TRACKING THE TREND OF FREEDOM AND RESTRICTION ON WOMEN

INTRODUCTION

Diversity

Cultural diversity is increasingly a part of all of our lives. Urban, Suburban, and even
Rural areas are becoming more culturally diverse, and with increased globalization this
diversification will continue both in the interactions in our daily lives and in the broader
social structure. Most urban and suburban schools no longer teach only Christmas songs in
December, songs related to Hanukkah and kwanza are also brought into the classroom.
Decades ago, a white male entering the work force could be relatively sure that he would be
working with the white males in his career, this assumption no longer holds true. Culture has
a pervasive influence on the lives of individuals within it. Its reach extents from the more
obvious factors such as values and beliefs to the less obvious ones, such as non-verbal
behaviour and communication styles. Broadly speaking, the term culture refers to factors,
such as race and ethnicity, which exerts differential influence over the lives of individuals in
different groups. More specifically, culture may be defined as “a dynamic system of rules,
explicit or implicit, stabilised by groups in order to ensure their survival involving attitudes,
values, beliefs, norms and behaviour shared by a group but harboured differently by each
specific unit within the group, communicated across generations, relatively stable with the
potential to change across the time”. There are many aspects of culture, and these aspects can
result in many differences across group of people. For example, people from different
countries may sometimes be identified by the type of clothing they wear. Similarly, an
individual’s religion can sometimes be identified by how the person dresses such as with
some members of Amish and Islamic communities. Behavioural differences can also result
from culture.

Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy

The first large scale study of cultural diversity began during the 1960s, Geert Hofstede
was asked to survey the employees of a large multinational organisations. He collected data
from individuals in more 50 countries and realised that their work distinct patterns in the data
that reflected national cultures. Hofstede (2002) referred to these differences as the “software
of the mind” and defined culture as “the collective programming of the mind that distinguish
the members of one group of category of people from another”. In other words, humans are
born with the same biological brains, “the hardware”, but they learn to value different things
and the view the world differently based on the cultures in which they are raised the software.
More specifically, Hofstede used a statistical technique called factor analysis to derive four
dimensions of culture from his survey data: (Frank W. Schneider, 2012)

(I) Individualism and collectivism: while making any decision we tend to follow our
heart but sometimes we take our family’s or friend’s advice. The option that we
are going to opt still depend on us. The way in which individuals answer these
questions depends on Individualistic orientation or Collectivistic orientation. A
person with individualistic orientation, an idiocentric will follow his or her own
goals regardless of the opinions of the family or friends. On the other hand a
person with collectivistic orientation, an allocentric will end to see what is seen
best for the group, even if it is seen as giving personal goals.
Every person in a society reflects some values and preferences. Individualism and
collectivism refers to the values that society plays. In individualistic society,
social experiences are structured around individual whereas in collectivistic
society social experiences are structured around social groups. E.g. marriages in
western culture is viewed as the choice of the two individuals which is an
individualistic orientation , while in countries like India and Japan marriages are
traditionally arranged by the families of two individuals for their alliance.
The degree to which a person belongs to an individualistic or collectivistic culture
emphasized by the person’s attitudes and behaviors. For example: differences are
found in work behavior i.e. the intensity of jobs, efforts, how much person felt
himself or herself obligated for the company.
(II) Power distance: Power distance refers to the extent to which people in a society
accept inequalities based on social status, wealth, power, laws, and or physical
characteristics. In countries with high power distance, such as Malaysia,
Guatemala, the Philippines, and many Arab countries, it is normal to find
conformity among the people and to find that most power is held by a small group
of individuals with authoritarian values. In contrast, those in countries with low
power distance, such as New Zealand, Germany view individuals as essentially
equal. The inequality is accepted by every culture, where a person is accepted as
value oriented who has a high status in society. Power distance can be noted when
 people address each other in the society, as when they call a person by his sir
name that shows his great power distance. There is a strong link between power
distance and cultures, with high power distance relating with collectivism and low
power distance relating with individualism.

(III) Masculinity and femininity: the values differ on the basis of work goals. Hofstede
noted that work goals nearly universally indicate that women place higher values
on social goals whereas men plays higher values on ego goals that relate to money
and career. Individuals in cultures high in feminity are taught to value relationship
and harmony whereas in cultures high in masculinity are encouraged to emphasize
competition, advancement and recognition in job. Countries that encourage
masculinity differ in their values that are endorsed by men and women. Men plays
much stronger emphasis on competition, ambition and career goals rather than
women. Whereas in countries who encourage feminity there is no valuable
differences in values between men and women. In feminine countries both male
and female are expected to be modest and non-assertive.

(IV) Long and short term orientation: Hofstede research was carried out on individuals
of an organization namely IBM, and most of the survey questions were developed
from western culture perspectives. This classification of long and short term
orientation, in long term orientation emphasis is laid on persistence, thrift,
patience and harmony whereas in short term orientation emphasis is laid on short
term rewards and immediate gratification over long term consideration. Although
this taxonomy has laid lots of researches and provided a useful perspective for
understanding the effects of culture on values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.
The sample was taken from a multinational organization who were all working for
the same company and they do not necessarily representative of all the individuals
in a given culture. The taxonomy used by Hofstede has been successfully used to
explain a wide variety of difference across culture such as gender roles, workplace
stress, intellectual communication etc.

(V) Uncertainty avoidance: high level of uncertainty can lead to avoidance and stress.
Common ways of dealing with uncertainty can characterize cultures because each
society teaches that some ways of coping are more acceptable than others.
 Technology, religion, social customs and even family customs used to help cope
with uncertainty. Individuals beliefs varies as some “go with the flow” are often
willing to take certain amount of risk. On the other hand individuals from some
cultures feel threatened by uncertainty and to take risks becoming more careful
towards laws and avoid things.

