It's a shame that we are still debating and negotiating the meagre incentives given to working women to do a dual job of handling both family and an organisation's profile. It is high time that we recognise the social business of women as real business and value their difference
During a discussion on gender equality, some of my female students asked me: “Is it fair and equal for women to be paid when she’s not working during her maternity breakIJ Concomitantly, should there be a period leaveIJ”
Their self-doubt did not surprise me. First, the still largely patriarchal society and economy have failed to acknowledge the very vital domestic work of women that contribute to the foundation of culture, political and social building.
Second, women have been conditioned in such a way that they are made to accept that the ownership of families solely belongs to them and no one else has a share or stake in it.
So, the unquantifiable social investment by her in terms of giving, tending and caring tend to become a part of her natural work. And for this ‘home-work’, leave about appraisals, she is even belittled by society and also by the very fair and rational institutions of the Government by concluding her as a non-productive, non-working individual.
Data by the United Nation on women says that they do at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men that has unfortunately gone unnoticed.
So, a woman on maternity leave, on a particular profile for a particular period, might be out of a job but she is in no way out of work. Rather, she dedicates longer and strenuous working hours and sacrifices her social life, leisure and hobbies and her career ambitions to fulfill a larger role of and for the society and the nation that is of nurturing a valuable social capital.
It takes great courage and endurance for a mother to spend her young years in raising a family that ultimately categorises her as a ‘stay at home mom’. On top of that, frequent comparisons and reminders about working mothers further add to her insult as it shames her that being just a mother is no useful work unless she brings in home some money and happily parts with it for the sake of her family. Work from home is much appreciated than work of home.
It’s a sad reality of a consumerist world that the success of an individual is measured prominently by its economic status whereas social prosperity in terms of good health, education and strong value system are sidelined.
A society is doomed to fall and ultimately fail if the generations will grow up as weak, morally vacuous and disintegrated beings.
The argument here is not to preserve traditional roles of women. It is to recognise and value the ‘home-work’ of women. It is not about
gender equality. It is about standing proud of being gender different.
Gender equality has become an anachronistic concept as it arose when women were denied and henceforth, deprived of equal opportunities like voting rights, education and political participation. The first and second wave of feminism in the 19th and 20th century brought in the hard-fought equal political, legal and social rights.
Today, when the Constitution has recognised equal rights for women, there is still rampant discrimination in accessing equal opportunities. For instance, unequal pay for equal work, sexual harassment at workplace and unrecognised household work.
Therefore, gender equality is an insufficient concept to celebrate womanhood. Rather, it superiorises the male sex and pushes the marginalised women to advance herself up to the level of men.
The result is that the emancipation of a woman gets defined in terms of patriarchal concepts of income, wealth and incentives. This is itself unjust and unequal. We are not equal to men and do not intend to be.
Our work creates a different social value that needs to be respected and recognised. Michael Walzer in his work Complex Equality said that equality for different spheres is to be measured differently. Equalising things under a single sphere creates further inequalities.
The world rose to a roaring applause when Manushi Chillar said on the Miss World stage that motherhood should be the highest paying profession. And it’s a shame that we in this postmodern 21st century are still debating and negotiating on the meagre incentives given to working women to do a dual job of competently handling both family and an organisation’s profile.
It is high time that we recognise the social business of women as real business and value their difference. We are not just gender equal, we are gender different. And mothers are never out of work.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi)