“Analyse the gender bias in the present society with examples.” (2013)
Gender bias is the systematic preference for men and masculine traits built into norms, institutions and everyday decisions, often without any conscious intent. Analysed across the life course, it appears in every sphere and is sustained by a common set of mechanisms.
Before birth and in the body
- Son preference skews the sex ratio at birth to 929 girls per 1,000 boys (NFHS-5). The Economic Survey 2017–18 estimated about 21 million “unwanted” girls in India.
- Amartya Sen’s “missing women” (1990) described the same bias in nutrition and health care.
In the household
- Women spend 289 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services against 88 for men (Time Use Survey 2024).
- Daughters gained equal coparcenary rights in 2005, but Bina Agarwal shows that they rarely claim land, under family pressure.
In the economy
- Female labour force participation is 40.0% against 79.1% for men (PLFS Annual Report 2025).
- Most working women are self-employed, including unpaid family helpers (64.2%). Only 18.2% hold regular salaried jobs.
- Occupational segregation, a motherhood penalty and a glass ceiling keep women in low-paid, “feminine” work.
- Women who take paid jobs still carry a second shift of housework (Arlie Hochschild).
Violence and public space
- The NCRB recorded 4,48,211 crimes against women in 2023. Cruelty by husband or relatives (1,33,676 cases) was the largest category, which shows that danger lies inside the family as well as on the street.
- Fear of harassment restricts girls’ mobility and schooling choices, and online harassment extends it into digital space.
Politics and voice
- Women won only 74 Lok Sabha seats (13.6%) in 2024. The 2023 women’s reservation law is deferred until after delimitation.
- India ranks 131st in the Global Gender Gap Index 2026.
Why the bias persists
- Patriarchy as structure: Sylvia Walby describes a shift from private patriarchy, where women are confined to the home, to public patriarchy, where they are admitted to work and politics but segregated and subordinated there.
- Socialisation and ideology: NFHS-5 found that 45% of women themselves accept wife-beating in some circumstances. This is Antonio Gramsci’s hegemony in gendered form.
- Brahmanical patriarchy: Uma Chakravarti shows that caste endogamy depends on controlling women.
- Intersection: bias is sharpest for Dalit, Adivasi and poor women.
Conclusion
Gender bias today is less often open exclusion than structured disadvantage that looks like free choice. Laws have removed many formal barriers. Closing the gap now depends on sharing unpaid work, changing norms of masculinity and ensuring women’s effective control over property and representation.