(FREE) BGDG-172 June 2023 Solved Question Paper

Q. 1. Define masculinities. Discuss various forms of masculinities.

Answer: Both masculinity and femininity are opposite constructs and in order to understand any one term, it is necessary to understand the other term. Masculine traits and qualities are opposites of feminine traits and qualities. As we know that both masculinity and femininity are social constructs i.e. these are not biologically determined. Strong, Aggressive, Brave, Violent Domineering, Independent, etc. are some characters included in masculinity. Similarly, Weak, Beautiful, Caring, Nurturing, Tolerant, Dependent, etc. are considered as feminine traits.

After analysing these traits on the basis of societal relationship, we will find that men are expected to be aggressive, controlling and hot-tempered and women are expected to be submissive, week, patient and docile. It indicates that masuline traits are dominating over feminine traits. If the status quo of these masculine/ feminine stereotypes is not adhered or accepted by a person, he is treated very unkindly by society. For example, if a boy has a tendency to cry or is gentle he is assaulted as ‘sissy’ by his friends or colleagues, etc.

There are several opinions about the difference between men and women, which may be due to nature or nurture or some combination of both. Various agents of gendering like family members, friends, schools, college and university, media, religion, etc. provide ideals or standard behaviour or roles expected of each member in a given society. These agents play a significant role in shaping masculinity constructs for boys and men and feminine constructs in women and girls in their respective culture and society. This is called gender socialization. Boys are raised to follow male gender roles expectations and girls are supposed to conform to female roles, behaviour and actions appropriate for women. For example, in most Indian homes, if a boy applies a ‘bindi’ or wears a bangle like their mother or a sister, the act is ridiculed. Masculinity is also formed by the age, religion, caste, class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality of an individual. Due to the patriarchal and hierarchical social order, men are considered as superior and therefore, they are kept in a commanding and controlling position over women and men who are lower in position and status to them. Thus, we can say that supremacy of masculinity is also endorsed by patriarchy. The masculine attitude reflects not only in between men and women but also between men too. Masculinity is related to the symbol of power. There is a perception that women cannot be successful until they masculinize the system of power.

FORMS OF MASCULINITIES

The various forms of masculinities as described by Connell are:

Hegemonic Masculinity: According to Connell, hegemonic masculinity refers to a culturally authoritative form of masculinity that supports the dominance of men and the subordination of women demanding total submission. Hegemonic masculinity is dominant, expresses a successful strategy for domination of women and men.

Subordinated Masculinity: Gender relation regarding dominance and subordination takes place between groups of men too. There are many examples in society in which a gay men are often subordinated by straight men through their attitudes and behaviours. Not only gay, some heterosexual men and boys too are target of sissy, nerd, geek, mama’s boy, etc. as they portray an impression of feminine traits.

Complicit Masculinity: The men practicing hegemonic patterns of masculinity (behaviour and attitude) in totality is always very small. Infact, most of the men enjoy this hegemonic form as a sort of spillover bonus and get the advantage indirectly. Thus, they are complicit in this masculinity since it helps men in general gain from overall subordination of women in society.

Marginalized Masculinity: The interplay of gender with other structures such as class, race or caste that creates further hierarchical relationships amongst masculinities in dominant and subordinated classes, castes or ethnic groups is included in marginalised masculinity.

Q. 2. Evaluate the notion of gender gap in labour force participation. Substantiate your argument with the help of any two examples.

Answer: Discrimination against women and girls is a pervasive and long-running phenomenon that characterises Indian society at every level. India’s progress towards gender equality, measured by its position on rankings such as the Gender Development Index has been disappointing, despite fairly rapid rates of economic growth. In the past decade, while Indian GDP has grown by around 6%, there has been a large decline in female labour force participation from 34% to 27%. The male-female wage gap has been stagnant at 50% (a recent survey finds a 27% gender pay gap in white-collar jobs). India has a lower share of women’s contribution to GDP than the global average of 37 percent, and the lowest among all regions in the world.

For India to maintain its position as a global growth leader, more concerted efforts at local and national levels and by the private sector are needed to bring women to parity with men. While increasing representation of women in the public spheres is important and can potentially be attained through some form of affirmative action, an attitudinal shift is essential for women to be considered as equal within their homes and in broader society. The role of women in the workplace cannot be viewed in isolation from their role in society.