Gender

Although many people use the term sex and gender to mean the same things, there is
actually a difference between them. The term sex refers ti the biological distinction of being a
male or a female whereas the term gender refers to the social or learned characteristics that
are associated with being a male or a female. Gender, unlike sex is the result of socio-cultural
influence throughout an individual’s development. Boys are moulded to become what society
considers to be masculine (e.g., independent, assertive) whereas girls are moulded to
become what society considers to be feminine (e.g., caring and dependable). Behaviours that
match these expectations are often associated with rewards (Robinson & Howard-Hamilton,
2000). While behaviours that violates these expectations are associated with costs (Good &
Sanchez, 2010).

An individual’s sex is often used as a primary sources of social categorisation or more

simply, as a way in which to place people into groups. From the beginning, babies are
wrapped in the colours of blanket that is matched with their sex- blue for boys and pink for
girls. Descriptors of behaviours are also often gender-typed from birth. For example, early
research by (Condry & Condry, 1976) found that when a male child cries, people will often
explain the behaviour saying that he is angry whereas when a female child cries, they will
often describe as frightened. This process continues as an individual grows into adulthood,
where descriptors are often still distributed differently based on sex. In fact, a well-known
study by William and Best (1982) not only demonstrated the adjectives were viewed as being
differently associated with men and women but also revealed that this happened with a
surprising amount of consistency across participants from the 30 countries represented in
their sample.

Men, for example, were more frequently associated with descriptors such as aggressive,
capable, and rational, whereas the women were more frequently associated with descriptors
such as affectionate, dependent and emotional.
The focus on differences and the ignoring of similarities have been the basis of much of the
feminist critiques of research on gender (Hyde, 1991).

One of the responses to difference between the sexes (whether real or perceived), or
to gender diversity, is sexism, that is differential and often detrimental treatment of a person
based on that person's sex. The term sexism likely brings to mind thoughts of negative or
demeaning attitudes toward woman. Negative comments, such as "a women place is in the
home" and "women are bad drivers", are frequently assumed to be the only way in which
sexism can be expressed. However, this is not the case. An article by Peter Glick and Susan
Fiske explored the concept of sexism and revealed some of its more complex and subtle
nature. In its purest sense, sexism refers to any bias against an individual or a group of
individuals based on the individual's or group member's sex. That bias does not necessarily
have to be expressed in the form of negative attitudes of behaviours.
Negative expressions, or behaviours that reflect negative attitudes towards women,
are referred to specifically as hostile sexism. Some forms of sexism, however, involve the
attribution of typically positive traits or qualities. This is referred to as benevolent sexism.
Although this might seem to be a contradiction in terms, the problem is that the attribution
associated with benevolent sexism, even though they sound positive are derived from
stereotypes that see women in limited ways and often stem from a male centred perspective.
According to Glick and Fiske, not only can people hold both Hostile and benevolent sexist
attitudes but also these attitudes and beliefs can be held simultaneously. They named this
ambivalent sexism. An illustration of ambivalent sexism, they suggested is when an
individual believes both that women need to be protected by men and that women are
incompetent or hostile.

Ethnic background

Another domain of diversity is ethnic diversity. Like gender, ethnicity is often used as
a way in which to group people together. A common response to ethnic diversity is,
unfortunately, racism. Racism can be defined as bias against an individual or a group of
individuals based on the individual's or group members' race/ethnicity. It may seem likely
that racism no longer exists given that official policies that condone overt discrimination
rarely exist. However, reality tends to show otherwise. For example, in 1997, Jones pointed
out that the United States ranked 6thin the world on the human development index, a UN
index based on measures of life expectancy at birth, literacy, years of schooling, and
economic data. He further noted that if this index were computed based on data from African
Americans alone, the United States would rank 31st; if data from Hispanic-Americans alone
were used, the ranking would be 34th globally. In 2010, the US ranking had dropped to 6th
(United Nations human development reports, 2010). Unfortunately, the negative effects of
racism are still prevalent in American society today. in North America, modern forms of
racism are often difficult to measure because most displays of bias or negative attitudes have
become very subtle and might not match our common understanding of the term. Typically,
people's beliefs about minorities appear to be positive or at least do not appear to be overly
negative. What most people commonly understand to be racism is actually more similar to
the blatant racism that was more common in the past than to modern forms of racism. Racism
in the past was often blatant in that it took obvious forms such as segregation and clear
differential treatment based on skin colour. Blatant racism is easier to measure than more
contemporary forms of racism because blatant racist will usually admit to holding negative
attitudes and beliefs exciting this information may be as simple as asking.

During more recent years, other forms of racism have been identified. In many cases,
people do not believe that they are racist or that they hold prejudice attitudes toward specific
racial/ethnic groups. In other cases, perceived social norms against racism inhibit the
likelihood that someone will admit to racist attitudes or beliefs. As such, these forms of
Prejudice maybe more subtle and indirect. An example of a form of modern racism is
aversive racism (Gaener & Dovidio, 1986). Despite holding racist beliefs, aversive racists
believe that they are not prejudiced against people from races other than their own. Therefore,
although racism is present, the racist attitudes are not conscious (nelson,2002). Similarly,
symbolic racism (Sears, 1988) also does not manifest itself in obvious ways. Instances of this
type of racism, a negative attitude is associated with something other than the target. For
example, an individual may insist that he or she is not racist and has nothing against, say,
blacks. However, the individual may also say that there is a problem with affirmative action,
something that he or she believes gives an unfair advantage to blacks over whites in hiring
practices. Aversive racism and symbolic racism are similar concepts in that people who
manifest either time do not acknowledge racism explicitly. That is, the actual negative
attitudes are associated with some other proxy type factors and not with the target. So, the
attitudes appear as though they are tied to politics rather than two groups of people (Hilton &
van Hipple, 1996).
 Ambivalent racism (Hass, Katz, Rizzo, bailey, & Eisenstadt, 1991), like ambivalent
sexism, contends that people can simultaneously hold two attitudes that are inconsistent with
each other. With this type of racism, people are not overtly prejudiced and do recognise the
unfair treatment of minorities and racial disparities, but at the same time they believe that the
system is based on meritocracy, that is, the principle that hard work will pay off-the
"American Dream"(Hilton and van Hipple,1996). As a result of holding this attitude, these
individuals are more willing to accept different outcomes for people of different
races/ethnicities in the belief that everyone has had the same opportunities but that individual
from some groups have not taken full advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Social class

