian history, representing emancipatory voices against Brahmanical patriarchy - correct.

Thus, the correct combination is B, C & D only.

The journal Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society is one of the earliest and most influential academic journals in feminist scholarship.

A. It was established by Jean W. Sacks - correct, she was the founding editor.
C. It was first published in 1975 - correct, marking it as one of the foundational platforms for feminist interdisciplinary research.

1. Feminism, unlike other theoretical "isms," does not stem from a single framework - it draws on multiple traditions (liberal, socialist, radical, postcolonial, etc.) and varies across historical and cultural contexts.

A. There is no single abstract definition of feminism applicable universally - correct.

B. It is grounded in historically and culturally concrete realities - correct.

C. It involves levels of consciousnessawareness of oppression and collective struggle - correct.

D. The statement that patriarchy and sexism "will never change" is incorrect (feminism aims precisely to challenge and change them).

E. Legal reform is not the only goal; feminism extends to social, cultural, and psychological liberation as well.