Data from India’s National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) surveys shows that women’s labour-force participation is significantly lower than that of men in both urban and rural areas. As per the famous scholars Chaudhary and Verick 2014, India’s female labour-force participation rate is just 21 percent in urban areas and 36 per cent in rural areas compared with 76 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively, in the case of men. Moreover in the recent time The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released results of its Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for the year 2018-19. The estimates show a marginal improvement in overall labour force participation rates, more so for rural women (up from 18.2 per cent in 2017-18 to 19.7 per cent in 2018-19). Urban female labour force participation rates also show a modest improvement over the same period – from 15.9 to 16.1 per cent. This seems a reprieve from the intense decline in female participation in the Indian economy, more so in rural areas, which has been the subject-matter of many debates in the recent past.

The Global Gender Gap Report (2014) reveals a widespread perception that women are paid lower wages compared with men for the same work. Only 7 per cent of tertiary educated women have jobs as senior officials compared with 14 per cent of men. Similarly, women account for only 38 per cent of all professional technical jobs. Women constitute just 5% of the boards of companies in India. In both rural and urban areas, about 92 per cent spent most of their time on domestic duties. Among those who spent most of their time on domestic duties, about 60 per cent in rural areas and 64 per cent in urban areas did so due to the reason ‘no other member to carry out the domestic duties’.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has shot off a fresh warning to listed companies to appoint, at least, one woman director on their Boards by the April 1 deadline failing which they would face regulatory action. The market regulator was informed by the stock exchanges that close to one-third of the top 500 listed companies do not have any woman on their boards. Underlying social attitudes about the role of women are, arguably, some of the biggest barriers India’s women face. MGI (2015) found a strong link between attitudes that limit women’s potential and actual gender equality outcomes in a given region.

Q. 3. Describe gender differences in use of language. Give any suitable example to support your argument.

Answer:

“Language and Gender” refers to the relationship between the language of male and female. Gender difference is not only a reflection of the speeches between male and female, but also a reflection of their different living styles and attitudes. Though research findings lay different emphasis on the differences, there are still some similarities between them. For instance, males are more concerned with power, they desire to be leaders, while females are satisfied with their subordinate status; males speak directly and take transferring information as the first thing, but females speak indirectly, implicitly and mildly. For them, expressing feelings is very important. Many scholars have been concerned about the differences between the language of male and female. To some extent, it shows that gender difference is very popular and important.

Early in the 1970s, linguists, psychologists began to attach great importance to differences between the language of male and female, the representatives were Key, Lakoff and Thorne. The mainstream views include the deficit theory by Lakoff (1975), who considers that female language is inferior to male language, the dominance theory by Thorne (1975), who thinks female language is superior, male language is a kind of deficiency, and Cameron (2003) put forward that women are better at listening and sharing emotions with others. They put forward some terms, such as “women’s language” (Lakoff, 1973), “the female register” (Grosby and Nyquist, 1977), “genderlect” (Kramer, 1974) and “gender-related-language” (Mulac et al, 1986). The scholars use different terms to determine their research subject. No matter what angles they researched from and what methodology they used, the scholars promote the development of the research into gender differences. The research into gender differences in the field of linguistics began with Robin Lakoff. She put forward “female language” and her book Language and Women’s Place published in 1973 aroused the linguists’ interests in this research topic. Lakoff points out several features of the female language in her book given below:

Specialized Vocabulary

Compared with the language of males, females often like to use more concrete colour words, such as mauve, yellow, azure, beige and lavender. What’s more, they prefer to some concrete words that have a close relationship with life.

Milder Expletives

Females use expletives in a milder tone, but males often speak in a strong tone. For example, in Friends, Joe and Chandler often say “shit or damn it”, while female actresses often use milder expletives, like “go to hell”. The control of social conventions may lead to the different ways of speaking.

Empty Adjectives

Females always use some adjectives, such as charming, divine, and cute to express their feelings.

Tag Questions

Though males and females both use tag questions in a certain situation, females use tag questions specially, that is to say, when they express their opinions, tag questions are their favourite way of speaking even they are sure about what they want to say. Their purpose is to show they want to get recognized by others.

Intonation

Females prefer to a rising tone even in a declarative sentence, so their uncertainty and indecision have been revealed by a rising tone.

Super Polite Forms

Females are more polite than males. They tend to prefer an indirect way of speaking. A case in point is “I was wondering whether it was possible for you to hand me that book?”

