Response Paper

On
Gender Myths that Instrumentalise Women: A View from the Indian
Frontline by Srilatha Batliwala and Deepa Dhanraj
Other Readings Referred1. Changing Men: Challenging Stereotypes. Reflections on Working with Men
on Gender Issues in India.
2. Tarabhai Shinde-Stri Purush Tulana
Kashika Madaan
MAD15109
Section 4
Myth stands for not true and this article about gender myths is concerned with
the falsity of the facts or stylized facts which are nurtured with statistical data,
quotes or case studies. Gender has been foundational concept in order to
redefine development interventions and in order to mainstream the gender in
the course of development. Gender has become a buzzword in the development
frameworks and has become something for which every aid organization tries to
work for. The rich body of work highlights the policy friendly stories and
legitimizes different types of interventions. Women empowerment is the
buzzword and todays development discourse is around this only. Women are
portrayed in the gender and the development policy as heroines of the way they
carry the burden of gender disadvantages and victims of work burden and male
oppression.
The definition of Women empowerment has changed from self-actualization and
mobilization to transfer of money. Policy directions are driven by believes than
facts. Bringing gender into mainstream requires practical approach. Batliwala
and Dhanraj in their paper talks about two myths wherein womens access to
economic resources and political power will lead to their overall empowerment.
The concept is more like adding women in the democratic spaces and providing
credit will solve the issue without addressing historically and culturally
embedded forms of disadvantage. Women are embraced by western countries
development policies by the instruments of microfinance and empowerment
approaches. The measures just usher women into politics without making parties
more responsible towards gender equality. Women friendly programmes will not
guarantee that there will be representation of women interests that is why this
measure is like shot in the dark. Women may lack experience in the political
sphere which will make them ineffective legislators who are easy to manipulate.
By getting access to economic resources through self-help groups leaves you
with no chance to challenge the current paradigm
Some women make their way to political agencies but those stories are also
overshadowed as women are installed by family or husbands and if they are
vocal about their rights they are considered troublesome. Even if women are

called for the Gram Sabhas as there are provisions in the policy but they little
say over there or those who are silent and submissive will be called for the
meetings. Enormous work burden which is born by women is not interpreted as
exploitation but efficiency by Government agencies. The idea that money which
will be earned by women will directly benefit the whole family is overly romantic.
Infact women are paid fewer wages in comparison to men because they are
considered to be weak. The biggest employment scheme MGNREGA also shows
the number of women got employed but not the base reality of exploitation. If
wives will be considered responsible for the household men concludes that there
contribution is not required and the ego clash also deteriorates their relationship
with their wives.
A bundle of concepts and tools need to be developed for the successful
implementation of schemes and there should be training organized for the
service providers in order to make them more gender sensitive. Micro-financing
most of the time leads to increase in suicide, violence and migration in order to
escape debts. Unequal wages, unequal access over resources is due to lack of
womens involvement in decision making process, strong patriarchal relations
and different religious beliefs.
The success is often measured in terms of numbers and there is no proper
monitoring mechanism to measure the success of the programs. Allocation of
budgets should not only cover basic needs but also open space for community
building process. Like Abhijit Das in his paper mentions about changing the roles
of men both within homes and outside. There is a need to emphasize the value
of the relationship of men with their wives, sisters, daughters or mothers. The
idea of gender equality should be located in the larger social justice framework
because the violence is located both within and outside the home and the time
boundary of three to five years is inadequate to show the change 1. Gender
should not be just seen as an issue of women and men but a concept to under
the power relation and hegemony. Capacity building is a critical approach for the
sustainable gender mainstreaming and the outcomes can be questioned with
respect to the ability of women to take up any work with risking their lives.
Logical Framework is the new tool to set the goals and measures accountability
but the real life situations are not taken into account. I do not agree with
Tarabhai Shinde in her writing on comparison of men and women and it is
extreme feminism. It is not true that women are all pure and wrong traits are
carried by men in the society. There are certain notions which are attached to
women like uncorrupted, honest and trustworthy but due to male domination and
lack of opportunities provides fewer opportunities for the corruption.
Monitoring the interventions for gender equality is a challenge as there are
intersectionalities of caste, class and gender. Gender gaps should be engaged in
project planning, implementation and evaluation not by just the numbers.
1 Changing Men: Challenging Stereotypes.Reflections on Working with Men on Gender
Issues in India-Abhijit Das and Satish K. Singh