UNIT-XX

Power and Politics

Working with words

A.    Find the words from the text for these meanings. The first letters have been given for you.
     a.     Reluctance:    unwillingness or disinclination to do something
     b.     Repressive:    preventing the expression or awareness of thoughts or desires
     c.     Mutilation:     the infliction of serious damage on something
     d.     Ghettoized:    restricted to an isolated or segregated place, group, or situation
     e.     Herstory:       history viewed from a female or specifically feminist perspective
     f.      Genital:          relating to the human or animal reproductive organs
     g.     Hysterectomies:        surgical operations to remove all or part of the uterus
     h.     Paranoid:       obsessively anxious, suspicious, or mistrustful
     i.      Eventration:  thrusting forward of abdominal organs through the abdominal wall

B.    Complete the chart.

Verb	Noun	Adjective
Commit	Commitment	Committed
Nurture	Nurturance	Nurtured
legitimize	Legitimization	Legitimate
Sterilize	sterilization	Sterilized
oppress	Oppression	Oppressed/Oppressive
Allude	Allusion	Allusive
Defend	defensiveness	Defending/defensive
Victimize	Victimization	Victimized

C.  Consult a dictionary and define these terms.

      racism, lesbian, radical, feminist, patriarchy

Racism:  prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

Lesbian:   a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation toward women

Radical:    of or going to the root or origin; fundamental. a radical difference

Feminist: (n) an advocate of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes; a person who supports feminism.

Patriarchy:          a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.

D.   Underline the consonant clusters in the following sentences.

        a.     Fluffy went flip-flop all over the floor.

        b.     The whites sing a song about the striking stars.
  c.     Here are some flowers and a flask of tea of your favourite flavour.
  d.     Smita fell ill with flu.
  e.     My friend is frightened of frogs.
  f.      Thumbelina stumbled out of the green bush.
  g.     She heard a rumble and a cry.
  h.     ‘Climb up’, said Tom.
  i.      Freedom needs to be strived for.
  j.      Children were munching crunchy French fries.

Comprehension

Answer the following questions.

     a.     Why does Audre Lorde think that Mary got a sort of victory in the University of Boston?

     Audre Lorde thinks that Mary gained some type of triumph at the University of Boston since so many women turned out for the speak-out, and the demonstration of shared strength would allow for greater room for her to develop and be herself.

b.     Why is Lorde thankful to Mary?

   Lorde is grateful to Mary for providing the important, practical, generative, and thought-provoking book "Gyn/Ecology," which she received from her.

c.     What impression has the writer had about the way white women looked upon black women?

     The impression that the writer has had about the way white women looked upon black women is not good, as the white women are neither able to hear their words nor have dialogue with them. This sort of behaviour from whites toward blacks is long and discouraging.

d.     Why did Mary not cast black women as goddesses in her book according to Lorde?

    Lorde believes that Mary purposefully limited her focus to the ecology of western European women and avoided presenting black women as goddesses in her work.

e.     Why did Lorde think that she misused her words?

      Lorde thought that Mary misused her words only to testify against Lorde as a woman of color.

f.      For Lorde, how were women, especially from the black community, undervalued?

    For Lorde, women, especially those from the black community, were undervalued by a white woman with a Western European frame of reference.

g.     How does Mary take white women as? Does Lorde agree with Mary’s view?

    Mary takes white women as superior to black women and as a creative force toward change, rather than a reason for misunderstanding and separation as she assumes that the myths and herstories of white women are the only valid and available perspectives as examples of power and background, while the herstories of black women are considered only as examples of female victimization.

    No, Lorde does not. She entirely disagrees with Mary’s view, and she kindly urges how this discriminatory perspective affects the community of black women and other women of color, as well as how it diminishes the worth of her own comments. She further argues that this sort of rejection or dismissal is fundamentally devaluing of black women; for example, it makes black women targets of the killings that are still occurring in Mary’s own city. When patriarchy rejects the black, it empowers those who would kill them.

h.     What is Afrekete? How does it connect to this lesson?

    I think Afrekete is the collective voice of black lesbian writing tradition. It connects to this lesson in the way that it raises voices against women's discrimination on the basis of color and other aspects.

Critical Thinking

a.  "The oppression of women knows no ethnic or racial boundaries." Do you agree or not? Justify with your reasons.

b.  Why is it important to question our beliefs and values? How are they set up in a person’s mind? 

Writing

A. Have you ever faced or witnessed cases of racial or sexual discrimination? Write a short account.

In our society, incidents of racial and sexual discrimination happen almost every day. I have personally experienced and seen similar cases on a number of occasions. The following paragraph presents a case of racial discrimination.

In my life, I have come across a family that restricts their only daughter from attending school. But they enroll their youngster in a private school. Even their daughter has been kept inside their home. She is also not allowed to participate in any recreation activities, although the son is free to do whatever he desires. This is an example of severe sexism or a case of sexual discrimination.

Similarly, I have personally faced a case of racial discrimination. My own so-called upper-class friend once told me that I am part of an ethnic group that lives on the mercy of others, working on other people's farms. At the moment, I was so hurt. I did not react in return. He later apologized for what he said, feeling guilty.

B.  Write an article for a national daily on "The Status of Women in Nepali Society."

The Status of Women in Nepali Society

By Sthirta Rana

Our society is composed of two genders: male and female. Men and women are considered the two wheels of a cart. In the absence of one, another is meaningless, and the cart cannot move ahead. They play an equal role in the prosperity of a family, society, nation, and finally the world. However, the status of women in Nepali society is miserable despite some recent changes.