Hypercorrect Grammar

Females usually speak in a formal manner not only in grammar, but also in pronunciation. They never use such words as “ain’t”, “goin”.

Joke-telling and Humour

The language of female lacks humour; they speak less humorously than males. Females inherently are not good at creating humor and understanding humour. For instance, we have known the famous classic and comic characters like Mr. Bean and Chaplinÿ but female comic characters can never be found to equate with them Lakoff held that the differences in lexicon, syntax and pragmatics mentioned above give us a unique style of the language of female: obedient, uncertainty and passive. Their speaking style is determined by the requirements of the society for females and their subordinate social status. Lakoff’s research has a great influence on the later linguists’ research. In the field of linguistics, the differences between the language of both genders have been studied in Anthropology, Dialectology and Sociolinguistics.

Q. 4. What is meant by sexual harassment? Discuss it with the help of case studies.

Answer: Sexual harassment at a workplace is considered violation of women’s right to equality, life and liberty. It creates an insecure and hostile work environment, which discourage women’s participation in work, thereby adversely affecting their social and economic empowerment and the goal of inclusive growth1. With this idea the legislature formulated the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The landmark Vishaka judgement by Supreme Court 1997 defined sexual harassment as “Any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour such as physical contact, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually-coloured remarks, showing pornography and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.”

The following preventive steps need to be taken by the employer:

• These are discussing the issue affirmatively in workers’ meetings and employer employee meetings;
• Prominent display of guidelines to create awareness of the right of women employees;
• Prominent display of members of the complaints committee and their contact details;
• The employers are also responsible for formulating an anti-sexual harassment policy;
• Constitution of a complaints committee to investigate, mediate, counsel and resolve cases of sexual harassment.

The following case study gives clarity about the sexual harassment at workplace:

Case Study

In a case ideally suited to teach how not to handle a sexual harassment situation, Lipphardt vs. Durango Steakhouse of Brandon, Inc., 267 F.3d 1183 (11th Cir. 2001), a restaurant employer managed to do just about everything as wrongly as it could be done, and in so doing showed how important common sense is in the area of employee relations. A restaurant’s manager and a subordinate employee, a female server, carried on a consensual relationship for a while, but then the subordinate broke off the relationship. Thereafter, the manager refused to work with her, but still sought encounters with her, brushing up against the server on several occasions in a sexual way, threatening to hurt her and her child, and on the final occasion confronting her in the office and propositioning her. They argued for about a quarter of an hour, after which the server was able to leave, but when she later went to her car, he followed her out and prevented her from closing her car door, while begging her to reconsider the breakup. On the following day, the manager asked the server whether she would report his behaviour, which she did, telling the general manager, a second manager, and a regional manager. She even requested a transfer.

Here’s where the plot thickened: the female employee went on vacation, whereupon the general manager told the manager that the general manager’s supervisor was considering firing both the manager and the server. (“No, no”, you whisper, “not the server – fire the manager!” Alas, they cannot hear you…) At the trial (of course, there was a trial – remember, this article is about managers who did not do the right thing), the harasser testified that the general manager asked him whether he could tell him anything that would justify getting rid of the server, since the employer would rather not fire him, but instead wanted to “get rid of the b –”. (“No, no”, you shout, “it’s not too late – this is a no-brainer – fire the manager!” Sadly, they still cannot hear you…) The harasser then obligingly told the general manager about the server giving away food for free in order to get free tans at a salon. (Aahhh, yes, the last refuge of a desperate manager – dig just deeply enough to find something, anything, to use against an employee and then lower the boom – there’s no chance anyone would view that as a trumped-up charge, right?)

The general manager recommended that the regional manager terminate the server based upon that report, even though neither of those two higher managers had bothered to confirm the manager’s report about the food give aways. Unfortunately, for the employer, the evidence at the trial showed that the employee giving away free food was someone else and that the manager, desperate to save his own position, had not actually witnessed the server doing such a thing. In other words, he based his report on second-hand, hearsay statements from others.

The female server won her lawsuit charging the employer with illegally retaliating against her for filing a complaint about sexual harassment. As the court observed, just because the server and the manager had had a consensual relationship in the past, their prior history did not give the manager a “free pass” to harass the server at work later. In addition, the court held that the jury could properly conclude, as it did, that the harassment crossed the border between personal animosity, which is not illegal, and sexual harassment, which is illegal.

