Celebration of Women’s Day: The Gender Biases in Higher Educational Institutions

"Excuse Me!!! Nowadays guys are mature. Educated youth treat women as equals…If you still talk about harassments, it is a big lie! You are trying to whip up passion". This is the typical response when somebody tries to expose the not-so-progressive minds of the so-called progressive, educated men. It is widely believed that education can make people gender sensitive. However, we are losing faith in this argument. Kerala despite its high level of literacy and educational standards maintains one of the worst records in crimes against women. Sexual harassments and discrimination in higher educational centres are not much less compared to that of other public spaces. Women's achievements are de-legitimised even in academic circles. It was in the light of increasing incidences of atrocities against women in work spaces that the Supreme Court laid down the guidelines for setting up Anti-Sexual Harassment Cells.

 

Here I am trying to analyse the responses of post-graduate students to a women's day celebration in the University campus. It also throws light on the caste divisions & conflicts among women that surfaced while organising the event. The modus operandi was to put up some blank chart papers in almost every part of the campus—in front of department offices, on hostel notice boards and on the walls of tea shops and shopping complexes. The students were invited to write their frank opinions and wishes about the coming event on these opinion boards. The experiment of course re-enforced the fact that even higher educational centres, are not free from the attitudinal bias against women.

Motivation for the Experiment

Two years of stay in the campus had created a feeling that there was something unusually strange in the attitude of the scholars to women's issues. We found it strange that this attitude prevailed in a centre of learning inhabited by the so-called highly educated, knowledgeable research scholars. The University has many a story to tell about women's movements in the campus. It has the dubious distinction of having scuttled a bill for women's representation in the Students' Union, though, in almost all the co-educational institutions one seat is reserved for the women. The bill could not be passed because women groups asked for important posts and also because they brought up the issue of rotational reservation for dalit women. The acrimonious debate in the Students' General Body which discussed the bill was in fact, a revelation. We heard some learned men shouting, "Let them sit in the kitchen; allowing them to study here itself is a charity". Following the failure of the bill, the chauvinistic group in the campus put up a woman candidate of their own to the post of Arts Club Secretary and made her win the elections, in order to prove to the sceptics that women can actually win the elections without the ladder of women's reservation. In fact, they proved to the society the might of their ego, which allows only those subservient women, who accept and acknowledge their supremacy, to function in the Students' Union. Women's entry into politics, most of the time, takes this lacklustre route as proved in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. In the Students' Union Elections never ever a woman candidate won a post other than as Arts Club Secretary. Anyway, the debates that occurred in connection with the discussion of the bill made some of us skeptical about our own hopes of qualified women winning elections independently, without the ladder of reservation. It also exploded the myth that educated men are generous and would present their reservations only in a democratic manner, because, every woman who spoke in the general body meeting in favour of reservation was greeted with howls and catcalls.

 

Two years later we wanted to have a one-day seminar on women's issues in general, along with film screening and cultural programmes. But Students' Union, a zero percent female represented Union, rejected our demand for funds outright. However, the university administration, floating on funds for such projects, readily granted twice the amount we asked for and directed the Students' Union to handover the sum, which would be reimbursed to their account later. The attitude of the Students' Union was reflected on the T-shirt worn by one of their representatives from whom we collected the sanctioned amount. It was, apparently, made specially for the occasion and flaunted the words: "I want a woman who can wash my clothes; can cook food for me; will be at home when I come back tired…" Those who were interested could send the application to his e-mail address, which was given at the back of his T-shirt. We still, are not very sure about what prompted him to this wild antic. But this T-shirt gave us the idea of putting up an opinion board.

 

The Responses-an Analysis

The boards filled up much faster than we expected—in fact, it took only a few minutes in some places. The immediate response to holding a celebration, as found expression in the boards, was "Why should there be a women's day? What about the remaining 364 days? Perhaps every bitch has a day" This response was echoed even from the Ladies hostels, in a more or less similar fashion. The architects of this response did not seem to have understood the idea behind dedicating a certain day to a particular cause. This was to take stock of the situation; it was to remind us of the gap between promises and achievements in the previous accounting periods.

 

In some responses there was an exhortation to the campus community to observe women's day as "black day" because "the more the lady shouts, the more the world cries" and "proactive women are not good for the society". Some responses sounded completely negative like, "shoes should be in the right place". There was a complete de-legitimisation of a woman's ability when a wily fellow drew the crude picture of a pregnant woman, below which was written, "what men cannot do, women can do". One remark went like this; "you want to celebrate women's day because you think you are oppressed and need special attention". The question that comes up here is, if women think they are not oppressed will the oppression disappear? Is the way out from oppression, is to feel there is no oppression? The response seemed to have suggested so.

 

Soon after the opinion boards were placed, the organisers of the event were branded as feminists, though none of them were actually working in the area of women's issues. Anyway, the title feminist was not used as a compliment. The word feminist was used in a derogatory sense everywhere inside the campus. Those who dared to ask questions were branded as feminists and were alienated almost completely. The title, "feminist" seemed to have created a kind of fear in the minds of campus folks including 'modern', 'urban' girls. Interestingly, some men also claimed themselves to be strong feminists as they were very much 'concerned' about women. Many used the term "pseudo feminist" to refer to those who stood for women's cause. There was not even a single feminist in the campus; all were alleged to be pseudo feminists. It is strange to notice how society uses words of empowerment itself to denigrate and disempower the same cause.

 

The scribbling revealed what many understood by the term feminist. It showed how patriarchy wanted the meaning of feminism to be understood. One in fact wrote, "Sex is everything for them". The opinion boards were filled with definitions like 'feminists are good for sex, not for marriage", "feminists are bloodsuckers, poisonous snakes and the biggest headache for men" etc. Their thesis regarding the origin of feminism was that "lack of social relations, isolation and sexual frustration lead to feminism".