Nepal is a patriarchal country where men dominate women in every aspect of life. The status of women in the past was really terrible, as they were confined to the four walls of the house. In addition, they were considered subordinate to men. They were treated as their houseworkers. Men were viewed as superior to women, and serving as the family's head suppressed the desires of females. Social beliefs and norms were also oriented in favor of males. Daughters were treated unfairly from birth and were not given equal opportunity to flourish in all areas because of the overwhelming bias in favor of males in society. Daughters were denied a variety of benefits, including rights, education, healthcare, parental property rights, social standing, and the opportunity to participate in last rituals for deceased parents.

The position and role of women in Nepal have dramatically changed over the past century, resulting in a decline in gender disparity. The constitution of Nepal has also guaranteed the fundamental rights of all, irrespective of gender, caste, ethnicity, religion, etc. Males also learned that females are equally important to the prosperity of a family, society, and nation and started sending daughters to school, college, and university for education. The society also did not question women working in offices or participating in outdoor activities. Women are now taking on leadership roles and participating in decision-making at all levels. There has been increased government involvement to increase accountability and monitoring of gender equality commitments and to establish and strengthen relationships between the normative and operational aspects of gender equality and women's empowerment. Today, Nepalese women are defying cultural traditions and are becoming community leaders, environmentalists, politicians, and business owners. As a result, Bidhya Devi Bhandari became Nepal’s first female president. Other women achieving key positions include the first female spokesperson, Onsari Gharti Magar, the first female chief justice, Sushila Karki, etc.

Although the constitution guarantees women's rights, and the roles and position of women in modern Nepalese society have undergone a significant transformation, implementation outside of the few main towns has been inadequate. Implementing some of these rules has been difficult since Nepalese society is highly affected by Hindu traditions that emphasize patriarchal family lineage and a father-centered residency system. In addition, women in some parts of the country are still confined to households, deprived of education, discriminated against based on caste, have poor healthcare, etc. They are vulnerable to sexual abuse, domestic violations, and trafficking. Conservative cultural beliefs have also contributed to women's dire situation. For instance, women during menstruation in some far western parts are forced to live alone in a deserted hut where they are likely to be attacked by animals, criminals, snakes, etc. In addition, women should be obedient and cannot go against the wishes of their husbands. For example, men in some parts of the country force their wives to give birth to children as much as they want, resulting in child malnutrition.

On the whole, women in society have gained a better position at present as people are more aware of their importance in every aspect of life, like the economy, prosperity, etc. They are guaranteed all rights enforced by the constitution, have become educated, and have started occupying leadership roles. However, there are a considerable number of women who are deprived of fundamental rights and are compelled to be victims of men, conservative norms and values, etc., resulting in many consequences like suicide. The constitution's fundamental rights must be implemented in order to address the issue of gender inequality.

Grammar

Adjective order

Determiners:

·       Articles:                     a, an, the

·       Possessives:                my, our, your, his, her, their, its

·       Demonstratives:        this, that, these, those 

·       Quantifiers:               some, a few, many, a little, little, few, none, etc.

·       Distributives:             every, each, either, neither, both, all, half, etc.

Quantity:                    one, seven, many, few

Quality/Opinion:       delicious, heroic, misunderstood, valuable.

Size:                            Huge, tiny, medium-sized, small, tall

Age:                            new, old, oldest

Shape:                         round, oval, square, triangular

Colour:                       blue, green, white, black

Origin:                       Chinese, Nepalese, American

Material:                    wooden, cotton, earthen

Type:                          u-shaped, general-purpose, five-star

Purpose:                     cleaning, hammering, cooking

A.    Study the following qualifiers used with the word ‘house.’

A house A large house

A large white house

A large old white house

A beautiful large old white house

A beautiful large old rectangular white house

B.    Choose the correct alternative.

a.   an old foreign car/a foreign old car

b.   a beautiful white dress/ a white beautiful dress

c.   a nice tall young man/a tall nice young man

d.   a big black wooden desk/ a black wooden big desk

e.   a delicious Italian pizza/ an Italian delicious pizza

f.    a huge brown bear/a brown huge bear

g.   a purple cotton sleeping bag/ a cotton purple sleeping bag

h.   a beautiful old Indian village/an old beautiful Indian village

i.    a cute little kitten/ a little cute kitten

j.    an expensive antique table /an antique expensive table

C.    Put the adjectives in the following sentences in the correct order.

a.   I bought (red/ a /comfortable/new) scooter.

I bought a comfortable new red scooter.

b.   She reached home and sat on (relaxing/old/her/wooden) chair.

She reached home and sat on her old wooden relaxing chair.

c.   We ate (Chinese/delicious/some) food.

We ate some delicious Chinese food.

d.   I need (golden/delicious/some/round) apples.

I need some delicious round golden apples.

e.   We like to live in a (calm/unmediated/remote) place for some time.

We like to live in a calm unmediated place for some time.

f.    She is wearing (silver/beautiful / a(n)/ old) ring.

She is wearing a beautiful old silver ring.

g.   I am looking for (golden/stylish/a/Japanese) watch.

I am looking for a stylish golden Japanese watch.

h.   She dropped (old/china/attractive/a(n)) cup and smashed it.

She dropped an attractive old china cup and smashed it.

i.    He wants to marry (young/pretty/educated/a(n)/rustic) girl.

He wants to marry a pretty educated young rustic girl.

j.    We stayed in a (luxurious/five star/new) hotel in Dubai.

We stayed in a luxurious new five-star hotel in Dubai.