Lessons to be learned from this case:

• Consider having a policy forbidding excessive fraternization between supervisors and subordinates, as well as between any two coworkers to the extent that their relationship spills over into the workplace and has the potential to reduce anyone’s productivity;
• You don’t need a law to tell you that regardless of whether a manager is acting against employees out of personal animosity or sexual harassment, the manager is bad news;
• Don’t ever try to do a favour for a loser like the manager in question, because at the ensuing trial (and with a loser like the one in this case, you just know there’s going to be a trial!), the manager will turn around and bite your hand by testifying that you offered to “get rid of the b –” for him;
• If you have to ask around for reasons to fire someone, that’s probably a good sign that you don’t have enough to go on, so you’d better forget it;
• If you do decide to listen to what a known “toucher” tells you about one of his victims, at the very least try to independently confirm his story before using it as the basis for discharging the victim; and
• Before you fire someone, if you hear a little voice telling you to “be careful”, please listen to that voice and bounce the situation off of someone else who can advise you from a neutral, professional standpoint!

Q. 5. Examine the role of gender in Indian media.

Answer: Media has a strong impact on our day to day life. As the technology is getting more advanced, media’s influence is growing exponentially. From the past several decades, television, radio, internet, and newspapers have become a reliable tool in our modern day life. With the information reaching masses in a blink of an eye, a life without media is near impossible. There is no denial in the fact that it influences our society in both positive and negative ways.

The advantages of media are infinite. From creating awareness among masses to serving as a source of inspiration, media act as a platform to present our ideas to the world. It connects people from around the globe and owing to its reach, a better world of communication opens up for the humankind.

While it has many positive effects on our society but it can lead to the blind following which in turn affects our lives. The advertisements these days target teenagers, in turn, they are becoming more brand conscious. Also, over exposure to sexual content in advertising, magazines, television shows, and music videos make the children furious and vulnerable to unwanted hormonal changes in their body.

Women are also the potential victims of media’s influence over society. The portrayal of women as sexual figures in popular culture is also a threat to the well-being of our society. Women’s exclusion from the serious news of the day was raised as early as the 18th century by women suffragists and women’s rights activists in Europe and North America. The early suffrage leaders needed the attention of the news media to carry their ideas and activities to wider publics, but male-run newspapers and magazines largely ignored the women activists. The news outlets that did cover women frequently trivialized their goals. Women, who departed from the social norms of passivity and deference to male authority, and the traditional roles of wife and mother, risked being characterized as inappropriate, insane or misfits. If they demanded equality with men, the media depicted them either as curiosities or as loud, militant and aggressive.

Objectification of Women in the Media: We all know that media often portrays women in vulnerable and easily overpowered situations. Feminist scholars say that the objectification of women involves the act of disregarding the personal and intellectual abilities and capabilities of a female; and reducing a woman’s worth or role in society to that of an instrument for the sexual pleasure that she can produce in the mind of another.

Q. 6. Explain gender construction, in relation to culture and society. Give suitable examples.

Answer: While understanding social construction of gender, it is required to understand the relationship of gender with various institutions like caste, kinship, marriage and so on. The social construction of gender is a theory in feminism and sociology about the manifestation of cultural origins, mechanisms, and corollaries of gender perception and expression in the context of interpersonal and group social interaction. Specifically, the social construction of gender stipulates that gender roles are an achieved “status” in a social environment, which implicitly and explicitly categorize people and therefore motivate social behaviours. Gender construction operates both at the macro and micro level and is very much embedded in the institutional arrangements of society. The process of gender construction can be explained in relation to the aspects of women’s lives like work, decision-making, honour killing, and the notion of autonomy and freedom from the perspective of gender and development. In this chapter, with respect to the gender construction, the focuses will be on culture and various structures like work, sex segregation and division of labour, which are perpetuating the existing gender divisions on the basis of sex difference.

Social construction can be defined as a social process in which both individuals and other social institutions and practices are intrinsically related. Social construction is shaped and framed under the influence of a particular group or class of people. Thus, for the survival of a particular form of social construction, the dominant group impose the culture, norms, ideologies, and values on society. According to our understanding about social constructions in everyday life, the people are classified on the basis of caste, class, religion, community, kinship, gender, etc.