Issues relating to social class constitute another example of how the ideal of equal
opportunity, And the belief that individual effort always pays off, pervades many Western
societies, allowing people to void acknowledging structural and systematic inequalities.
Those who are economically disadvantaged have historically been described as belonging to
a culture of poverty (Mincy, 2000). This culture has been assumed to be the result of values
and attitudes held by impoverished individuals and is viewed as a part of what separates
doors on the lower socio-economic strata from those in another strata. Research suggests that
social class is indeed a determinant of how we size people up. For example, Kirby (1999)
found that class bias was involved in people's impressions of new neighbours. She found that
people were more likely to object to the new neighbours if they believe that the neighbours
were receiving public assistance and that this bias was one that participants expressed
candidly. Issues related to poverty and social class has been likened to an elephant in the
room that everyone knows is there but that nobody wants to talk about (Younge, 2003). The
huge economic disparities in the lives of people across North America are undeniable, the
United States has been described as the most stratified industrial society in current times
(Mantosis, 2000). Because this inequality is undeniable, it is often justified or excused.

Younge (2003) suggested that the notion of equal Opportunity is often used to excuse
the huge disparity in economic realities. The concepts of the deserving poor and the
undeserving poor are rooted in people's perceptions of those who compromise the lowest
socio-economic classes (Mincy, 2000). The undeserving poor are those whose economy
conditions are assumed to be through no fault of their own. For example, Individuals who are
handicapped, are mentally ill or have some other Life circumstances that have clearly
affected their ability to earn A living are often given sympathy, and we are less likely to hold
their economic circumstances against them. However, most individuals are assumed to have
equal opportunity and equal access to earning a living. Those who fall into the deserving poor
category are those whom others think should have taken advantage of the supposed
opportunities but have not done so due to their own lack of initiative. This artificial and
frequently erroneous Pattern of assumptions allows others, especially those who are more
privileged, to justify the existence of social class inequalities.

Personal relationships and marriages

 The concept of relationship is very broad and complex. In our model, personal
relationships refer to close connections between people, formed by emotional bonds and
interactions. These bonds often grow from and are strengthened by mutual experiences.
Relationships are not static; they are continually evolving, and to fully enjoy and benefit from
them we need skills, information, inspiration, practice, and social support. In our model there
are three kinds of personal relationships:

Family

The concept of "family" is an essential component in any discussion of relationships,

but this varies greatly from person to person. The Bureau of the Census defines family
as "two or more persons who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption and who live
together as one household." But many people have family they don't live with or to
whom they are not bonded by love, and the roles of family vary across cultures as
well as throughout your own lifetime. Some typical characteristics of a family are
support, mutual trust, regular interactions, shared beliefs and values, security, and a
sense of community. Although the concept of "family" is one of the oldest in human
nature, its definition has evolved considerably in the past three decades. Non-
traditional family structures and roles can provide as much comfort and support as
traditional forms.

            Friends
 A friendship can be thought of as a close tie between two people that is often built
upon mutual experiences, shared interests, proximity, and emotional bonding. Friends
are able to turn to each other in times of need. Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler,
social-network researchers and authors of the book Connected, find that the average
person has about six close ties—though some have more, and many have only one or
none.  Note that online friends don’t count toward close ties—research indicates that a
large online network isn’t nearly as powerful as having a few close, real-life friends.

Partnerships

Romantic partnerships, including marriage, are close relationships formed between

two people that are built upon affection, trust, intimacy, and romantic love. We
usually experience this kind of relationship with only one person at a time. Love is
one of the most profound emotions known to human beings. For some, romantic
relationships are the most meaningful element in their lives, providing a source of
fulfilment outside of ourselves. But the ability to have a healthy, loving relationship is
not all innate. Failed relationships happen, and most of us have to work consciously to
master the skills necessary to make them flourish. The good news is that with effort
and perseverance, you can last. Singer first defined love based on four
Greek terms: Eros, meaning the search for beauty; philia, the feelings of affection in
close friendships, nomos, the submission of and obedience to higher or divine powers,
and agape, the bestowal of love and affection for the divine powers. While Singer did
believe that love was important to world culture, he did not believe that romantic love
played a major role (Singer, 1987). However, Susan Hendrick and Clyde Hendrick at
Texas Tech University (1992, 2009) have theorized that romantic love will play an
increasingly important cultural role in the future, as it is considered an important part
of living a fulfilling life. They also theorized that love in long-term romantic
relationships has only been the product of cultural forces which came to fruition
within the past 300 years. By cultural forces, they are referring to the increasing
prevalence of individualistic ideologies, which are the result of an inward shift of
many cultural worldviews.

Religious beliefs and practices

 Spirituality and religion concern community psychology because of their importance
for personal well-being and the importance of spiritual institutions and communities. We use
the inclusive terms spirituality and spiritual to refer to religious traditions and to other
perspectives concerned with transcendence. Spirituality and religion interrelate with culture
and ethnicity. It is impossible to understand many cultures without understanding their
religious institutions and spiritual practices. Yet religion and spirituality are not simply
cultural. Moreover, many religions and spiritual traditions are multicultural, and many
cultures contain multiple religious and spiritual communities. These interrelationships can be
complicated. Birman (1994) discusses the dilemmas faced in the US by Jewish refugees from
Russia to the United States. In Russia they were considered a nationality or connoting
ethnicity and sometimes even physical a distinctive race; Judaism as a religion was not
important to many. In the US, there Jewishness was often perceived in religious terms and
their nationality considered to be Russian, which astound many of these immigrants.