 

The graffiti showed that the very act of coming together and holding a seminar on gender issues created a kind of sexual fear in the minds of men. This frustration and fear of their sexual supremacy being challenged were reflected in the comment "woman even when she reaches heights, at one point she should sleep under a man [sic]". Some sighed, "I hope God will save the men who are going to marry feminists". The organisers of the event were convicted for the crime of being feminists and/ or immoral women, who did not care for the rich Bharatiya tradition. They were asked to respect men, not to misuse the respect given to them, to follow Indian culture and be like Sita. There were earnest requests not to beat their husbands. The organisers were requested to "form association to show their virgin power" rather than indulge in such activities as the present one. Quite often feminists were portrayed as those having scant respect for virginity. The repeated reference to virginity and projection of feminists as immoral women show the real blow to an assertion of rights by women. Why does the negotiation for an equal space invite a sexually toned response? This is another strategy to alienate, ostracise and stigmatise those who assert their rights in order to prevent other women from joining the group. This is a powerful way of de-legitimising a cause.

 

An article on this issue would be incomplete without reference to the responses from the ladies' side. The typical response, "the purpose of a woman's life is to give birth to a baby and be a mother" had thankfully, many replies around it. There were observations like "a woman gives her heart and soul to her family and what she wants in return is only love and care". The linguistic route to acknowledge the superiority of man was presented in the argument, "a woman is complete only with a man". All these responses point to the patriarchal mode of thinking still prevalent among educated women, from which they have not come out. This built-in patriarchal mode of thinking among fellow women is another obstacle progressive women face on their way to freedom. Women themselves gave hushed warnings to those who break free from the traditions of tolerance and from the holy duty of upholding the morale and pride of the society. For instance, one wrote "My dad says, look at your mom! You don't have to run after ideals. Somewhere, I know, it is true". Remaining as an ideal woman, as the ever-tolerant-obedient mother ensures the continuity of the traditions. Every woman is asked to harbour this burden on her shoulders, to be like her mother or to remain in the past firmly rooted to the traditions. She is denied the present and the future. She is denied access to modernity in thoughts.

 

A special mention should be made about the caste divisions that surfaced during the organisation of this event. Upper caste women had been more visible and effective in asserting their rights first. But they conveniently overlooked the hurt feelings of fellow lower caste women. The conflict between an upper-caste woman and a dalit woman is not principally much different from that between a man and a woman. Opinion boards had many references to feminism as an offshoot of the 'elitist attitude' of upper caste women. The apprehension on the part of Dalit women that feminism is an upper caste extravaganza was visible when they declared themselves not to be a part of the function. However, later they joined hands and read out a declaration during the meeting in which they condemned the oppression on gender-lines as well as on caste lines and emphasised the need for coming together.

 

When the society is layered in many ways, any unidirectional attempt for establishing justice is futile. Any attempt to correct gender divisions should simultaneously correct the caste divisions too. However, these internal differences have been taken up as an excuse for non-cooperation to women's issues by the general crowd. An unfortunate development in the campuses all over India is that with affluence& with liberalisation many have turned hostile to issues of gender and caste discrimination, all in the name of efficiency- a concept which ironically has its root in the social and historical upbringing of the individual. In general, the student community has become more indifferent to such issues despite the show of apparent modernism.

 

Consequences and Events that Followed –The ASHC

The free and frank views were aired only because the scribblers never knew what the organisers were planning to do with their responses. The exhibition of the responses inside the meeting hall turned out as an authentic record of the general attitude of the scholars in the campus for those who always disbelieved it. Once the myth that academic spaces are free from sexual harassment was exploded, it was easy to set up and activate a committee on Anti- sexual harassments [ASHC], when an issue came up. The highest form of desecration of the female body happened when some students put up a poster on the day of holi describing the body parts of certain women in the campus. The success of this case brought in its wake many similar cases into the otherwise peaceful setting of the campus like e-mail harassment [sending e-mails full of obscene and sexual comments] sexual harassment cases against research guides etc. Later on we heard ASHC also lost its credibility.

 

So let us not be under any illusion that higher educational centres are free of harassments. As Nabneeta Dev Sen remarked, "In the women folk tradition in India, never mind where you are, which century you belong to, or what language you speak to, you are all sisters in sorrow". There has been an ever-deepening tension between the forces that wanted to see patriarchy perpetuating itself and those who wanted to break free. University campuses are not exceptional.

 

However, these oppositions will only intensify the movement. In our experiment, many girls who wrote, on the first day of the opinion board, about women's day celebration as an unnecessary act of creating tension changed their views toward the end of the session. As my friend Shalini, probably after being fed up with the posted opinions on the board wrote on it,

 

"Today I said something of my own.

But why are you looking at me

Like a stranger?

Yes! I did it deliberately!

I ran away from your kingdom.

I was your echo and shadow.

You gave me a vocabulary,

To remind, when you forget the words.

Today I heard my voice,

Saw my image…

Do you think I am alone?

I hear the murmurs and footsteps,

Outside the gate.

I'm joining them!..."

 

This is not an isolated opinion. More and more girls will come up and ask for their rights. They would come up and negotiate for equal space. Unless such expressions for justice and feelings of hurt are properly taken into account, a peaceful family or society will be a mirage, as is proved by the increasing number of divorces and sexual crimes. Hence there is no option left for the society except entering into dialogues and a proper redressal of her grievances. There lies the need for revamping bodies like ASHC. It is the duty of ASHC to make these women feel empowered. At the same time it should ensure that in course of time the "scare phenomenon" it has created would wane away for a friendly discourse.