The social construction of gender can be explained on the basis of sex and gender. Gender refers to differences, hierarchies, rankings which exist between female and male. The various roles played by women and men in the society are associated with cultural constructions. As a conceptual tool, gender is used to analyse the occurrence of inequality between women and men, which is easily visible in family and household, religion, caste, labour market, education, ecology, scientific establishments and political institutions. Sex is defined as the biological differences between female and male which remain same across time and place. Gender can, therefore, be defined as a notion that offers a set of frameworks within which the social and ideological construction and representation of differences between the sexes. Through the process of gender socialisation, children acquire the position by recognising themselves with definite gender roles, they adapt themselves in accordance with the socially appropriate behaviours and attributes as females and males. Women are identified universally as mothers with the embodiment of love, care, support, while men’s proximity with public domain characterised by impersonal and professional nature and thus they are the products of socio-cultural constructions femininity and masculinity. Not only patriarchal constructions impose the social expectations from women as natural mothers, wives, daughters and homemakers, but it is operational in the material environment of the society. According to some feminists, that space and gender are socially constructed and women’s bodies, their activities, and mobility are bound to certain physical territories. For example, the woman, who is considered as queen of the house has to face restriction while going out particularly at night. On the basis of sex categorization, the social notion of femininity and masculinity is formed. This process of gender socialisation helps the person to maintain her/his sex categorisation at the societal level.

Q. 7. Discuss categories of sex and gender. Provide two examples from real life experiences.

Answer: Sex refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy. Sex is usually categorized as female or male but there is variation in the biological attributes that comprise sex and how those attributes are expressed. Sometimes, a person’s genetically assigned sex does not line up with their gender identity. These individuals might refer to themselves as transgender, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming.

“Gender” is more difficult to define, but it can refer to the role of a male or female in society, known as a gender role, or an individual’s concept of themselves, or gender identity. Gender tends to denote the social and cultural role of each sex within a given society.

Each culture has standards about the way that people should behave based on their gender. Rather than being purely assigned by genetics, as sex differences generally are, people often develop their gender roles in response to their environment, including family interactions, the media, peers and education. Thus, gender is socially constructed. For example, ideas about how men and women are expected to behave, dress, and communicate all contribute to gender. Gender is also a social and legal status as girls and boys, men, and women. For example, pink is seen as a suitable colour for a girl to wear, while boys are dressed in blue.

Gender stereotyping refers to the practice of ascribing to an individual woman or man specific attributes, characteristics, or roles by reason only of her or his membership in the social group of women or men. Gender stereotypes are the beliefs that people have about the characteristics of males and females. The content of stereotypes varies over cultures and over time. Gender stereotypes cast men as more agentic (e.g., competent, ambitious, assertive, and competitive) and women as more communal (e.g., supportive, caring, warm, and emotional) compared to members of the other sex. There are four basic kinds of gender stereotypes:

• Personality Traits: For example, women are often expected to be accommodating and emotional, while men are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive.
• Domestic Behaviours: For example, some people expect that women will take care of the children, cook, and clean the home, while men take care of finances, work on the car, and do the home repairs.
• Occupations: Some people are quick to assume that teachers and nurses are women,which are related to reproductive roles and that pilots, doctors, and engineers are men.
• Physical Appearance: For example, women are expected to be thin and graceful, while men are expected to be tall and muscular. Men and women are also expected to dress and groom in ways that are stereotypical to their gender (men wearing pants and short hairstyles, women wearing dresses and make-up)

The role of mass media, especially print and visual media (Television) and cinema, cannot be neglected in the contribution of gender stereotyping. Most of the commercial cinemas and television serials portray men with masculine qualities. They also present the women dependent on men and usually they perform reproductive roles in popular cinema and television. However, gender-based stereotypes about women have evolved in some positive ways regarding “competence and intelligence”. Also, the streotype roles of men and women are reversing but in a slow manner and also responsible for the conflicts in them while performing at different levels.

Q. 8. Write short notes on the following:
(a) Public and Private Binary

Answer: Of all the public services being hit by the cuts, those dealing with issues considered to be private are suffering the most. But what does “public” and “private” mean, in this context?

Public goods are things that benefit society as a whole – education, healthcare, wellbeing. Public services are the things that facilitate these goods – schools, universities, the NHS, libraries, parks and green spaces, etc. However, there are other less wellknown public services that facilitate public goods, such as publicly-funded domestic violence and rape crisis centres, drug and alcohol addiction clinics, Sure Start centres, etc. These less visible services have been some of the first to go in the government’s slashing of public services and to muted outcry. Why? These services deal with issues that are considered to be “private”.