Education and employment

"Asian parents invest more in educational resources than their white counterparts
despite comparable resources. Another possible reason for the educational differences
between Japanese and American students is the amount of emphasis placed on education in
the two cultures.  Although by and large both Japan and American cultures place importance
on education, the way in which it is emphasized may be a point of differentiation.  Cross-
cultural studies have shown that Japanese parents not only encourage their children to learn
from an early age, but they also instil the concept that a good education is the basis for their
success in life.  In other words, parents play an extremely vital role in promoting academic
excellence and the student is in-cultured to believe that anything less than the best in school is
a failure not only to themselves, but to their parents.  This type of mentality is captured by
Kao in a focus group study when a student responds that, "his brothers success on the track
team was not a source of pride for his parents; in fact, they refused to attend his track meets. 
Only straight A's and getting into an Ivy League school would completely satisfy the parents"
(Kao 150).  Consequently, it is evident that extra-curricular have secondary, if any,
importance to a student's self-efficacy and their parent’s approval and therefore putting ones
effort into such activities are futile. 
As a result of such a cultural emphasis placed on Japanese students to be the best academic
students they can be, they inevitably spend significantly more time studying and doing
homework than their American counterparts.  Thus, American students who already spend
less days in the year and less amount each day concentrating on academic study, also devote
less time after school to their homework.  This may be due to the fact that American teachers
themselves do not stress the importance of homework relative to other educational activities
(Chen & Stevenson 560).  In other words, American students may not place as much
educational value as Japanese students on doing homework if the homework itself is depicted
as less important by educators.  This may be a plausible reason why some American students
choose to fly through their homework without trying to really understand the concepts or why
their parents allow them to do homework while watching television. The student’s
concentration level is inherently abated if they perceive the extrinsic value of doing
homework, not to mention the intrinsic value, to be mediocre at best.  
Furthermore, a study of Japanese and American after-school activities, 46% of Japanese fifth-
grade students enrolled in after-school classes or private tutoring compared with about 10%
of their American counterparts (Chen & Stevenson 560).  These statistics point to the fact that
Japanese students have a culture that is geared much more to academic education than in
the United States.  Thus, despite the fact that the student has spent all day in regular school,
parents nonetheless choose to send them to additional academic institutions or tutoring
services rather than allow them to spend their free time in other non-academic extracurricular
activities.  However, what they parents may not realize, is that extra-curricular such as sports,
music, dance, and others that on their surface seem like unnecessary activities solely for
enjoyment, help to make a student more well-rounded and socially developed. There have
been numerous studies, for example, linking educational achievement to involvement in
music.  Consequently, Japanese students may be saturated with academic practice but
concurrently are deprived of other enriching activities that may even enhance their academic
acuity.

Social problems in India

India is a democratic country with diversity of cultures. There is variety in every

aspect. The cultures of India is the way of life of the people in India. Indian languages,
religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the
country. Yet it is so diversified then but still India suffers from lots of social problems to
great extent. There are number of social problem that India is facing such as poverty,
illiteracy, rapes, dowry, domestic violence, corruption, gender discrimination, water scarcity
etc. Indian society is very rooted in religious beliefs; there are people of different religious
beliefs such as Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis etc. These all adds to the socio-cultural
varieties of the country. India’s social problems are also rooted in the religious practices and
beliefs of it people. Almost all forms of social issues and problems find their origin in the
religious and cultural practices of the people of India. These social problems are developed in
a long period of times and are still continuing in one form or other. There are various forms
of social problems, but the main issues are as follows:

Freedom and restrictions on women

India is a democratic country and has diversity of cultures. It is so diversified yet it

suffers so many social problems. Tradition and cultures have a pervasive influence on Indian
society. India follows collectivistic culture, therefore the culture always set different
guidelines and different duties to both gender. Women are always given the duties to take
care of the family and nurture the children and maintain the house overall the women is
expected to be the homemaker, whereas the man’s duty is to guard the family and provide
bread and butter to the family. Indian culture always suppress the females and males are
always considered a dominant gender. Freedom for women has always been a topic of
discussion in current scenario because now women are coming upfront and making the best
use of their power for the upliftment of the society. India face gender discrimination not only
in rural areas but also in urban sectors also. In rural areas women are always declined to
educate, work and live an independent life because of family status concerns in a culture that
stigmatizes market work by married women. The average Indian female has only 1.2 years of
schooling, while the Indian male spends 3.5 years in school. More than 50 per cent girls drop
out by the time they are in middle school. In urban areas also women face such
discriminations. If a women is educated enough and she is stable enough to earn for her
family, she will not be allowed to work for long. All this contribute to atrocities against
women. Working women are common victims of rapes, abduction, domestic violence etc. If a
woman works late at night to feed her family then she is considered as whore. The society
always pressurise women and always questions the identity of a woman.

Poverty and illiteracy

 Poverty is a widespread condition in India. Since Independence, poverty is a prevalent
concern. It is the twenty-first century and poverty still is a persistent menace in the country.
India happens to be country wherein the disparities between the haves and the have-notes are
extremely wide. It needs to be taken into account that although the economy has shown some
visible signs of progress in the last two decades, this progress been uneven across various
sectors or areas. The growth rates are higher in Gujarat and Delhi as compared to Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh. Nearly half of the population doesn’t have proper shelter, access to a decent
sanitation system, villages do not have a nearby water source, and villages also do not have a
secondary school and lack of proper roads. Some sections of the society like the Dalits are
not even included in the poverty list maintained by the concerned authorities assigned by the
government. They’re groups that are marginalized in the society.

Child Marriage, starvation and child labour

According to the United Nations report, India has the second highest number of child
marriages. Marriage is considered to be a sacred union between two mature and consenting
individuals who are ready to accept each other and share responsibilities for a lifetime. With
respect to this context, child marriages happen to be an unsound institution. Child marriage
mars the innocence of childhood. The Indian Constitution provides for prohibitions against
child marriage through various laws and enactments. The first law that was designed was the
Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 which extended to the whole of India except Jammu
and Kashmir. This act defines the ages of an adult male and female. Also, sex with minors is
a criminal offence under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. Proper media sensitization is
required for a major change to take place.

