Mindshare Volume 56

“Limited gains in gender equality and women’s rights made over the decades are in danger of being rolled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the UN Secretary-General said in April 2020, urging the governments to put women and girls at the centre  of their recovery efforts.

Ideas are the stepping stone of success and success has a ripple effect. So during pandemic when world was standing in awe and fear of this horrifying virus Mindshare decided to dedicate a special issue on Gender Empowerment. Conducting a webinar is nothing new but what is commendable is the spirit of movement. When some external force is pushing us to be holed up in our houses it is human spirit which fights back and shows a formidable courage to keep moving.  This was such endeavour which is now being converted into a special issue.

Theme is forever relevant as according to the report, India has closed 62.5 per cent of its gender gap till date. The country had ranked 112th among 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2020.India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, becoming the third-worst performer in South Asia.

Gender empowerment is the word that makes the political statement for the liberals in the society and also political parties who talk about gender empowerment by not even giving 33% reservation in the parliament. Gender empowerment is not just the statement but a human right issue related to the marginalised section in the society- Women.

In a world of Meta and changing pattern of survival and new challenges coming in front of humanity it is more urgent than ever to pay attention to the unique problems that are created by  these new challenges e.g. inequality ,gender pay gap, gender  violence, human trafficking ,Sexual abuse, etc.

This pandemic has reversed years of progress achieved at the women rights front with 47 million more women being pushed at the brink of poverty. Although this pandemic is affecting population indiscriminately when it comes to gender but women was the most affected both socially and economically. Hence reshaping gender equality is a must, for which we have tried to give platform to young minds and their thoughts in the form of research paper.

It is my experience from the past thirteen years of teaching in higher education that research is the most wanted part of the students and teacher professional lives. The quality of research that is being conducted at the university level needs serious introspection at the academician’s level. This is where this edited book becomes relevant.  Kind of work done by all the authors in the book shows the keen eye of youth who is observant and in the world of virtual reality is stressing and highlighting the realities of the ground and is asking the world to sit up and take notice and change. Change its stereotypes and biases towards women as change is dynamic.

I am very great full to Mindshare for involving me in his endeavour and gave me an opportunity to do my small part in this humongous task of dreaming to change things for good.

Culture plays a critical role in determining gender roles in said space, and Aligarh Muslim University happens to be an educational institution with a history dating back to the colonial period. Drawing its cultural roots from India’s pre-independence Islamic traditions, the University upholds certain beliefs regarding women, which happen to exist in the present times with slight modifications. This paper studies the various social, political, religious, and cultural forces existing in the University that impact the space of female students residing in the campus premises in the twenty-first century. The research is supported by a qualitative and quantitative survey of AMU students and interviews of political leaders. It also uses references from secondary data sources. Struggles faced by women of AMU as a consequence of the division of space is exemplified by unequal distribution of power and access, problems of representation in political leadership, and geographic isolation in the paper, thereby taking the lived experiences of these women beyond education.

The present study was done on the cephalo-facial parameters among the males and females of Muslims and Baniyas of Jhansi district signifies the ethnicity among the two different communities of the population. 400 subjects were considered aged between 18-45 years which ethnically from Jhansi and their great grandfathers also.The measurements were taking by using sliding caliper and was analysed in statistical software SPSS (Statistical Packages of Social Sciences). The Facial Index of the two communities was calculated using the Morphological Facial Height and Width of Face. Therefore it was seen that the Facial Index of Muslim males and females was Euryprosopic (82.60%) and Leptoprosopic (87.17%) respectively that means that the males of Muslim community were having broad face type whereas Muslim females were having long face type. On the other hand the Baniya community males and females were Leptoprosopic (90.97%) and Mesoprosopic (81.60%) respectively that means the males were having long face and the females were having round face. Thus the two communities gender is distinguishable on the basis of their facial phenotype. The significant correlation was seen between the Muslim males and females Morphological Facial Length, Physiognomic Facial Length and Width of Face at 0.01 level and Baniya males and females Physiognomic Facial Length, Morphological Facial Length and Width of face also showed significant correlation at 0.05 level. Hence the study showed significant correlation at 0.01 and 0.05 level. The study concluded that our data could act as a reference for the Muslim and Baniya community of Jhansi District.

The main purpose of this study was to understand the educational experiences of female domestic workers attending community schools in Kathmandu Valley. Considering the need to investigate how a family’s economic condition can influence the lives of children and compel them to work as a domestic worker, this study was conducted to understand the schooling experience of female domestic workers mainly comprising of – the perception towards education, challenges faced in meeting the daily learning outcomes in school and the coping mechanism adapted to deal with the challenges. In this context, a qualitative inquiry was used to generate data primarily through in-depth interviews. Data were then analyzed, and interpreted with Sen’s capability approach. The findings revealed that the existence of family poverty with limited income has been the major constraint to fulfill the daily learning objective for the children working as domestic workers. Despite of considering attaining school as the biggest freedom experienced, the capability of these children to derive the functioning of desirable learning outcome is hindered as they are constantly juggling between household chores and studies.

