Papers by Dr. Manasi Sinha (Ph.D, JNU)
Forum Italicum: A Journal of Italian Studies, 2023
While the project of the European Union (EU) incorporated gender equality as one of its foundatio... more While the project of the European Union (EU) incorporated gender equality as one of its foundational objectives and its institutions have been mandated to integrate gender equality into all of their policy areas, the EU has fallen short of materializing these objectives. Gender inequality at the EU level is perpetuated through a process in which the EU, as a structure anchored in economic considerations, interfaces with androcentric institutions and member states. This substantially determines the policy instruments, tools and mechanisms within and outside its periphery, rendering ‘gender’ to be co-opted, secondary and subdued policy areas. While the discourse on gender equality policy has evolved through ‘equal opportunity’, ‘positive action’ and ‘gender mainstreaming’ approaches, the policies mostly focus on auxiliary benefits such as maternity leave, childcare services and part-time work, aiming to assist women in reconciling their work and life situations. These benefits do not ...
Impaired State, Ruptured Lives: Afghan Refugee Women in the EU, 2021
With continuous instability and violence engulfing Afghanistan, large numbers of Afghan women and... more With continuous instability and violence engulfing Afghanistan, large numbers of Afghan women and girls are likely to reach Europe to seek protection from conflict and violence in their native land. However, absence of effective gender sensitive policies to address specific needs of women refugees and asylum seekers, juxtaposed with structural and
institutional barriers and divisive politics in Europe, all may exacerbate the violence and insecurity for these women and girls. The EU has to not only strategize its geopolitical concerns but also initiate a gender responsive immigration policy that addresses the imminent needs and concerns for the anticipated newcomers
Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) , 2020
Decision making at the EU level is not easy. For every policy initiatives and directives, decisio... more Decision making at the EU level is not easy. For every policy initiatives and directives, decisions need to go through a needle’s eye. After all, it’s not so much for a Union rising from the ashes of horrific wars, to get it institutionalised from a simple economic community to a complex political one, while knotting up diverse nation-interests into a fabric of humanitarian values and social solidarity. The vulnerable and devastated Europe in its 1950s, was desperate to set up a ‘polity’ –a ‘Levianthan’ that ensures that horrors of war could never be repeated. Robert Schuman’s vision of--creating common institutions to make war not just unthinkable and materially impossible-- not only changed the destiny of Europe, but it led to create an idea that was believed to have lived for generations –the European Union that we know today. However, amid the COVID crisis, there are speculations over crumbling of the EU solidarity and its integration project. What still remains as a puzzle is to see how this solidarity endures through ages and has stood the time of crisis throughout. The point of discussion in this paper is to explore the dynamics of the EU solidarity during COVID pandemic and how the EU is tackling the crisis despite divergence of interests.
Cafe Dissensus, 2020
Indian society is already in turmoil due to COVID-19 pandemic. In a tightening lockdown situation... more Indian society is already in turmoil due to COVID-19 pandemic. In a tightening lockdown situation where people are constrained and locked inside their houses around the globe including India, it is disheartening to see the deep-seated gendered roles resurfacing in most families in India. The hilarity, grief and distress that rippled through various Tik-Tok memes or WhatsApp groups over the anxiety of a single man or a family man panicking over cooking and cleaning the house, reflects an egregious form of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ operating at social level. So, domestic chores and care work is seen as ‘non-masculine’, somehow beneath men’s loftier position and status in society. Although women and girls are now encouraged to study and work in a society like India, valuing women is still subject to their perpetual drudgery and caring for others at home. Instead of liberating women, when they are away from paid work, the pandemic rendered them with towering responsibilities more than ever. This pandemic couldn’t unsettle the entrenched gendered norms that run through Indian society as a normal affair.
In India the hierarchically arranged gender system featured with a male predominance and female s... more In India the hierarchically arranged gender system featured with a male predominance and female subjugation allows for a ‘male gaze’ through which women are viewed as weak, vulnerable and become a ‘consumed commodity’. This narrow gaze vis a vis women jeopardizes freedom of movement for women in public spaces as they confront with various sexual violence like rape, molestation etc. However, the legal framework has not been able to curb this imminent sexual
violence because of a restricted value laden gaze that considers sexual violence as an individual/collective crime only. This escapes the root cause of sexual violence and intensifies the problem of gender inequality and gender violence in society.
This paper attempts to analyze this narrow social gaze which viewed women as weak, vulnerable and thus increased their vulnerability in public spaces and how the legal framework reinforces this narrow social gaze and eventually delays in
bringing the justice for women.
The socially constructed gender roles which rooted in India’s socio structural set up... more The socially constructed gender roles which rooted in India’s socio structural set up
internalizes further the sense of gender inequality or gender bias and accepted it as
‘Norm’. This gender inequality manifests across social, economic and political domain of
Indian society in form of preference of boy child over a girl child, falling sex ratio, lack
of participation of women in decision making process, lack of control of women over
power structure in society. This further results in to domestic violence, sexual
harassment, rape, molestation and may more crimes.
