Paper Details
Paper Code: AIJACLAV3RP172023
Category: Research Paper
Date of Submission for First Review: March 9, 2023
Date of Publication: December 29, 2023
Citation: Partha Sarathi Sarkar, “Nature and Natural - A Study on What the Corona Time has Taught on Gender", 3, AIJACLA, 141, 141-146 (2023), <https://www.aequivic.in/post/nature-and-natural-a-study-on-what-the-corona-time-has-taught-on-gender>
Author Details: Partha Sarathi Sarkar, M. Phil. Student, University of Kalyani
Abstract
Twenty-first century is a time when the world is turning around like anything at a great speed. Every other concept is becoming a trace of modification in own presence. In this situation also the gender relation is not much changed. Though women are coming in the economic force and several legislative actions are helping their promotions but still the hidden strength of the male centric social force can ever be ignored. The social pattern is so much patriarchal that hardly the women can get an equal position in true sense. But as per their nature also the men and women are pursuing with different physical construction. The women are quite helpless for expecting any change. It has become the natural phenomenon to be suppressed when this kind of division is pro-actively presented in the society. Suddenly a new time has come for creating a special living which is an alternative pattern to the already presented normal. Humans have been jailed by the fatal virus namely the Corona. It has a high chance to make some further transformations in the social living. The research has thought that this period of time can have some impact upon the gender role also. For the study purpose a purposive sampling has been made in this case. The vegetable seller women from two markets of the nearby place to Kolkata as Khardah have been considered. They belong to lower income group henceforth they have a high chance to face the domestic violence even after earning a good livelihood. The study tries to note here if they feel any change in their lives due to the situational change as because if the nature is changed then it is highly possible that the natural setting will make some change in their lives further.
Keywords
21st Century; Corona; Domestic Violence; Economic Force; Gender Relation
Introduction
"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage are not always comfortable, but they are never weakness."
Brene Brown
It is anthropologically said that the present time has come by travelling upon the ways savagery, barbarism and then the civilization. All the human societies have passed through these three. Time is a continuous period and formally all the episodes are making the continuance of the period. It is indeed very important to see the humans by following these. It can be harmonious to see how the traditional components from the said two have come in the concept of civilization pattern. It can be proved by criticising the culture that all the components have changed their forms but never have ended completely. From this perspective the social facts can be studied and undoubtedly those all are complimentary to each other. It is very important to see that the negative things are also coming from the past. It can be seen that the atrocities to the humans are offering of the past. It is in a young form but the past is in the continuous flow. The uninterrupted considerations are highly relevant to say the things are not completed in the past.
It may be the class or caste which has made humans suppressed with their fates. The humans have fought with the complicacies to make a good establishment in the society. The positive discrimination has high importance in the society. The unwelcomed things are quite finely managed by this connection and humans have bothered to work upon in the relational help. It is a much hardship to end all these. And the governments and non-government agencies are trying to help the situation for a better transformation towards the positive forwardness. Henceforth, it is now needed to make a more integrated understanding about the natural pattern of social equality. In this connection the gender concept can be of academic interest.
In India the women are yet to be equally developed. Undoubtedly it can be said that the independence and modernisation have helped the situation. The women are now being literate and they are joining in the workforce. It has tremendous impact upon the gender connection and the women are now making the complete possibility of social promotion. It is fine and quite interesting that the women are now making their own as well as their family's destination of economic fate. The women are creating their relevance with the present time. It is a situation when they understand their potentiality but the traditional negativity with them cannot give them any good place even after everything. The women have to go miles for getting their complete liberation.
The Corona pandemic has affected further upon the gender set up. The people are now making them accords to the time. The cultural pattern of the society is making it much motivated and developed. The people are making them very much changed. In this situation the gender consideration has to be analysed for better interpretation of the new time. For this purpose, it has been relevant for checking the situation of the women. In academic ground the study has tried to see the women from the lower status as they have high chance to come through the conditions of domestic violence. The vegetable sellers from markets have been considered. It is the judgemental aspect of the study which has made their selection from the real-life situation. Some case studies have tried to portray the situation in complete form. It has shown that in their lives the time has good result and now they are making some effect with the conceptualized pattern of the change.
Study Need
The study has tried to see the position of the women who are in a vulnerable condition. They are earning but their earning is not of much facilitative. They are trying to manage the lives somehow and they are not at all comfortable with their situation. They are now dealing with the pandemic in a comparatively open environment. They have to deal with the situation at a dangerous condition when any time they can get an attack of the Corona. It is a critical situation as they regularly have to come to the market shops. They have no further going in their lives as they are hardly covered with the governmental help. They rather have to live in a situation in their households with which they are carrying a risk of becoming easy prey of domestic violence. It may make their lives bitter enough when nothing can be helpful for them. The study has tied up its motivation with the line of approach from the domestic violence of their lives. It will show how the time is impactful for the women who otherwise do not have any other exit possibility.