This paper speaks about those battered women who have been the victims of serious abuse, harassment, rape in the name of the marriage. Marital rape, a broad term which magnifies the gaping loophole existing in our Indian Criminal Justice system, where it is considered not a crime besides being evil and an injurious act. India is among those 36 countries which had not considered Marital Rape as a criminal offence though it causes severe psychological, gynaecological, and physical health problems to the victims. One of the root causes for this is the unawareness of sex education. This paper highlights how it leads to marital rape and how we can handle it. Time has arrived to let the country know that marriage, which is considered as the bond of birth to birth in our country, is not a licence to commit the ghastly act. We have conducted two surveys one in a government school and the other at a small village. The findings of our surveys are in mentioned in this paper. Further, it is not mandatory that every evil act prevailing in our country needs a Reformer. When we all raise the quality of our mindset towards our women by respecting them and their feelings, then all the women will climb to the topmost rung of the development ladder and will embrace our nation.

This article begins with idea of ‘housewifization’ borrowed from Maria Mies, to problematize the genealogy of the social construction of ‘non-working’ housewives whose contributions to capitalist development are often invisibilized and rendered as ‘shadow-work’. Parallels have been drawn between the ‘other’ of capitalist structures and housewives, which legitimizes their exploitation. This essay illustrates how the taken for granted ‘natural’ binaries need to be deconstructed and trace its social construction; in order to strive towards a more egalitarian society. The construction of the role of the housewife is also embedded in the interplay between the patriarchal social structures and the economic structures; with male capital owners subordinating women as dispossessed housewives. The social construction of the dialectic of the ‘private’ and the ‘public’ space in the course of the changing labour relations is also crucial to the legitimization of this process. However, this essay also tries to deconstruct the ideas of public and private as well; focusing on instances where such distinction gets blurred. It strives to analyse the parallels between a housewife and a slave, in order to elucidate the deplorable condition of each. These dominant ideologies and patterns of exploitation bear similarities with the structures of colonialism, with women being seen as ‘the last colony’. Discussions have centred on how the transnational migration of care workers is fostered by rising employment of middle-class women. They have varying tasks and responsibilities, which often resemble the traditional role of the housewife, with many of them living inside or close to the house of the employing family. Hence, this essay attempts to analyse how ‘becoming a housewife’ has less to do with one’s gender, but more to do with a range of socially constructed ‘feminine’ activities that both men and women partake.

This paper endeavours to analyse feminist epistemologies and the main ideas propounded by various philosophers and theorists associated with them, delving into the historicity of how subjugated positions of females have been systematically incorporated into the mainstream bodies of knowledge through the process of ‘othering’ and the positing of such knowledge as being universal and objectively neutral and how this rooted bias has been unearthed and ‘deconstructed’ by various feminist epistemologies which strive to arrive at a ‘reconstructed’ frame of knowledge which aims at providing more accommodative spaces for those relegated to the margins and positions of subjugation, in this case- the females. The paper also analyses the tensions between the traditional and classical notions of knowledge production and the new emergent epistemologies, how the latter fill in the lacunae in the former and their quest to arrive at a conciliatory picture between them both through the lens of various positions in feminist epistemologies.

The present paper analysis the voicelessness of the maids through Subaltern Perspective. This paper shows the conditions of the maids in the current scenario. Subaltern is regarded as a controversial subject. It is a powerful tool for molding opinions. In the current society in which we live the lower class are mostly neglected, no one respects them especially those who are working at rich people houses as maids. Subaltern perspective is relevant because it gives immense possibility to analyze the lives of people, institutions and their problems. One of the main objective of Subaltern studies is to retake the history for those whose voices that has not been heard. The term “Subaltern” implies those groups of community whose voices become muted. The main concern of this paper is to analyze the most prevailing practices common among the different communities. This paper shows that discrimination, separateness, social hierarchy and practices of segregation is very much present in our society. This study deals with the prevailing practices of giving food and water in separate utensils to our maids.

This paper discusses the women of 19^th century England. It also explores the different traditional roles of women and the ideologies of patriarchy. While discussing the works of different women writers of 19^th century, the paper also focuses on the political and social issues of the Victorian Period.

The nineteenth century was one of the most controversial periods in history. It was the age of change and revolution. There were many things happening in the society from industrialization to leap of faith. In this period there were many prominent writers who were working on digging out the evils of society, like Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, J.S Mill, and Charles Dickens.

Jane Austen was a major woman writer of the 19th century. She portrayed the reality of the women of her times. There was assigned duties for women in those days. Women were not allowed to work outside the house. Either they stayed at home and indulged in the activities like cooking, cleaning and looking after the family, or they worked as governesses or companions to old ladies.

