This is about Gender Equality. And through this Presentation, I aim to establish that this is a shared responsibility of each and every individual to maintain the Equality amongst genders.

1. Gender Equality: A Shared Responsibility
Dr Neeti Singh
Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy and Religion,
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

2. Gender Equality as a GOAL
Because 1. Gender inequality is prevalent in our current societies. (A Fact, Do not
you notice?)
But, 2. Gender inequality is no longer being taken to be more beneficial for future
societies than gender equality. (A Realization, but how come!)
Therefore, we need a change in social structure. (Great! Set the goal: Goal 5 of 17
UN-SDGs)

3. Targets
5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including
trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitations.
5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation.
5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure,
and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as
nationally appropriate.
5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of
decision-making in political, economic, and public life.
5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance
with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing
Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.

4. Gender Discrimination
1. Meaning: Discrimination only on the basis of gender, other
factors being equal.
2. Justification: It is justified because gender is a fundamental
difference.
3. Clarification: No, Gender is a socio-cultural construct.
“One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.” ---Simon de Beauvoir

5. Biological Differences do not matter
● What about the biological differences between males and females?
Does not it determine the location, roles, and functions of social
creatures in society?
● It did in the evolutionary history of society, but it explains merely how
it all evolved in this way. Human societies are not only the result of
biological evolutionary forces, it is consciously formed by the infusion
of characteristics specific to humans in biologically evolved groups of
sapiens.

6. Human Societies
Human societies are formed on the values of respect for others, for differences,
understanding, and things like that.
In a sense, human societies have not only room for reform but always prefer
constant reform.
We welcome the reformation of society whenever we realize that there is a need.
Human Societies are constituted by humans, but human beings are not all same-
gender: historically, men are the first sex, women are the second sex, recently
LGBTQ+ is getting recognition as genders different from the previous two.

7. Private and Public Sphere
Human beings were supposed to live in two spheres: private and public.
In the public sphere, we interact and work with the other units of the society for the
betterment of the things which we don’t enjoy personal rights over.
In the private sphere, we are supposed to do things which we can enjoy personal rights
over.
It is not difficult to see that in a true sense, the public sphere is the aspect of human
life that forms society.
For long, this public sphere was not open for a woman, for which there were many
reasons, like the rule by physically strong, etc.

8. Social Upliftment: From rule by Force to rule by Reason
● "Knowledge is power". --- Sir Francis Bacon
● The supposition that each human being, including woman, has the capacity to
know and understand things, opened doors for equal treatment of each human
being.
● But a long history of the kind of treatment women received made the self-
perception of women solidified as exactly how she lived for long.
○ Tragic is the self-perception of woman herself.---Beauvoir
● Universal suffrage, the politicization of the private sphere, and similar movements
brought women forward in the social scene. But, it is still not the case that we can
appreciate our societies for giving equal recognition, respect, treatment, and
opportunity without any consideration of gender.

9. John Stuart Mill's stand on Gender Equality
● The Subjection of Women is an essay by philosopher and political economist
John Stuart Mill. Mill argues in favor of legal and social equality between men
and women. He writes that ‘the legal subordination of one sex to the other’ is
‘wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement’
(1869, p. 1).
Nature versus nurture
● It was widely believed that women were more emotional than rational, and did
not have the intellectual capabilities of men. Mill argues that if women seem
emotional, passive, and apolitical, it is because they have been brought up to
be so.

10. Postmodernism and Plurality
Postmodernism gave women an opportunity to redefine and reclaim themselves, as it
deconstructed the ideals of modernism, like reliance on reason and aiming for truth, etc.
The woman started to strive for her place in society, but in many different ways:
1. One section held the view that we should take over the work and positions which are
respected and paid by society and predominantly associated with men.
2. The other section wanted to push forward what it had become through long historical training
as their identities and sought for gaining respect for that.
3. Some sections of the women revolted against all forms of men’s patterns.
4. Also, there are some who propose that as male patterns of society are deconstructed and in
a sense have failed, we need to redesign our society on the basis of feminist values.

11. From abalā nārī (weak women) to empowered women
1. Change in perception: See that each gender constitutes human society and
the gender which is weak in the society makes that society comparatively
weaker than the society in which all sections/genders are empowered.
2. Cultural Reform: Recognition and Respect as a person, not as a particular
gender.
3. Institutional/structural reform: to ensure equal opportunity, equal pay, etc.
4. Let them get organized socially and politically which might help them define
their identity, roles, and functions as a part of society.

12. Metaphysical/Spiritual Equality is of No Value
“Soul is not gendered” kind of metaphysical equality of each soul won’t do.
Because, the problem is social, not metaphysical.
In Indian philosophical tradition, it is accepted that the self is not gendered, so there is
no question of gender inequality but this notion is not going to help us in practical life.
Nancy Fraser gave the slogan of Recognition, Representation and Redistribution.
"HeForShe“ initiated by UN.
"Feminism for Men"