Questions : The Gender

What is Gender?

Mainly the stand you have apropos the gender debate. You could believe in the dichotomous binary definition or buy the 'spectrum of gender' idea. Our own mythology is full of such debates about gender. A good resource on this would be 'Shikhandi: And Other Tales They Don’t Tell You' by Devdutt Pattanaik[Although, I am no way a fan of his works, just a good source to gauge the discussion going around; Read Pattanaik's works with a bagful of salt]. Quoting from it, "...Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife Mahadeva, who became a woman to deliver a devotee's child Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend and many more...."

Do you believe in 'Gender Roles'?

Go to any restaurant, after you finish the meal and ask for the cheque, the waiter invariably would slide that towards the eldest male member of the family. This might come of as patriarchy to a lot of people but it seems practical to that waiter. Whether it's about doing the dishes at home, cooking for the folks, earning money, looking after kids/elders, talking to various kinds of outsiders for insurance/investing/etc..., all these activities  seem to be taken care by one particular type of gender. So, that's the premise. Nowadays, all people in their working age are professionals or want to be if the situation is favourable. Under this new paradigm, the relevance of 'gender roles' definitely stokes few debates. 

Is their pay parity?

A lot of feminist & women rights activists are still fighting for equal pay for all the employees in the same job, regardless of gender. Well the nuanced view here would be to understand the extent to which women and men are employed differently. A precursory look in the roles in which men and women are employed would actually make the debate more fruitful. It is to this end, the question urges you to think on. 

What is Feminism?

Though, it seems obvious to almost everyone, ask any feminist few questions on the topic and they would stutter and beat around the bush or resort to male bashing. Well, this might not be the case, universally. So, that's the question, it's similar to asking someone on their views about 'existence of God'.

Is their a connection between liberalism and feminism? 

Not a yes-no question. Think about it!

Read part 1 & part 3 of this series on Questions:

Questions : Ab Initio

Questions : Measured Approach