Study Limitation
The Corona impact is of multi linear and multi-pronged. There is any specific point to analyse for understanding anything in a better way. It is not any individualised case but it has several lines up in this connection. The people are quite depressed without getting any solution for the problem. The main drawback in this study it has considered only a specific group of people. The people are always vulnerable so the situation can make the vulnerability more intensive rather anything new to be critical. It is not any comparison which has to be seen in the study. It is making the case study procedure as the data are not available through interview of them. In this way a bit biased result can occur. The sample size has further to be considered as a weak point as with this few samples any generalization can be made. It is a consideration of the present time situation but a test-retest procedure is not possible.
Objectives
To see how the women from the lower strata of living are dealing with the pandemic situation of Corona time.
The daily life problems of the women will be said at a proper ground of data analysis.
It is to see here if the past and present have any kind of difference among the vegetable seller women.
It is to further notice if the change is positive and has any chance of continuance towards the level of proper living.
The study will explore the positive possibility in the living of the women who are in a problematic situation otherwise as they can be easy prey of the domestic violence.
It is finding here if the women are really getting any chance of becoming more facilitated towards the achievement of a liberty in their lives.
Review of Literature
Men and women are not equal in the times of social agonies and social problems. They are dealing with the problems at their different capacities. They are checking with the problems with their knowledge and perceptions which can hardly be handled without their previous exposures. A new understanding in the social science dimension has been made by [1]Taub (2020) when she has made an inference that the women led countries are better to deal with the Corona situation. It is much interesting though seems somehow unscientific. Still if the point can be true then it can be said that women can deal with the situation as they are facing multiple challenges in their lives. The Economic Times (2020) has described the time of COVID as the gender equalizer as the women folk mainly compose the healthcare workers who have high need of this time though they bear excessive chance of losing their jobs. It is a tremendous potentiality of the time that women can be in a state when they can get good position in the society. [2]Ramesh (2020) has pointed out the case of Indian women is much critical and pessimistic as they are over burdened due to the pandemic in their economic aspect. The article has also said in the line of the service sector the women are now losing their jobs than their counter part. Shiksha (2020) has explained that Mr Sonu Sood did help a lady who was selling the vegetables on road by losing her job in the technological service. It is saying that the vegetable selling has become a good way out for the women. But what is the status of the women who are selling vegetables from the earlier time? Express News Survey (2020) has exemplified in the line of the pandemic to say that in Chennai the Covid - 19 affective persons are mainly from the markets where they go for selling items mostly vegetables. The situation is to see from the lens of the women sellers. The women have double tragedy in their lives as in the households they can get domestic violence. Mlambo - Ngcuka (2020) has said that there is a shadow pandemic in the households for the women are persisting and the UN Women has started to get help by the helpline. But the vegetable sellers cannot have that access so the social construction only can help them. The study is to examine in the connection.
Methodology
Map 1: Location of the Study Area
The study has tried to note upon the issue of the Corona pandemic situation. It has tried to see if any positive change has occurred due to the effect of the pandemic time. It is tried here to see about the living pattern of the vegetable seller women in the market places of Khardah. Khardah is a city area now which is very much near to the Kolkata and Howrah. The cosmopolitan nature of the nearby metropolitan of Kolkata can be seen. It is to see that the people are of different economic groups which are making the place as a good one for doing social research. Here a condition of judgemental sampling has been followed. The data analysis has been used with the procedure of case study method. It is to note in this study that domestic violence can be a regular phenomenon in the lives. The pandemic situation is having a good connection with the household peace as can be understood with the case studies. The sample women have shown that in this time when the cultural trend is getting change then they have some positive line of living approach. The complete understanding has been well represented in this article. To maintain ethical procedure the selected samples have been named with alphabetic characters.
Discussion
Here four case studies have been mentioned. The case studies are different from each other. They have very less income but that income is required in their lives. The Corona time is giving them a chance to be recognised in their own households. They all are street side sellers so they may not have any economic sustenance but somehow their fighting is really commendable. Without their help the families of them can come in problem.
Case Study - A
It has been considered with a woman who is around 55 years of age. She is mainly selling the vegetables like potato and onion. The shop is just the road side. Hardly any face cover can be seen though she is well aware about the situation. The buyers are not large in number. She is believed as a seller who sells at lesser value than the market. She has a family of total four persons. Her husband has a rickshaw which is not at all of good earning. She is saying that her family's dependency upon the shop is very much. She also says that her husband is not alcoholic but sometimes uses slang. Now when the income from the rickshaw has been reduced then she is the decision makers in the household. The husband uses to say slangs but those are very less incidents. She is saying that the other two persons are the offspring of them and they are boys who work in some garage. The household income has reduced in the lock down substantially so her saving is being used now.