Starvation is a condition characterized by the deficiency in calorie energy intake and is a

serious form of malnutrition which ultimately leads to death if not taken care about.
Historically, starvation has been constant across various human cultures apart from India.
Starvation can take place in a country due to many reasons like war, famine, the disparities
between the rich and the poor and so on. Malnutrition conditions like kwashiorkor and
marasmus can also develop into serious causes of starvation. In the context of India, it
becomes needless to say that the food distribution system is flawed. The Supreme Court has
issued orders over the past decades directing the government to take measures like mid-day
meal schemes and the provision of health care schemes for pregnant and lactating women.
Child labour typically means the employment of children in any work with or without
payment. Child labour is not only limited to India, it happens to be a global phenomenon. As
far as India is concerned, the issue is a vicious one as children in India have historically been
helping parents at their farms and other primitive activities. Over population, illiteracy,
poverty, debt trap are some of the common causes which are instrumental in this issue.
Multinational companies also recruit children in garment industries for more work and less
pay which is absolutely unethical. Child labour as a global concern has been raised on
international platforms as well. Abolition of child trafficking, elimination of poverty, free and
compulsory education, and basic standards of living can reduce the problem to a great extent.
The World Band, International Monetary Fund can help in eradicating poverty by providing
loan to the developing countries. Strict implementation of labour laws is also essential in
order to prevent exploitation by parties or multinational companies. (social issues in india,
n.d.)

  

Challenges in diversity

Although diversity presents many opportunities, there are also a number of challenges present
when individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences interact.

Prejudice and discrimination

One challenge related to diversity is dealing with Prejudice and discrimination against those
who are in some way different. Prejudice is an attitude toward others based solely on group
membership (Moghaddam, 1988, p.330). When prejudiced attitudes get translated into
behaviour, discrimination results. So, the term discrimination is reserved for use when
referring to the "actual behaviour directed at others on the basis of category membership"
(p.332).

Social psychology has played a prominent role in research on both prejudice and
discrimination. For example, early research on racism and discrimination focused on the
characteristics of people who are prejudiced or who discriminate against others based on their
race or Ethnicity (Dovidio, 2001). More recently, many social psychologists have begun to
include an examination of the effects that prejudice and discrimination have on the targets of
these attitudes or behaviours. For example, how does being a target of discrimination affect
the way in which people feel about themselves? The scope of interest has also expanded
beyond racism to include other types of diversity, including the sexism and classicism.

Some believe that prejudice stems from our thoughts and belief systems or from cognitive
sources (Nelson, 2002). The mistaken belief that two things are related simply because they
are seen as occurring together is one cognitive processes that contributes to the formation of
stereotypes (Jones, 1997). Another perspective on the origin of prejudice suggests that we are
motivated to hold particular beliefs.

Stereotypes are "beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviours of members of
certain groups" (Hilton & von Hipple, 1996, p.240), and many stereotypes are culturally
based (Moghaddam, 1998). Within social psychological research, stereotypes have been
studied as the process (how people come to believe what they do), as content (what traits
comprise a particular stereotype), and as varying in their strength or intensity (how firmly
people believe what do you do about particular social groups) as well is in their consequences
(Madon, 1997). Over the past few decades, process and consequence issues have dominated
researchers' attention, and it is only recently that there has been a shift in focus to return to
analysis of stereotype content (Madon, 1997). Knowledge of the content of stereotypes is
important both because of real life implications (Fitchen & Amsel, 1986) and because of the
potential that this information holds for providing insight into possible avenues of social
change for stigmatised groups. Stereotype content may affect the target in many different
ways. One of the more subtle affects is stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is the fear or
nervousness that your behaviour will exemplify a negative stereotype about your in group
thereby in essence confirming the accuracy of the stereotype. The nervousness may
negatively affect her score by affecting her level of concentration, thereby contributing to the
stereotype. Recognition that stereotypes are not always exclusively negative, and that in fact
positive traits such as Africans are good dancers, Asians are good at maths, gay men are good
at decorating are included in the steel types of many social groups, is central to further
enhancing our understanding of the complexity of stereotype content and the effects that
stereotypes may produce.

Conflict

Conflict defines as “a perceived incompatibility of interests”. Often the person or group is

competing for limited resources with another person or group that holds incompatible goals.
Examples seems to be in the news on a constant basis – Sudanese nomadic conflicts, drug
wars in Mexico, civil war in Iraq, ethnic clashes in the Balkans and Rwanda, and angry
clashes between natives and non-natives over fishing rights. Conflicts inevitably arise out of
clashes of values, attitudes, and/or behaviours and these conflicts must be dealt with
effectively.
This definition of conflict is not the only one. In fact, Deutsch (1973) suggested that conflict
may occur when persons or groups hold either competitive or cooperative interests. For
example, consider school projects in which two students are asked to work together. Both
students may be motivated to do a good job but may disagree on how to go about this. One
student may want to use information collected from interviews about personal experiences,
whereas the other student may want to use more general information collected from
magazines, books, and research journals. Despite the fact that both students have compatible
goals and an equal desire to succeed, conflict can still result. In this scenario and others like
it, the competitive interests produce the conflict, and the cooperative interests serve as
motivation to reach an agreement. 

Review of literature:
A study done by Neeraj Kaushal, Associate Professor, Columbia University on A dress code
for women will not create a safer society: not for women, not even for men, and definitely not
for children. Restricting women's freedom and mobility will not reduce crime against them. It
will marginalise women further, tilt the balance of power further in favour of men and
weaken the society.
The main aim was to impose a ban on skirts in school uniform and instead replace skirts with
trousers or salwar kameez. Mr Singhal, BJP MLA of Rajasthan explained that his intention
was to keep school girls away from "men's lustful eyes". This attempt was seen as an attempt
to blame women for sexual assaults against them and to demand that women conform to
lifestyles that make them safe in a male dominated society. While sexual assault and violence
against women is universal, countries and cities where women are free to wear skirts or the
clothing of their choice are no more dangerous than societies that impose a dress code on
them. Indeed, all evidence suggests that women are less safe in societies that impose
restrictions on women, including restrictions on what they should wear and how they should
appear and behave in public.
In 1995, a survey conducted by the Institute of Development and Communication (IDC) in
Punjab found that for every case of reported rape, there were 68 unreported instances.
In most cases, women are not subjected to violence from random strangers, but their own
family members, relatives, neighbours or acquaintances. In Punjab, the IDC survey found that
every third household reported wife-beating, every fourth household experienced a dowry
demand, every 55th household acknowledged sexual exploitation and every 66th household
acknowledged a rape incident. As many as 27 dowry deaths remained unreported against one
reported case, as many as 299 dowry harassment cases remained unreported against one
reported case.

