Gender Religion and Caste Class 10 Notes | Easy Solutions

Gender Religion and Caste Class 10 Notes focus on three kinds of social differences that can take the form of social division and inequalities. In this chapter, Social differences based on gender, religion, and caste are explained in detail & and at the end of the chapter given concept is healthy or otherwise in a democracy. Gender Religion and Caste Class 10 Notes & question answers given in the post are explained in a simple way to understand which will surely help the students in scoring good marks.

Gender and Politics | Gender Religion and Caste Class 10 Notes

Gender division is a form of stratification that can be seen everywhere. It is to be understood as natural and unchangeable. It is based on social expectations and stereotypes.

What is a Public/Private Division?

Sexual Division of Labour

It refers to the division of tasks, roles, and responsibilities between men and women in society based on their gender. For example, women do all the work inside the home such as cooking, cleaning, washing, and looking after children, etc. & men do work outside the home, such as farming, construction, and manufacturing.
The result of this division of labor is that the role of women in public life, especially politics, is less in most societies. Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, vote, and contest elections.

Gradually the demands for women’s participation improved their educational and career opportunities in politics. The movements that were raised by women to get equality in personal and family life are called Feminist movements.

The result of this movement helped to improve women’s role in public life but they still lag much behind men. India is still a male-dominated, PATRIARCHAL society. Women have to face disadvantage, discrimination, and oppression in various ways:

• Many girls in India still do not get a quality education. Their literacy rate is only 54 percent compared with 76 percent among men.
• Women work with lower wages and fewer job opportunities than men. The Equal Remuneration Act, of 1976 provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work.
• Women in India are at risk of experiencing physical, sexual, and emotional violence. They are not safe, particularly in Urban areas.
• In India, parents prefer male children which led to a decline in the child-sex ratio.
  

Women’s Political Representation

Women’s political representation in India has improved in recent years, but there are still many problems that will not get adequate attention.

• India’s Constitution guarantees equal rights to men and women, including the right to vote and stand for election.
• In the national parliament, women currently hold only around 22% of the seats.
• Several states have included reservation quotas for women in local government bodies to increase women’s political participation.
•  In Panchayats and Municipalities, one-third of seats in local government bodies are reserved for women.

Despite these gains, women in India still face significant barriers to political participation.

What is the relationship between Religion, Communalism, and Politics?

Religion

Religion plays a significant role in Indian politics. India is known for its religious diversity and the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all citizens so they should express their needs, interests, and demands in politics as a member of a religious community.

Communalism

Communalism is associated with the use of religion for political purposes, particularly in the form of religious nationalism. It is a situation where one community tries to promote its own interest at the cost of others. The use of religion in politics is called communal politics.

1. The problem becomes acute when one religion is presented as superior to others.
2. The demands of one religion form in opposition to others when one group tries to dominate others.

Communalism can take various forms in politics as mentioned below:

• Religious Communalism leads to the promotion of policies that benefit members of a particular religion at the expense of others.
• Ethnic Communalism leads to the promotion of policies that benefit members of a particular ethnic group at the expense of others.
• Linguistic Communalism: This form of communalism leads to the promotion of policies that benefit speakers of a particular language at the expense of others.
• Cultural Communalism leads to the promotion of policies that benefit members of a particular cultural group at the expense of others.
• Regional Communalism leads to the promotion of policies that benefit members of a particular region at the expense of others.

What is a Secular State?

A secular state is one in which individuals are free to practice their religion without interference from the government, and in which the government does not favor any particular religion.

Some of the features of India’s Secular states are:

• All citizens are treated equally under the law regardless of their religion.
• India’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all citizens.
• The government has a constitutional obligation to treat all religions equally and not to favor any particular religion.
• Every individual is free to follow and practice any religion of their choice.
• India’s secular state provides support to all religions, without discrimination.
  
  

What is the relationship between caste and politics in India?

Caste plays a significant role in shaping the political landscape of India.

• Caste-based parties and politicians have been successful in gaining power and continue to be major challenges in Indian politics.
• When parties choose their candidate they usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
• Political parties and candidates in elections request caste sentiment to win the elections.
• Political Parties ask people belonging to lower castes conscious of their rights to vote.

During elections, there are many other factors besides caste matters which impact the elections. The performance of the government and the popularity of the leaders are considered during elections. Look at the following points:

• Each political party needs to gain the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.
• No party scores the votes of all the voters of a caste.
• Some voters have no candidate from their caste while some voters have more than one candidate from their caste.
• The ruling party keeps changing whenever elections take place.

Politics in caste

Politics plays a significant role & influences the caste system in India.

