How is the space we provide for women an indicator of gender inequality?
We are no strangers to gender inequality in our society. But have you ever noticed how the space provided for women reinforces the idea of inequality? Take a look.
A few weeks ago, The Times of India published a piece by columnist Jug Suraiya, where he talked about the architecture of his Gurgaon home. Designed by an award-winning architect, the kitchen in the house was a small and cramped-up space that resembled a “not very large walk-in closet.” As the kitchen is thought of as the domain of women in Indian society, he relates its size to the space we provide for women in general.
We can say all we want that cooking is a life skill, not a gender role, and that a woman’s territory is not limited to the kitchen, but at the end of the day, it’s our mothers or wives standing in the space sweating and making “round” chapatis for us. Their so-called space is so cramped up to not even fit two people at once. The architect unintentionally left a clue to his “male identity,” not being sensitive in allocating the space for a woman.
He might have done it unknowingly, but it forces us to think about the place of women in the society, always being pushed to the margins and asked to survive with the bare minimum. There are more men in sight than women, mostly because women are at home doing the domestic chores in a room that is so tight and hostile, to say the least. In the essay titled Extending the Contested Spaces of the Modern Kitchen, Angela Meah provides a historical background of why the kitchen is associated with women. “Historically, the kitchen was a space occupied by working-class women, either as maids or cooks for the wealthy or in their own kitchens. The kitchen was at the rear of the house, out of public view; gendered labor concealed from the rest of society.” This notion of the kitchen as a “woman’s space” is reinforced not only in our homes but also through television shows, films, and advertisements. Women are portrayed as confined to the four walls of the kitchen, working to feed the family. Even the space that has been willingly designated to them is an indicator of their marginalized state in the house and also the society.
Suraiya also talks about the ladies coach in trains and metros, and reserved seats for women in buses that “bear witness to a gender apartheid socially engineered to safeguard women from the ever-present, and officially recognized and accepted, the likelihood of male intimidation and physical and verbal harassment.” The space provided for women here also reflects prejudices against them and the problems they face on a daily basis. There is a need for a separate coach and seats because there are men out there trying to violate and harass them. No matter how crowded these coaches are, women choose to bear this discomfort over taking the risk of travelling in a general coach.
Also, on a slightly different note, the pockets of women’s jeans are ridiculously smaller than those of men’s. It is assumed that they will be carrying handbags and thus do not require larger pockets. In comparison to the function of men’s clothing, women’s clothing only has a visual appeal. The space in the pockets here is a metaphor for the inequity that women face in the society.
The world is changing, and women have undoubtedly progressed. However, we still have our mothers and grandmothers working in cramped kitchens and working women who avoid taking the general coach during rush hour. There’s a fear attached to staying out past 8 PM, pay gap, and sexism among various other prejudices. This and the unintentional cramped-up design of the kitchen suggests that there’s still a long way to go for women to be considered equal and at par with their male counterparts.
Also, there is a debate between whether the women who express themselves through cooking choose it for themselves, or they do it because other avenues of self-expression are closed to them. Read this blog to know more about it. You can also check out other blogs on the website.
Sign up for the Fuzia community to connect with some like-minded people.
Image credits: Google