Method

Present study: The present study aims to track the changes in the patterns of freedom given
to women and the restrictions laid on them with time across three generations. According to
the traditional cultures of India, there has always been a discriminating line between the two
genders. Traditionally both of them are assigned different jobs and they are even expected to
fulfill these duties. But the patterns are changing nowadays and women are coming upfront
and demanding their own rights and needs. Women are now fighting for their freedom and
breaking the notions of the stereotypic culture. The present study aims to check how the
freedom of choice has changed from 1 st generation to 3rd generation. There were total three
participants that were chosen for the study.

The first participant was a 75 year old women, who was born in Uttar Pradesh lived in a joint
family before and after her marriage. She has 3 daughters and 4 sons. The woman doesn’t
have any educational qualification as she lived in a society where the girls were treated
differently and were not given any right for education. Therefore she doesn’t realise any need
for educating herself but she gave proper education for her daughter and never discriminated
between her sons and daughters.

The second participant is a 42 years old woman who was born in Delhi, is a housewife and
she did her bachelors in English from zakir Hussain College. She has two sons and a
daughter, all of them are studying. The participant lived in nuclear family before her marriage
and then in a joint family after her marriage. She experienced a complete alteration in her
personality before and after marriage, as she was given complete freedom for education,
clothing and choice yet she suffer lot of change in her personality as her in laws are very
conservative. She lives in a conservative family yet she lives a very stable life and follows
religious norms with her own choice.

The third participant is a 17 years old girl who studies in 11 th standard lives in a joint family,
she was born in Delhi. She has a conservative family therefore she lives in boundations which
she doesn’t like. She is not given freedom to go out of her house and hang out with friends
like her brother. She is given freedom of education but she is forced by her father to wear
clothes under religious norms. She lives in a very restricted environment therefore she takes
out pleasure in her life during school.

Measures:

Used semi-structured interview to gather data. Three interviews across the family took 35-40
minutes each. Genogram technique was used.

What is a Genogram?

The genogram is a pictorial graph of the structure and characteristics of a family across three
or more generations. The genogram will not replace traditional Pedigree Charts and Family
Group Records for use in genealogical research, but it can provide a way to look beneath the
surface of names, dates, and places so that genealogists can recognize family characteristics
and patterns. The genogram “illustrates graphically that relationships are ongoing, that
families have histories, and that the family history influences each family member’s present
as well as his/her future” (Bahr, 1990). Characteristics carried from one generation to another
are also called generational transmissions, and can be illustrated on a genogram with
symbols. These transmissions can be genetic, such as inherited diseases or physical
characteristics, or they can come from environmental or social influences, such as traditions
from a family’s cultural heritage, religion, or communication patterns, and beliefs about the
world. Genograms have been used for assessing families in clinical settings such as marriage
therapy, health care, and social work (McGoldrick & Gerson, 1985; Nelson-Anderson &
Waters, 1998). Genograms have also been applied in education and religious counselling
(Bahr, 1990). A greater interest in genetic and medical histories has prompted the use of
genograms in organizing and illustrating genealogical data (KrasnerKhait, 2000). Genograms
can also be used for the purpose of engendering a sense of identity and kinship, to promote an
interest in genealogical research (Doxey, 1993).
Semi-structured interview:

There are three types of interviews: structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviews.
This distinction is based upon the type of preparation we make before conducting the
interview. The type used in the present study is semi-structured interview. Semi -structured
interviews are in-depth interviews (often called a 'conversation with a purpose'). With a semi-
structured interview, the interviewer and the interviewee are equal partners. Basically, the
interviewer knows the areas he or she wants to cover with the interviewee, but allows the
interviewee the options to take different paths and explore different thoughts, feelings,
etc. Semi-structured interviews are most often used in qualitative studies. The style is most
useful when one is investigating a topic that is very personal to participants. Benefits include
the ability to gain rapport and participants' trust, as well as a deeper understanding of
responses. 

Rationale: the objective of the study was to track the trend of freedom and restrictions on
women across three generations. Women have always been under the societal pressures that
has always made them suppressed. Under the influence of Indian culture, which is to
discriminate between girls and boys right after their birth, they are assigned different duties
and guidelines. The woman is always supposed to be very warm and care giving whereas the
man is always expected to be masculine and provide the essentials for the survival of the
family. Women traditionally faced atrocities that have always made them slaves of males.
Freedom for women is a major issue from many decades. Women have always felt
marginalised because of uneven distribution of rights between the two genders. The society is
responsible for such distribution as in rural areas women are not encouraged to study and put
forward their opinion which affects our mind set and lead to this stereotype that “women are
dumb”. Also in urban areas women are not allowed to work till late and they were forced to
manage the household as well and they are expected to manage thousands of jobs at the same
time and still they are abused. Women suffer lots of violence against them such as
molestation, abduction, domestic violence, acid throwing etc.

There is a need to study the topic in order to maintain the balance between the two gender, to
provide equal opportunities and give them equal rights so that women too can contribute for
the upliftment of the society brilliantly from every part of the country. Women are the most
important creation of God, they are the one who give birth and continue the generation still
they are treated badly in country like ours when in the medieval period they are treated as
goddess. But the condition of women now has become worse and they are being victimised.
Even in the 21st century women are fighting for equality and their rights, for education since
majority of Indian females are illiterate. The country’s constitution has provided females
equal rights in every aspect of life. The Constitution had promised free education for all
Indian children up to the age of 14 still this promise was never fulfilled.

