Apu’s World

I have been watching all the furore over the Women’s Reservation Bill, but not really said anything about it, perhaps because my thinking on the issue is a little muddled. I do believe that in the current political climate, women need additional support to enter and succeed in politics, but I am not sure if reservation is the best way to do it. Perhaps it is one of many things that needs to be done, including within-party reforms.

But, something else that I have been thinking about relates closely to this issue of so-called ’special treatment’ for women. This is the issue of maternity leave. Thankfully, maternity leave is not legally an issue in India, although it is still too short. That doesn’t mean it is not an issue in practice. Firms in the organized sector will not normally deny a woman maternity leave, though they may very well avoid hiring women of a certain age (the 24-32 age group seen as at ‘high risk’ of pregnancy).

Two questions which I have often heard are, if you claim to be equal, why are you asking for special treatment in the form of maternity leave?  Why should the company fund your personal choice to have children? These are two different issues, so let me break down my thoughts accordingly. In fact, to avoid too long a post, I will address only the first issue in this one.

Why “special” leave if you claim to be equal, is a question often thrown at women. This question assumes one important thing : that the norm is ‘no-maternity leave’ and therefore asking for maternity leave is a ‘deviation’, a call for ’special treatment.’ But, here’s the thing; assuming a norm of ‘no-maternity leave needed’ is a fundamentally biased one. It is a norm based on a situation where the workplace is entirely comprised of biological males who do not need maternity leave.

But, here’s the thing too : 50% of this planet’s citizens are women. What if we and our bodies were the norm? Looking at it this way, suddenly, maternity leave doesn’t seem like an aberration. Women’s bodies carry children, and those bodies need a period of rest before/after delivery, plus time off until the baby is weaned. That’s a biological fact. Workplaces have never been built taking into account the fact of women’s bodies or their lives. For e.g. transfer policies in most government departments in our country were laid down for a prototype male worker, whose non-working wife and children would simply move when he had to.

If 50% of the world’s occupants - women, were assumed as the norm, the situation would be very different. For those of you who still cannot quite picture how often men are simply assumed as the norm, flip the situation around. Let’s assume a new men’s bathroom is being fitted out, and a purchase request is placed for urinals. The Head of Purchase, who has to approve all requests, turns it down saying, “What! Why do you need standing-up urinals? Can’t you just sit down and pee, like we do? What is it with you men and your special requests?”

Today, this is what happens to women. Fundamental facts about our bodies and our lives, are treated as aberrations, simply because we are not treated as the norm. Equality doesn’t just mean treating us the same way as men. Equality also means that our needs are taken equally into consideration when the rules by which things work are drawn up.

apu Women & Feminism