Gender equality and women's rights

I've been re-reading some Gandhi quotes from a beautiful book I picked up many moons ago in Mumbai, and two in particular caught my eye, both on gender equality and women's rights. They got me thinking - Here they are with a bit of my own analysis and thoughts (Both quotes are directly reproduced but italics are my own in order to highlight particular points):

"I am uncompromising in the matter of women's rights. In my opinion she should labour under no legal disability not suffered by men. I should treat the daughters and sons on a footing of perfect equality. 

Equality of sexes does not mean equality of occupations. There may be no legal bar against a woman hunting or wielding a lance. But she instinctively recoils from a function that belongs to man. Nature has created sexes as complements of each other. Their functions are defined as are their forms." - M.K Gandhi

In this, Gandhi clearly separates out the 'roles' of men and women and seems to say that it is correct that they should differ due to physical differences between the bodies of males and females, going so far as to say that women 'recoil' from a male 'roles'. He puts this down to instinct. Given that functions and occupations are so caught up in who we are as people, I wonder how gendered roles can co-exist with equality and the upholding of women's rights ....I maintain that they cannot.

Here's the second:
"Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity to me, the female sex, not the weaker sex. It is the nobler of the two, for it is even today the embodiment of sacrifice, silent suffering, humility, faith and knowledge.

Women must cease to consider herself the object of man's lust. The remedy is more in her hands than man's. She must refuse to adorn herself for men, including her husband, if she will be an equal partner with man." - M.K Gandhi

I feel the second quote is particularly at odds with his 'uncompromising' stance on women's rights. He writes that to stop themselves from experiencing abuse at the hands of men, it is the women that must change so that they are no longer attractive to men. It's the word consider that immediately jumped out to me as it sounds like what he is saying that because women see themselves as beautiful, sexy, etc, or go to lengths to make themselves so, then men are more likely to violate them, thus removing any male ownership on such matters.

Sounds like the age old argument to me...and it seems that not much has changed. Still, we seem to be stuck in a society where the general public thinks that women wearing tight/short skirts/low cut tops are to blame for being raped or attracting unwanted attention (take a look at everyday sexism). Many of the old misconceptions still stand - read this article from the Daily Mail.

Only will real equality exist when everyone, whatever your sex, takes responsibility for their actions and for eliminating all of this folklore - gendered roles, blame culture... Maybe then we can all say we are uncompromising on women's rights. Until then, we live in hope - I certainly do. At the end of the day, it's in all of our favour.

I have a voice...

Last week I went to my first ever protest (what is SOAS doing to me?!). It was to call for justice for Jyoti, the young woman who was raped and killed in India in December. I have always toyed with the idea of attending the various marches and protests that we are lucky enough to have in London, but have never made it, not really feeling comfortable and wondering what the real reason for me going was. But when I saw that a protest had been organised here against this rape in Delhi, I knew that I couldn't not go. I wanted to support my friends in India, letting them know that we are doing all we can to help put pressure on the government, but most importantly to stand in solidarity with all women to fight against these violent crimes.

At the protest I had a feeling that I don't think I've ever felt before - standing in the freezing cold with hundreds of women (and men I should add), shouting and singing for the same cause - I realised I had a voice. Not to say that I haven't ever felt like I could express my opinions before (I do it on a frequent basis!), but this was something different, this was collective action and I felt the amazing power of that. I now understand why public protests have been so important in history, especially in women's history, from the suffragette movement that helped to get women the vote here in the UK to the 'Reclaim the night' movement that I believe spans 3-4 decades. The Guardian has a great photo story on protests here

The protest was to call for the Indian government to ensure that more is done to protect women and to bring justice, but it was more than that. It reminded us that we still live in a culture where rape and sexual assault are blamed on women and the clothes they wear and one where these horrific crimes more often than not go unpunished, highlighted this week, by the front page of the Independent on Friday talking about the terribly low conviction rate of sexual offenders in the UK.

This is something I care about, and at this protest I discovered that I have a voice, something that no-one can  take away from me - I intend to use it to the best of my ability. We all have a voice, so speak out about something that matters to you. I would also very much recommend for everyone to go to a protest (no, not a riot) happening near you, let's face it there's a lot going on with the 'cuts' government that are in power!
B x

And to finish with, here's some of my favourite pictures from the protest:

We do have a choice.....water and the hosepipe ban

It’s official, the hosepipe ban is on. I remember when I was younger, much younger, I never really understood the significance of a hosepipe ban – water was just that thing that came out of the tap. Obviously I wasn’t that naïve and I understood that it didn’t just appear there – just checking….but still, I never thought of water as a luxury, it was just part of my everyday life. You know how it is, spend 15 minutes in the shower in the morning, leave the tap on while brushing your teeth or doing the washing up, never imagine that I would be met with nothing when opening the tap to have a drink of water….not anymore.

When I was India (yeah sorry I’m still on that for those who are getting fed up of hearing my “well in India” catchphrase – it’s not over!) I met women who told me that they had access to water for 2-3 months every year. For many parts of the world, access to water is a real issue, and that’s without even thinking about clean and safe drinking water. Now this is WAY more severe than a hosepipe ban out of choice – this is mandatory, but not mandatory because the government said so. The water is just not there in their communities. Women I met and spent time with told stories of having to survive with one bucket of water for a family of 8-10 people for weeks on end and fight erupting at the water pump every morning (fuel strike carnage anyone? But you can do without your car for a day or two right..). And you know what, unfortunately, it’s just a way of life from them, yes they are upset about their lack of water access, however they don’t expect it to ever change (apart from maybe getting worse with global warming) and somehow in the only way they know how they just get on with it without so much as a groan or moan.