Results

Table 1: demographic details

Abdul Aziz Sarwari begum

age-80 Age-75
language- Hindi Language- Hindi
place of birth- Place of birth-
Delhi Sambhal, UP
Bibliography
Frank W. Schneider, J. A. (2012). Applied social psychology. New deldi: SAGE publications.

social issues in india. (n.d.). Retrieved from india celebrating.com: www.indiacelebrating.com

Table 2: thematic analysis

Themes Sub-themes Verbatims

Life constraints Conservative mind-sets G1- the thinking was very limited earlier. Girls
should stay at home and boys were given full
freedom.
G2- I live in joint family and my husband is
very conservative, father in law doesn’t support
education for girls.
G3- I am 18 still doesn’t have a phone, not
allowed to go out alone with friends. I feel
restricted almost every day.

Creating guidelines
G1- rules of every home were same, girls will
do household and boys will study.
G2- yes my family creates different guidelines
for me and my husband, I can’t go out alone at
night even if it is emergency.
G3- society creates these guidelines and we all
follow them, I will not be allowed to work after
completing graduation but my brother will
work.
Dependency on elder
G1- we all were dependent on elders, they were
the one who select the suitable match for me,
and they also set time limits for us to hang out
with cousins.
 G2- I depend on my husband, to go out at night
otherwise I manage everything on my own
from top to bottom.
G3- I have to depend on my brother if I have to
Discrimination between go out because papa doesn’t let me go alone
anywhere except school.
genders
G1- family status doesn’t affect gender
discrimination, it was so obvious, encouraged
by people.
G2- girls should be protected and should not go
anywhere alone, but boys should not be given
unnecessary privilege.
Restrictions on education G3-. Being male is the advantage that is the
mind-set, you will be allowed to do everything.

G1- Our brothers were allowed to study but we

were not. Better families were the one who
encourage their sons.
G2- I was supported by my father. No
discrimination for education, even my father
supported me for pursuing my masters.
G3- family supports education a lot. No barrier
Freedom between me and my education.
Following the dreams
G1- We never had such big dreams, we lived
happily. We never realized the importance of
fulfilling them. Never given education.
G2- we follow our dreams, never done
anything against the family, always followed
the family guidelines.
G3- freedom is following your heart, having
such parents who understand you, hanging out
Leading a happy life with friends. But they never give me such
required freedom.

G1- I define freedom as happiness, having a

nice family, faithful children.
G2- freedom should be given to make you feel
equal by having complete satisfaction from
your education.
G3- living in an uninterrupted world, having a
nice phone, being respectful, being educated,
doing a job after graduation.
Unnecessary freedom is
harmful
G1- coming late at night and roaming around
whole day is unsafe for both girls and boys.
G2- freedom should be given but in limits,
 allowing children for everything is not good
keeping society in mind.
G3- freedom should be used for benefits, it
Clothing and Religious norms should not unnecessarily ruin your life.
veil

G1- we started wearing burka at the age of 15,

it is in our religion to veil once you reach
puberty.
G2- I started after my marriage, earlier I felt it
Freedom to dress
like a compulsion.
G3- I don’t wear jeans because of family and
religious restrictions but I don’t veil.

G1- we were told to veil so we started, felt

protective, and strong.
G2- felt it like compulsion but it became a
habit, I wear burka with own choice.
G3- I don’t like to wear suits all the time, I
don’t wear it with my own choice.

Discussion: the present study aim was to track the trend of freedom and restrictions among
women across three generations and to see this as a social problem in India and how does,
this affects the diversifying population. Gender discrimination, violence against women,
rapes, freedom and restrictions on women are major issues that we see since the ancient
times. Women have always been victimized of such social problems. Traditions and cultures
have always contributed in making the mind sets of the people and therefore all this leads to
stereotypes and prejudices against women. We often come across comments that we don’t
even pay attention on such as: women’s place is home, women are bad drivers, they are mood
swingers, and women should accompany a male while travelling etc. all these are ruining the
mind-set of young generations. There is a need to focus on these concerns, sensitise people so
that we can break these notions and develop such thoughts that contribute to the society
effectively in a positive way.

The present study shows how the trend has changed among three generations. The study was
done on three female participants and their interviews were taken. The analysis was done
using thematic analysis. The themes that come up were life constraints, freedom, clothing
and veil. The first theme was life constraints, it is observed that all of them have some
complaints from the kind of life they are leading however they didn’t expose to their family
members. The kind of family members they have, are somehow conservative as they refrain
them. As G1 belongs to Uttar Pradesh so she says that people have very limited thinking and
the majority of population is illiterate therefore they brace their daughters and do not allow
them to express their own desires. G2 has somehow similar views as G1 towards her family
members, as her father in law doesn’t allow her to visit her relatives alone because of the
society which is getting worse day by day, because of the increased rates of violence,
abduction, rape cases. G3 has some different views for restriction as she is the daughter of G2
so they face almost same situation. She is also not allowed to go alone except school. She feel
alienated because she doesn’t have a phone which has become a necessity. Therefore the
trend of restrictions is almost there from three generations even it has increased due to social
defaults. The second sub theme that we come up with is creation of guidelines i.e. their
families have created different rules for their sons and daughters. G1 says that they always
followed the tradition that girls should be kept at home they should not go out they should
always be protected and should remain under the barriers of the families. G2 says that these
rules should not be implemented every time, they should be given freedom during
emergencies. Whereas G3 says she is not in favour of these rules because she won’t be
allowed to work after her studies, so she finds no use of studying in that way. The major
problem is that, they all have to depend on elders as they can’t take the decisions on their
own so it is required to have such rights through which they can make up their life on their
own. Discrimination between girls and boys is the main issue that shows how it affects their
lives as G3 says being male is the advantage therefore it shows how she underestimates
herself and how the social status affects her mind whereas according to G1 it was encouraged
to discriminate between girls and boys. Another problem is with unequal education rights, G1
never attended school even if she wanted to study but the family never encouraged her, but
she gave proper education to her daughter and G3 also received complete education with her
own choice. Therefore there was no such change that can be traced among the three
generation as they all faced discrimination and no one among them raised their voice for
equal opportunities.