Women, however, wanted to be self-sufficient.  For this, they needed education and the right to participate in decision making. Many activists came forward to raise these questions. They also struggled for equality on political, social and economic grounds. This paper also highlights the efforts of the women philosophers and novelists who contributed to the struggle of women’s freedom.

This academic paper attempts to explore and expose the constant forces that mold the Indian Muslim widows into weaker, voiceless shadows. A need of pragmatic shift in our perception towards the Muslim Widows of India is heightened by the witness of conspicuous absence of scholarly writings concerning this.  This paper deconstructs and displays the subjugation by hegemonic forces and oppressive patriarchal politics that leads to the  ghettoization, oppression, and exploitation of Mus=6lim widows in India.

This dissertation enquires and examines the social rituals especially that of Muslim culture which exacerbates the lamentable condition of its women. It exposes the grief of widowhood wherein the loss of husband  intensified by financial problems, social exclusion, debts and loan taken by husband, torture by in laws, humiliation, religious obligations, is captured. This paper is based on interviews of different caste and economic class of Muslim widows.

India is home to around 46  million widows but how they are treated in India is not at all homely. India observes 23^rd June as Widow’s day which is symbolically as forgotten as the widows of India. Muslims are a minority in India and widows in the very Muslim community. but, the worst of imaginable conditions will not end on Muslim widows because child Muslim widows is yet another frequently observed creatures in India in the 21^st century who will be considered, at least here.

New economic reforms of 1991 led to the unprecedented growth of satellite television. With it, there was a change in the portrayal of women in television soap operas. A woman’s body was not just the site of violence, abuse, and othering, but it also became a locale for constructing modernity. The processes of globalization and modernization gave women greater opportunities and significantly challenged the existing patriarchal norms. The globalized media offered new role models and altered gender relations in society as women started entering the public sphere. However, it had its negative consequences owing to the increase in structural inequalities in the society and the portrayal of the modern ‘new Indian woman’ which did little to liberate women, fostering patriarchy. This paper aims to analyze the impact of liberalization on the representation of women in Indian TV soaps from 1990-2000 and the ways in which the popular television soaps disposed of the liberated characters of women and brought the traditional patriarchal and cultural values in the framework of global consumerism.

This paper goes to look at the impact of urbanisation on slums women. The phrase “subaltern urbanisation”, at one level, is probably, best seen as a literary device to focus attention on our space of enquiry, to extend the likelihood of discursive engagement, arguably in the tradition of another such phrase, viz, “global city”. This paper deals with the expertise of ladies and women living in slum communities in cities and domestic violence on these women particularly in Aligarh city. This study makes the project work all totally different from alternative as because the woman and girls share their personal struggles and experiences which they long faced, and still facing once they migrated from their native places to the slums of Aligarh, this shows the loopholes within the urban growth. However, this article is concerned with the limits of and alternatives of subaltern urbanism. Here, this analysis talks about the methodology of the work, realities behind the migration of woman and also the harsh realities they face in urban areas slums, which incident of violence against women and what attract women to the cities.” This report based on the research work which shows that how the women are subaltern in their families and the society simultaneously. First, I might wish to give thanks to those women who share their personal life experiences and I would also like to thank my friends who always being there with me during my survey and at the time of interview which helped me a lot in my task.

This paper identifies a peculiar observation that top Google search queries about any famous personality nearly always include a query related to their spouse. The paper uses data (from Google Trends) to highlight findings about this phenomenon Worldwide, and specifically in India. The paper then analyses why people search for these terms using various theoretical frameworks. The paper concludes that the principle of Literary Darwinism, coupled with the theory of role models and anti-role models holds, and leads us to search for people’s partners for an illusion of intimacy.

Risk perception is a primary motive to change a behavior, and the greater the perceived threat, the more likely an individual will change his/her behavior.  Physicians and metabolic experts need to understand the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of obese and pre-obese individuals so that the factors that support an obesogenic environment can be addressed adequately. Non-Experimental Descriptive Design was taken for this Cross-sectional study. Random Sampling of 45 college-going students in the age group of 19 to 26 years old was done. Pretested and standardized questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondent, which was administered before and after the nutrition counseling session; thereafter the responses were collected and compared for differences. The study resulted in a significant change post nutrition counseling especially in terms of Knowledge and Attitude. It was concluded that more and more nutrition counseling sessions must be held among young people to deter the risk of development of NCD like Obesity.

The malevolent effect of using non-biodegradable sanitary products is either not known or impetuously ignored by all. V-Hug is an initiative to draw more attention to this subject via an informative website used in data collection. The intent of the research being mapping who all intend to switch to moderately lower polluting options, who aren’t aware of it playing a role in befouling or what is restricting them from switching. Scrutinizing all the aspects of all products available in retail, mentioning aspects like cost, efficacy and impact. An analysis of all the factors leading to women choosing unhygienic and dangerous choices.