Gendering of sex and its effects on women
- Part 3 -

ZK Pahrii Pou *

VII. Rape as a tool of domination :

Rape is not a crime which individual men commit against individual women. Rape keeps all women under terror, and thus keeps patriarchy stable. It denies women's freedom (mobility, dress, etc). Rape is the usual outfall of caste clashes and ethnic conflicts.

Rape is an outfall of every war; it points to the connections of the women's question with the question of peace and disarmament.

Rape of women has to be understood in the larger context of the rape of the earth, the ecological exploitation which deprives present and future generations of their livelihood. In most rape cases, unfortunately, the victim (woman) got the blame and not the rapist (man).

VIII. In Search of Equality :

The fight for women's equality is not one of women versus men, nor is the conflict between all women and all men. It is between belief systems and ideologies and those who want to maintain male domination on one hand and those who want equality on the other.

Most women and men try to avoid examining gender relations thinking that once the true nature of the man-woman relationship in our societies is made known then the family, the last island of peace and harmony, will be destroyed.

However, if we want to achieve gender equality, men and women everywhere must join hands and together create a world which is just and peaceful for all.

It is not possible for women in our societies to break out of the cages of patriarchal relations, unless the men begin in the same direction (a parallel movement of men towards family kitchens and homes and reduce the burden of women's reproductive work).

We need to fight for women's access to and ownership of resources. This will not only empower women to be independent economically and lessen oppression but also change the notion that holds "women as property". Each family must start to give equal treatment to both boys and girls in the family and also check gender division of labour.

The process of socialisation and gender indoctrination in the family and in the larger society needs to be sincerely addressed. Women should be encouraged to keep informing to others about domestic violence. This will help the woman concerned and others who undergo such problem.

Assigning of different values to man and woman simply because of one's sex should be challenged. We must critically examine gender relations in our society and bring change for the betterment of our society.

Concluded....