• Each caste group tries to increase in numbers by including sub-castes or neighboring castes.
• New caste groups come up like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups.
• Various caste groups get into a coalition with other castes or communities during elections.
• Caste politics have helped Dalit & OBC castes to gain better access to decision-making.
• political parties make demands and agitate against discrimination on the basis of caste.

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gender religion and caste class 10 question answer

1. Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated against or disadvantaged in India.
Answer: The different aspects of life in which women are discriminated against in India are the following:

• Education: –Many girls in India still do not have access to quality education. The literacy rate of women is only 54% as compared to 76% among men in India. This shows the gap between the ratio of men and women with respect to literacy in India. This is because parents do not invest in a girl’s education.
• Employment:-Women in India often face discrimination in the workplace, including lower pay than men for the same work. They work one hour more than an average man every day.
• Political Representation:-Women are underrepresented in politics in India, both in elected positions and in political parties.
• Violence against women: Many women face discrimination in accessing justice for domestic violence, sexual assault, and harassment.
• Sex ratio: – Sex Ratio in India was 800 girls to every 1000 boys in 2019.

2. State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
Answer: The different forms of communal politics are:
Religious Communalism: the use of religion as the basis of political identity and mobilization. Example: The Hindu nationalist movement in India, led by (the BJP), seeks to promote the interests of Hindus over other religious groups.

Linguistic Communalism: The use of language as the basis of political identity and mobilization. Example: During elections, hate speeches come to the surface, revealing communalism.

Regional Communalism: The uses of regional identity as the basis of political mobilization. Example: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which seeks to establish a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.

Caste-based Communalism: The use of caste identity as the basis of political mobilization. Example: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents the interests of Dalits and Other Backward Castes in India.

3. State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.
Answer: Caste inequalities are still continuing in various forms in India in the following ways:
i) Discrimination: Based on caste is still prevalent in various aspects of life, including education, employment, housing, and access to public services.

ii) Economic Inequality: Dalits and other marginalized communities face poverty and economic marginalization. Many are forced to work in low-paying jobs and lack access to education and other opportunities for social mobility.

iii) Inter-caste Marriages: Inter-caste marriages are still looked down upon in many parts of India, and families often face social ostracism for breaking caste barriers.

iv) Political Representation: Many political parties are aligned with particular castes, which reinforces the marginalization of other groups.

4. State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.
Answer: Caste alone cannot determine election results in India because-
i) Caste dynamics in India are not fixed and can change over time, particularly as younger generations become more educated and exposed to new ideas.
ii) Voters in India often base their choices on issues such as economic development, corruption, and social welfare, rather than just caste identity.

5. What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies?
Answer: The status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies is still relatively low.
i) Women’s Representation was only 14.4% of seats in the Lok Sabha in 2021 which is less than the 33% of reservation that has been proposed in the Women’s Reservation Bill.
ii) The situation is slightly better in state assemblies, with women holding an average of 9% of seats as of 2021.
iii) The Indian Constitution provides for the reservation of seats for women in local bodies such as panchayats and municipalities.

6. Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.
Answer: The two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state are as follows:
i) The Indian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion for all citizens the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate any religion of one’s choice.
ii) The Indian Constitution prohibits the state from compelling any person to pay taxes for maintaining any particular religion.

7. When we speak of gender divisions, we usually refer to:
(a) Biological differences between men and women
(b) Unequal roles assigned by society to men and women
(c) Unequal child-sex ratio
(d) Absence of voting rights for women in democracies
Answer: (b) Unequal roles assigned by society to men and women.

8. In India, seats are reserved for women in
(a) Lok Sabha
(b) State legislative assemblies
(c) Cabinets
(d) Panchayati Raj bodies
Answer: (d) Panchayati Raj bodies

9. Consider the following statements on the meaning of communal politics. Communal politics is based on the belief that:
A. One religion is superior to that of others.
B. People belonging to different religions can live together happily as equal citizens.
C. Followers of a particular religion constitute one community.
D. State power cannot be used to establish the domination of one religious group over others. Which of the statements is/are correct?

(a) A, B, C, and D
(b) A, B, and D
(c) A and C
(d) B and D
Answer: (c) A and C

 10. Which of the following statements about India’s Constitution is wrong? It
(a) prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(b) gives official status to one religion.
(c) provides all individuals the freedom to profess any religion.
(d) ensures equality of citizens within religious communities.
Answer: (b) gives official status to one religion.

11. Social divisions based on _________ are peculiar to India.
Answer: Social divisions based on caste are peculiar to India.

12. Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

Answer: Option (b) is the correct answer.

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