Case Study - B
In this case the woman says about her age as near to 40. She is selling some spinach in the market which has very low cost. She is a widower and she is dependent upon her brothers. The brothers are pulling auto rickshaws. They take care of her but she is uncomfortable if no money she can pay. The wives of the brothers sometimes have said that she is worthless if no earning is possible by her. In this way she has decided to come to the market. She is using a piece of cloth in front of her nose. It is her usual coming as she says. She has hardly any thought regarding the danger of the Corona. She says if it kills then no problem to be died. It is showing that she is hardly fond of life. It is quite pathetic of her that she knows about the danger of Corona but she can pay heed to it.
Case Study - C
This case study is with a woman who is with her girl child. They are selling some items like Asparagus. The woman is of around 40 years. The girl child should be of 15 years of age. They both have face mask but the masks are of cheap quality. The woman is saying that her husband was a migrant labourer but due to the lock down he has to come back. They are three in their household so she is accompanied by the child of her. In other time the child goes to school. The husband is mild to her so there is no chance of coming under the threat of domestic violence usually. Though when the husband comes home then she is ill-treated sometimes as showing her a person who regularly comes to the market place. His job is seen by her husband as a lower one which has no value except getting a lower place in the society. But still she is continuing with the selling as she is getting her mental strength through it. She says that in the household her earning will surely be needed now so she is expecting to get a respectful position in living.
Case Study - D
This case is of a young woman whose age is around 25 years. She is a literate woman as she has said. She has worn a good face mask. Her father was a van puller and now he has bed ridden. Her mother is a domestic help for last few years. She is selling the potatoes, onions, ginger, garlic and various other things. She has no problem in the household except she wants to study further which is not possible. She has to stop her study after Madhyamik (School final). She has no other earning member so she has to earn for the household. It is a situation when she knows the danger but has to come as because her mother is losing her job from many families. She is somehow happy that she can pay some amount of money in the home. She is saying that earning by her is highly needed for the home when the situation in her family is not good. But she is getting affectionate behaviour from her parents.
Conclusion
The study has found that the daily living can be changed by the Corona pandemic. It is the time of multiple changes in the lives and it can be said that these changes are not only negative rather several understanding can be made in positive form. The people of several strata are facing several changes in their lives. Those changes can be positive or negative as per their perspective. It is quite understandable that the lower strata in the society have magnificent tendencies to show several copings up strategies with the situation. It is not only a health problem but many other facts can be seen with it. Henceforth the social relationships are of high importance to examine here.
The vegetable sellers are making some specific ways to cope up with the time. They have to come regularly in the market places for their livelihood. In this way they are getting high risk to be affected. Still, they do not have any other way out so they are trying to be adjusted with it. The situation is further critical with the women. The women vegetable sellers are dealing with multiple threats in their lives. Mainly there is high chance of coming under the condition of ill treatment in their households which is quite a linear to the domestic violence.
It has been observed in the study that in this pandemic situation the vegetable seller women are also not far behind to selling their items. They can get their solvency by employing their full capacity. In this situation the household condition of them has to be seen. It has been observed that they are staying more comfortably in this time with the other situational positions. It is to see that the other conditions are prevailing but the condition of Corona has reduced the negative impacts from the other things. The domestic violence has been reduced as per their opinion. It is a chance in their lives to have a better living. In this way the situation is much positive for them. Now the time has come when the effect has to be channelized properly. The positive effect has to make intensive and proper so that the ultimate benefit can be assured in their lives. It has to be usual so that the women can be comfortable in their lives.
[1] Taub, A. (2020). Why Are Women-Led Nations Doing Better With Covid - 19? The New York Times, 13th August.
The Economic Times (2020). Looking at the pandemic through gender lens: Women are facing the brunt of Covid-19 with more job cuts, less pay. Published in Bloomberg on 14th May.
[2] Ramesh, M. (2020). Fired 1st Over COVID Must be Hired 1st: Why Economies Need Women. The quint, 17th June.
Shiksha, S. (2020). Hyderabad techie turns vegetable seller after lay-off amid coronavirus lockdown, Sonu Sood offers job. Zee News, 29th July.
Express News Survey (2020). Vegetable seller tests COVID-19 positive in Velachery; Chennai reports 300 plus cases in three zones. The New Indian Express, 7th May.
Mlambo - Ngcuka (2020). Violence against women and girls: the shadow pandemic. UN Women, 6th April.