Haryana State Board HBSE 10th Class Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste Notes
Haryana Board 10th Class Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste
There are three kinds of social differences that can take the form of social divisions and inequalities. These social differences are based on gender, religion and caste.
→ Gender and Politics
- Gender is a form of hierarchical social division which is present everywhere. But is rarely given importance in the study of politics.
- The gender division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable.
- Women do all work inside the home and men do all work outside the home. This is known as ‘Sexual Division of Labour’.
- Men think that it is for women to attend to household work, however, when these jobs are paid for, men are ready to take these up as occupations.
- In the same way, a majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour.
- In most of the societies, women’s role in politics is minimal.
- Through Feminist Movements, women demanded equal rights in various fiells.
- Political expression of gender division and political mobilisation on this question helped to improve women’s role in public life.
- In Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high.
- India is still a male-dominated ‘Patriarchal Society’.
- Indian women face discrimination and oppression in the following ways:
(i) The literacy rate among women is only 6546 per cent compared to 82 14 per cent among men.
(ii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small.
(iii) Inspite of ‘Equal Remuneration Act’, women are paid less than men for equal work.
(iv) In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons. - Women are facing various kinds of harassment, exploitation and violence. In Urban areas they are facing domestic violence.
Class 10th Chapter 4 Civics Notes HBSE
→ Women’s Political Representation
- According to Feminists, unless women control power, their problems will not get adequate attention.
- In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low. For example, in Lok Sabha, it is not even 14.36 per cent of its total strength. In the state assemblies, it is less than 5 per cent.
- In thi8 respect, India is behind the averages of several developing countries of Latin America and Africa.
- There should be a legal provision for having a fair proportion of women in the elected bodies.
- In India, it is done through Panchayati Raj.
- One-third of seats in local government bodies, in Panchayats and Municipalities, are now reserved for women.
- Women’s organisations and activists have been demanding a similar reservation of at least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women.
- In this regard, a bill is pending before the Parliament for a long time.
→ Religion, Communalism and Politics
- Religious diversity is not universal, but it is also fairly widespread.
- Many countries like India, not only have different religions but the people of same religion can also have social differences.
- Unlike gender differences, the religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics.
- Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics.
- Most of the victims of communal riots in India are from religious minorities.
- Women’s movement demanded that the ‘Family Laws’ of all religions should be changed. Ideas, ideals and values drawn from different
- religions can play an important role in politics. Political acts are not wrong, as far as they treat every religion equally.
Gender Religion And Caste Class 10 Notes HBSE
→ Communalism
- The problem of communalism occurs when beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions.
- This also happens when state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest.
- Communalism can take various forms in politics:
(i) In everyday life, we see religious prejudices and the superiority of one religion over other religions.
(ii) A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community.
(iii) Political mobilisation on religious lines, like the use of sacred symbols and religious leaders.
(iv) Communal violence, riots and massacre.
→ Secular State
- Communalism was a major challenge to our country. That’s why our Constitution makers chose the model of a secular state:
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian state.
(ii) Every citizen has the freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on religious grounds.
(iv) To ensure equality within religious communities, the constitution has banned the act of untouchability.
→ Caste and Politics
- Like gender and religion, caste in political arena, also has positive as well as negative aspects.
Notes Of Gender Religion And Caste HBSE 10th Class
→ Caste Inequalities
- In caste system, hereditary occupational division was sanctioned by rituals.
- Caste system was based on discrimination against the ‘outcaste groups’.
- Political leaders and social reformers like Mahatma Gandhi, Jyotiba Phule, B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami Naicker, advocated and worked to establish a society based on caste equalities.
- The old notions of ’Cast Hierarchy’ are breaking due to economic development, urbanization, growth of literacy and occupational mobility.
- The Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination. Yet, caste discrimination has not disappeared from contemporary India.
→ Caste in Politics
- Political parties choose their candidates for elections, keeping in mind the caste composition of the electorate. The governments are formed by giving representation to different castes.
- During elections, political parties make appeals to caste sentiments to muster the necessary votes.
- No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So, every party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste to win the elections.
- But, it has been seen that the voters have strong attachment to political parties, which is often stronger than their attachment to their caste.
Class 10 Gender Religion And Caste Notes HBSE
→ Politics in Caste
- Politics too influences the caste system. Each caste group tries to dominate another group. ® Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes.
- New caste groups, such as ‘backward1 and ‘forward’ have come up in the political arena.
- Caste politics has helped in the upliftment of Dalits and OBC castes.
- It is true that exclusive attention towards a single caste can produce negative results. Social and Religious Diversities of India
- The census of India records the religion of the population in every ten years.
- The present population proportion of six major religious groups in the country show, that since independence, the total population of each
group has increased, but their proportion in the country’s population has not changed much. - Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) population together account for about two-thirds of the country’s population.
Class 10 Chapter 4 Civics Notes HBSE
→ Caste Inequality Today
- Caste is an important source of economic inequality because it regulates access to resources of various kinds.
→ Important Tems:
1. Stereotype: An image or idea of a particular type of person or thing that has become fixed because of being being widely held.
2. Sexual Division of Labour: A system, in which all work inside the home is either done by the women of the family or organised by them through the domestic helpers.
3. Feminist: A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
4. Patriarchy: A form of social organisation in which the eldest male is the head of the family.
5. Child Sex Ratio: The number of girl children per thousand boys in a given period.
6. Gender Division: It is a form of hierarchical social division, based on social expectations and stereotypes.
Class 10th Civics Chapter 4 Notes HBSE
7. Family Laws: The laws that deal with family-related matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, etc. In our country, different family laws apply to followers of different religions.
8. Communal Politics: Politics based on the principle that one religion is superior to other religions.
9. Communalism: Communalism means to distinguish people on the basis of religion, and to treat people belonging to one’s own religion as friends and others, as enemies.
10. Prejudice: An unreasonable dislike or preference for a person, group, custom, etc. especially when it is based on their race, religion, sex, etc.
11. Majoritarian Dominance: The system of government, in which all decisions are taken by the people who are in majority without caring for the wishes, sentiments or interests of the minorities.
12. Secular State: A state which does not have any official religion. All religions are equal in its eyes.
13. Secularism: A belief, that religion should not be involved in the organisation of society.
14. Dalits: The Scheduled Castes (SCs) are commonly known as Dalits in India.
15. Adivasis: The Scheduled Tribes (STs) are known as Adivasis.
16. Urbanisation: Shift of population from rural areas to urban areas.
17. Occupational Mobility: Shifting from one occupation to another, usually when a new generation takes up occupations other than those practised by their ancestors.
Civics Gender Religion And Caste Notes HBSE 10th Class
18. Caste Hierarchy: A ladder-like formation in which, all the caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest castes.
19. Casteism: Casteism is the hereditary system of occupation, political power, endogamy, social culture and social class. In casteism, the assignment of individuals to places in social hierarchy is determined by social groups and cultural heritage.
20. Electorate: All the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election.
21. Universal Adult Franchise: It means that all citizens whose age is above 18 years, have the right to vote.