The second theme that we come up with is freedom, all the three participants have different
perspective on freedom and they also define it in their own way. According to G1 freedom is
living happily and making family members happy. While G2 says freedom for women should
be defined in terms of education, if a family gives equal opportunity for education for both
her son and daughter she is considered to have full freedom. Whereas G3 says that freedom is
following your dreams, whatever your heart says so it’s important to follow your heart and
also having a nice phone. All of them agrees with the disadvantages of unnecessary freedom
as they say that roaming around late at night is harmful for both male and female by keeping
the current scenario in mind. G3 says that freedom should be given as well as parents should
taught their children lessons of good morals so that they can understand what is good for
them on their own and that unnecessary freedom should not contribute in ruining their lives.
The three participants agreed on that fact that the parenting styles should neither be so
permissive nor so permissive. They all somehow felt restricted in their lives with the freedom
given to them but no they have accepted their lives.

The third theme was clothing and veil, G1 and G2 veils so they somehow have similar
opinions about it. They believed that it is important for them to veil as it is also important in
their religion so they did it under the influence of religion as well as their families. G1 started
to veil at the age of 15 and she felt authoritative and protective. Whereas G2 begin after her
marriage but she did it with her own choice. She felt like a compulsion in the beginning but
now she did with her own choice and that also made her feel good. G3 does not veil but still
she wear clothes that her family permits as she doesn’t wear jeans and skirts that usually girls
wear currently.

Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy talks about the impact of culture in one’s life. Therefore the
impact of society, culture and religion was seen among the three generations. As Hofstede
referred these cultural differences as “the software of mind that distinguishes one person from
the other”. Therefore the influence of collectivistic society was seen in the life of G3 as she
was not allowed to move out of home alone, as she should accompany someone with her.
Perhaps she dislikes these boundations and guidelines, but still being a girl she accepted it as
she believe that being a male is an advantage. The influence of masculinity is also found in
her society, where the males are given more prevalence as compared to women. So the males
are given freedom of education, talk and whatever they want to. The impact of masculinity is
very high in G1 generation, as she never go to school whereas her brothers were given
complete education. This was quite uncommon in the life of G2 as she was given equal
opportunities and rights of education.

The ideology that women should be protected and should be kept within the boundaries of
home, this was common among the three generations. As the families set boundations on
them. There is high power distance seen among all three cases and they all have accepted the
inequalities and adapted in their lives. G1 was not allowed to move out of home without veil
and she has no educational qualifications therefore she accepted it as these inequalities in her
generation were considered better. G2 never faced any inequality before marriage but with
the collectivistic atmosphere of her in laws she was oppressed and was forced to veil,
whereas in the life of G3 she is not allowed to wear jeans, and hangout with her friends and
she doesn’t even have a cell phone which makes her feel alienated from her friends.
Therefore all the three females have a huge impact of religion and beliefs. As their dignity
and religion does not allow them to defy and go against their families. On the contrary the
have accepted their lives in their own way.

According to the information and the themes that were obtained from the interview it was
observed that there was no noticeable change in terms of freedom as they were given limited
freedom from G1 to G3. The family styles have not changed much across time as all of them
took decision under the authority of their elders. The style have not changed or they have not
become broad minded because there is a huge impact of society and the locality in which they
live. The atrocities against woman is increasing day by day so in order to make a protective
environment around their girls the family styles have remained the same. According to G2
who was given full freedom of choice before marriage and then she faced lot of restrictions
after marriage, she gone through complete transformation. She said it makes us feel awkward
if we don’t change and go out like before, so the society sees you from the perspective of a
married woman, who has to cover herself after marriage. The noticeable change that we
observed was in the domain of education. As people earlier find no necessity to educate their
daughters and even the families who encourage their daughters were considered manner less.
G2 and G3 are completely educated and they believe that education enlightens the soul. G1
has no educational qualifications even her family didn’t allow religious studies, but she gave
proper and complete education to her daughters. G2 and G3 believed that there should be no
discrimination between man and woman in terms of education because it is a birth right of
every individual. The similarities were found in each generation was regarding the beliefs of
clothing, as they believe that women should wear traditional clothes and should cover their
heads while going out of home.
References

Frank W. Schneider, J. A. (2012). Applied social psychology. New deldi: SAGE publications.

social issues in india. (n.d.). Retrieved from india celebrating.com: www.indiacelebrating.com

Tedeschi, R. G. (2009). positive changes in the aftermath of crisis. new jersey: taylor and francis e-
library.

tirath, k. (2012). issues in india. the twenty ten theme, 60.

Appendix

TOOLS:

Following are the list of questions that were asked during the interview.

Q1. A brief description about the participant in order to know about the current situation?

Q2. Are there any boundations that are laid on you? Or when do you feel restricted?

Q3. What according to you is freedom? Define freedom in your own language.

Q4. Were you given equal rights for education as anyone in your family? Did you choose
your own profession by yourself?

Q5. Do you wear clothes under the influence of your religion or your family?

Q6. Are there people who still refrain you from choosing things on your own?

Q7. Did you veil under the influence of your religion or you follow religious norms?

Q8. What are the main obstacles that you encounter in the following situations:

Raising your voice for education

Changing your clothing pattern

Marrying with your own choice

Q9. On what basis or what are the laws in your family to discriminate between a girl and a
boy?
Q10. Would you give equal opportunities to your son and your daughter or you would set
different guidelines for them?

Q11. Did you met your spouse before marriage?

Q12. Were you exposed to different people rather than your family to express your urge for
your freedom of choice?

Q13. At what age you got married?

Q14. Did you ever defy your family members when you were forced to:

1. Quit studies
2. Cover your head
3. Marry with your family’s choice

Q15. Were you forced to do household work by your family?

 INDEX

S.NO. PRACTICUM REMARKS

1. GENOGRAM-Tracking the
trend of freedom and restrictions
on women
2. Domestic violence among
intimate partners
Practicum based on tracking the trend of freedom and restrictions on women

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