There have been many gender equality measures taken place at policy level in order to
reduce gender discrimination since independence. However, even after 65 years of
independence India is still burning with gender discrimination at all levels. The reason
behind this gender bias has been the fact that the gender equality measures are mostly
oriented towards women and sought to achieve gender equality through positive action
or economic opportunity for women only.
This paper therefore, attempts to analyze the new gender equality measure namely the
gender-mainstreaming strategy as a way to reduce this gender discrimination. The paper
dwells into addressing three questions: How gender-mainstreaming strategy could be a
better way to eliminate this gender bias? How is it different from other gender equality
measures? and What results it could yield in the process of its implementation?
Therefore the objective of the paper is to study how the socially constructed gender roles
result into gender discrimination in society and how this discrimination can be removed
through bringing changes in mindset of people and society at large with the help of gender-mainstreaming strategy.
The formation of gender identity and consequent gender differences is instilled in th... more The formation of gender identity and consequent gender differences is instilled in the
social fabric, reinforced in daily life and is practiced and perpetuated through the
process of socialization. This leads to asymmetry and consequent inequality which in a
way sanctions male hegemony over gender hierarchy and allows for a male gaze through
which women are viewed as an object of gratification; a vulnerable group; a voice less
gender; and traditional care-givers. This narrow gaze vis a vis women consequently put
the lives of women in jeopardy and expose them to various sexual violence and
discrimination in private and public domain.
However, enforcement of law has not sufficiently reduced the crisis of sexual violence.
The reason behind this being legal consciousness having a narrow value laden gaze in
which sexual violence is defined through the same larger framework of patriarchal
discourse which considers it to as crime only. This escapes the root cause of sexual
violence and intensifies the problem of gender inequality and gender violence in society.
This paper therefore, attempts to analyze the ways through which women are viewed
through a social gaze which objectify them as modest, tender, and weak and thus justifies
their vulnerability in public spaces. It also analyses how the legal consciousness has been
influenced by the patriarchal gender discourse and reinforces this social gaze.
Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate into new ways which helps in reversing this
social gaze by triggering a change in the social mindset at larger level so as to delimit
the scope of this social gaze on women. This, the paper holds that the solution lies in
reversing and widening the social gaze with respect to gendered space, gender role performance, and conceptual domain of sexual violence so that a woman could receive
her freedom, liberty and rights not being a woman only but as an equal gender.
Books by Dr. Manasi Sinha (Ph.D, JNU)
Women, Gender and Justice: Issues and Perspectives, Pragati Publications, New Delhi, 2019
In Indian cities women do not restrict their lives within the private sphere to the same extent a... more In Indian cities women do not restrict their lives within the private sphere to the same extent as they have been claimed to do so in the public space. Such a restriction with respect to their mobility in public spaces arises because of a gendered spatiality which validates domination of men in the public space and controls the spatial behavior of women. However, this gendered spatiality is reinforced through a fear psychosis perpetrated by men onto the minds of women so as to push them away towards the periphery i,e private sphere. This leads to spatial exclusion for women in the public space and further leads to consequent inequality in society. However, legal institutional mechanisms have not sufficiently reduced this crisis of fear psychosis.
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Papers by Dr. Manasi Sinha (Ph.D, JNU)
institutional barriers and divisive politics in Europe, all may exacerbate the violence and insecurity for these women and girls. The EU has to not only strategize its geopolitical concerns but also initiate a gender responsive immigration policy that addresses the imminent needs and concerns for the anticipated newcomers
violence because of a restricted value laden gaze that considers sexual violence as an individual/collective crime only. This escapes the root cause of sexual violence and intensifies the problem of gender inequality and gender violence in society.
This paper attempts to analyze this narrow social gaze which viewed women as weak, vulnerable and thus increased their vulnerability in public spaces and how the legal framework reinforces this narrow social gaze and eventually delays in
bringing the justice for women.
internalizes further the sense of gender inequality or gender bias and accepted it as
‘Norm’. This gender inequality manifests across social, economic and political domain of
Indian society in form of preference of boy child over a girl child, falling sex ratio, lack
of participation of women in decision making process, lack of control of women over
power structure in society. This further results in to domestic violence, sexual
harassment, rape, molestation and may more crimes.
There have been many gender equality measures taken place at policy level in order to
reduce gender discrimination since independence. However, even after 65 years of
independence India is still burning with gender discrimination at all levels. The reason
behind this gender bias has been the fact that the gender equality measures are mostly
oriented towards women and sought to achieve gender equality through positive action
or economic opportunity for women only.
This paper therefore, attempts to analyze the new gender equality measure namely the
gender-mainstreaming strategy as a way to reduce this gender discrimination. The paper
dwells into addressing three questions: How gender-mainstreaming strategy could be a
better way to eliminate this gender bias? How is it different from other gender equality
measures? and What results it could yield in the process of its implementation?