I think this is a stark comparison with how we are dealing with our ‘drought’ condition here in parts of the UK. By the way, I don’t mean to take anything away from the severity of the matter… However, you only need to log on to The Guardian website to be met with a barrage of comments about the withdrawal of our rights to water our garden (in a lazy man way) – unless your terribly old and can’t use a watering can of course. I wonder if people ever think what it would be like to turn on the tap and for not even a drop of water to hit the bottom of the sink. Like many things on our planet, water is unfortunately not an infinite entity (like we think most stuff is) and it will not just go on and on – until some bad ass business man decides to create water. It’s part of our weather system, our ecosystem and it is there to play a part in creating and sustaining life, not to be wasted straight down the plug hole by us humans. I’m no saint, but the anger really rises up in me when I see people leaving taps on. This wastage and lack of respect for our natural resources is why we have a hosepipe ban and I want more people to spare a thought for those people who do not have water in such abundance as we do still.

I do have a test for you all – log onto Google. Type in ‘water shortage’ and see what comes up…………….

Unless the ads have changed because google weren’t making enough money, the first featured ad is for a WaterAid charity appeal, with the tagline – They have no choice. You do. I think there’s two ways of looking at this 1) they have no choice and you have a choice to give money to make a difference to their life, and 2) Unlike millions of people across the world, we are still in a position where we do have water that we can protect and preserve, so next time you turn on your tap, just have a think about what it would be like if that beautiful clear water didn’t come streaming out and you had to stand in a water rations queue every morning before work (you never know!)……let’s appreciate what we have and protect this natural resource. I for one will be cutting down on my shower time…. You do have a choice

Unemployed.....

Unemployment is at a 17 year high. Official figures released by the government this week state that there are 2.67 million people with the capacity to work and who are currently seeking a job, however are not in employment. However, as is aptly shown by an article on the Guardian, these figures do not represent to real state of the situation – actually there could be as many as 6.9 million people currently searching for a job. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/feb/16/unemployed-uk-how-many?INTCMP=SRCH

I am now a member of this large cohort of our population and to be honest it’s a scary, overwhelming and socially awkward situation. Since I was 16 I have never once been out of work and in fact at times I have been employed in 3-4 jobs. So to not be working is a new and very strange situation. I have forgotten how it feels not to be economically active but in a roundabout way I feel that I am getting a lot from it.

Firstly I have been awakened to how massive a task it is to search for a job outside London (or any of the other larger cities in the UK). I am now living in Norfolk and I have been left wondering how anyone survives outside of London. That’s probably a bit extreme, but as someone who is pursuing a career in the charity sector unfortunately it is the harsh reality of it. The only charity jobs in the area are voluntary roles working in the local charity shop. Yes I could maybe do worse, however with someone with ambition, experience and a growing skill set it’s not my dream occupation. Moving straight back to London is also pretty much out of the question because as a pretty recent graduate with no savings in the bank I just can’t afford it. Basically I am being pushed out of a sector that I am so committed and dedicated to because I can’t afford to work in it. Isn’t that strange. It’s also lead me to realise that in fact to work in the third sector you actually need to come from a well off background (or just be from London) – you need someone to support you while you are completing years of internships so that you have the experience to go and work in the sector.

In recent years we have all been encouraged to go to university and get a degree. However now I believe that this has left us with a) too many graduates and b) a very skewed workforce. There are too many people with the same qualifications and skill sets which has meant that for people my age it has become much harder to find a job appropriate to your level of learning (1 million of the unemployed are between the ages of 16-25). It has also meant that there are also jobs not being filled in other professions. While there are 2.67 million unemployed, we are told that there are thousands of jobs out there. However, if people are overqualified or just won’t do the job (because it is below them) then we are left with a massive problem.

Then you are left with the social stigma of being unemployed. I will readily admit that in the past I have had a good moan about unemployed people. I hadn’t looked below the surface, however now I have I understand that unemployed people are not all the same! Yes, there are people who will remain unemployed because they don’t want to get a job, but then who can blame them when they will have more money if they remain on the dole. But actually (and is becoming more common) there are people like me who, because of their financial situation (or a long list of other things) just cannot find an appropriate job. We can all say ‘well just do any job’, but we all know how hard that can be and there’s only so far you can stretch this statement before you are left feeling utterly miserable.

As an unemployed person I do feel that I am viewed negatively in society. Yesterday my mum and I went to look at the local leisure centre and I was totally embarrassed when she asked the receptionist if they have special discounts for unemployed people. I thought about why I was embarrassed, and it went straight back to my own thoughts in the past about unemployed people and to the stereotype that our own society casts on these people.

The unemployment stereotype is a very cruel one and is definitely not one we can apply to 2.67 million people. Unfortunately as we all know stereotypes stick, however my eyes have really been opened to the fact that we should all be fighting against them. At the end of the day (and while I wouldn’t want to wish it on anyone) we never know what is round the corner. Hopefully a job for me!