Two strangers fighting in the street is “violence”, but violence in the home is “domestic” violence. It is, therefore, not a “public” issue.

Domestic violence is “domestic” because it happens in the home – the “private sphere”. Similarly, drug and alcohol addiction afflicts individuals who have hit hard times; so many people think there doesn’t need to be a public service to deal with this. Pregnancy, maternity, and raising infants are considered to be private, family issues, not something that promotes a public good.

Feminism has exposed the public/private binary (at least in Western cultures) as the core of women’s oppression. Women are embodied/emotional/nurturing creatures in the private sphere, as opposed to intellectual/rational/dispassionate men in the public sphere. Hence, “women’s issues” are not public issues.

The feminist answer is to dismantle the binary and transcend the public/private dichotomy altogether. In the meantime, however, we must fight to maintain the provision of domestic violence services, drug and alcohol clinics, and centres as public services; they are not luxuries or helping-hands for the private sphere.

(b) Reproductive Rights

Answer: Reproductive rights are also legal rights that give freedom to individual or couple to take decisions regarding reproduction and reproductive health. The concept of women’s reproductive health was reframed at the Cairo Conference in 1994 which emphasized that women’s health is socially constructed therefore it is important to consider reproductive health as a human right.

According to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health are included in Reproductive Rights. Reproductive right is a broader framework under which reproductive health was included and clearly defined. Reproductive rights may include the following rights for women;

• Right to legal or safe abortion;
• Right to birth control;
• The right of access quality reproductive health care and
• Right to education in order to make reproductive choices.

(c) Glass Ceiling

Answer: A glass ceiling is a metaphor used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic (typically applied to minorities) from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. The metaphor was first coined by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women. In the US, the concept is sometimes extended to refer to obstacles hindering the advancement of minority women, as well as minority men. Minority women in white-majority countries often find the most difficulty in “breaking the glass ceiling” because they lie at the intersection of two historically marginalized groups: women and people of colour. East Asian and East Asian American news outlets have coined the term “bamboo ceiling” to refer to the obstacles that all East Asian Americans face in advancing their careers. Similarly, a set of invisible obstacles posed against refugees’ efforts to workforce integration has been coined the “canvas ceiling”.

“A glass ceiling” represents a barrier that prohibits women from advancing toward the top of a hierarchical corporation. Those women are prevented from receiving promotion, especially to the executive rankings, within their corporation. In the last twenty years, the women who have become more involved and pertinent in industries and organizations have rarely been in the executive ranks. Women in most corporations encompass below five percent of board of directors and corporate officer positions.

(d) Gender Discrimination

Answer: Most people think of violence and harassment as a physical assault. However, workplace violence and harassment is a much broader problem. It is any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted in their employment. Rumours, swearing, verbal abuse, pranks, arguments, property damage, vandalism, sabotage, pushing, theft, physical assaults, psychological trauma, anger-related incidents, rape, arson and murder are all examples of workplace violence. Sexual harassment can be perpetrated by and directed at a range of people including employers, employees, contractors, and clients. Other particularly vulnerable populations of women include those working in educational and training institutions, domestic workers, migrant workers, workers with little job security, and workers in occupations where large numbers of women are supervised by small numbers of men.

Human trafficking is another form of violence against women and girls – which is the most lucrative illicit business worldwide. Between 2007 and 2010 trafficked victims of 136 nationalities were detected in 118 countries. Some 55-60 per cent of the victims were women. Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), forced labour alone (one component of human trafficking) generates an estimated $150 billion in profits per annum as of 2014. In 2012, the ILO estimated that 21 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery. Of these, 14.2 million (68%) were exploited for labour, 4.5 million (22%) were sexually exploited, and 2.2 million (10%) were exploited in state-imposed forced labour.

(e) Close Reading

Answer: Close reading is a thoughtful, disciplined reading of a text. Also called close analysis and explication de texte. Though close reading is commonly associated with New Criticism (a movement that dominated literary studies in the U.S. from the 1930s to the 1970s), the method is ancient. It was advocated by the Roman rhetorician Quintilian in his Institutio Oratoria (c. 95 AD). Close reading remains a fundamental critical method practiced in diverse ways by a wide range of readers in different disciplines. (As discussed below, close reading is a skill that’s encouraged by the new Common Core State Standards Initiative in the U.S.) One form of close reading is rhetorical analysis.