Therefore the objective of the paper is to study how the socially constructed gender roles
result into gender discrimination in society and how this discrimination can be removed
through bringing changes in mindset of people and society at large with the help of gender-mainstreaming strategy.
social fabric, reinforced in daily life and is practiced and perpetuated through the
process of socialization. This leads to asymmetry and consequent inequality which in a
way sanctions male hegemony over gender hierarchy and allows for a male gaze through
which women are viewed as an object of gratification; a vulnerable group; a voice less
gender; and traditional care-givers. This narrow gaze vis a vis women consequently put
the lives of women in jeopardy and expose them to various sexual violence and
discrimination in private and public domain.
However, enforcement of law has not sufficiently reduced the crisis of sexual violence.
The reason behind this being legal consciousness having a narrow value laden gaze in
which sexual violence is defined through the same larger framework of patriarchal
discourse which considers it to as crime only. This escapes the root cause of sexual
violence and intensifies the problem of gender inequality and gender violence in society.
This paper therefore, attempts to analyze the ways through which women are viewed
through a social gaze which objectify them as modest, tender, and weak and thus justifies
their vulnerability in public spaces. It also analyses how the legal consciousness has been
influenced by the patriarchal gender discourse and reinforces this social gaze.
Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate into new ways which helps in reversing this
social gaze by triggering a change in the social mindset at larger level so as to delimit
the scope of this social gaze on women. This, the paper holds that the solution lies in
reversing and widening the social gaze with respect to gendered space, gender role performance, and conceptual domain of sexual violence so that a woman could receive
her freedom, liberty and rights not being a woman only but as an equal gender.
Books by Dr. Manasi Sinha (Ph.D, JNU)
institutional barriers and divisive politics in Europe, all may exacerbate the violence and insecurity for these women and girls. The EU has to not only strategize its geopolitical concerns but also initiate a gender responsive immigration policy that addresses the imminent needs and concerns for the anticipated newcomers
violence because of a restricted value laden gaze that considers sexual violence as an individual/collective crime only. This escapes the root cause of sexual violence and intensifies the problem of gender inequality and gender violence in society.
This paper attempts to analyze this narrow social gaze which viewed women as weak, vulnerable and thus increased their vulnerability in public spaces and how the legal framework reinforces this narrow social gaze and eventually delays in
bringing the justice for women.
internalizes further the sense of gender inequality or gender bias and accepted it as
‘Norm’. This gender inequality manifests across social, economic and political domain of
Indian society in form of preference of boy child over a girl child, falling sex ratio, lack
of participation of women in decision making process, lack of control of women over
power structure in society. This further results in to domestic violence, sexual
harassment, rape, molestation and may more crimes.
There have been many gender equality measures taken place at policy level in order to
reduce gender discrimination since independence. However, even after 65 years of
independence India is still burning with gender discrimination at all levels. The reason
behind this gender bias has been the fact that the gender equality measures are mostly
oriented towards women and sought to achieve gender equality through positive action
or economic opportunity for women only.
This paper therefore, attempts to analyze the new gender equality measure namely the
gender-mainstreaming strategy as a way to reduce this gender discrimination. The paper
dwells into addressing three questions: How gender-mainstreaming strategy could be a
better way to eliminate this gender bias? How is it different from other gender equality
measures? and What results it could yield in the process of its implementation?
Therefore the objective of the paper is to study how the socially constructed gender roles
result into gender discrimination in society and how this discrimination can be removed
through bringing changes in mindset of people and society at large with the help of gender-mainstreaming strategy.
social fabric, reinforced in daily life and is practiced and perpetuated through the
process of socialization. This leads to asymmetry and consequent inequality which in a
way sanctions male hegemony over gender hierarchy and allows for a male gaze through
which women are viewed as an object of gratification; a vulnerable group; a voice less
gender; and traditional care-givers. This narrow gaze vis a vis women consequently put
the lives of women in jeopardy and expose them to various sexual violence and
discrimination in private and public domain.
However, enforcement of law has not sufficiently reduced the crisis of sexual violence.
The reason behind this being legal consciousness having a narrow value laden gaze in
which sexual violence is defined through the same larger framework of patriarchal
discourse which considers it to as crime only. This escapes the root cause of sexual
violence and intensifies the problem of gender inequality and gender violence in society.
This paper therefore, attempts to analyze the ways through which women are viewed
through a social gaze which objectify them as modest, tender, and weak and thus justifies
their vulnerability in public spaces. It also analyses how the legal consciousness has been
influenced by the patriarchal gender discourse and reinforces this social gaze.
Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate into new ways which helps in reversing this
social gaze by triggering a change in the social mindset at larger level so as to delimit
the scope of this social gaze on women. This, the paper holds that the solution lies in
reversing and widening the social gaze with respect to gendered space, gender role performance, and conceptual domain of sexual violence so that a woman could receive
her freedom, liberty and rights not being a woman only but as an equal gender.