Gender roles are merely the social expectations of how we should act. Our sex influences how we act, dress, groom, behave, and conduct ourselves. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, including reproductive organs, hormones, and so on. There are specific roles that society expects a certain sex to play, and those roles that a particular sex plays are essentially the Gender Roles that society assigns to a particular sex. Men are expected to be strong, aggressive, and brave, while women are expected to dress in a feminine manner, be polite, and nurturing.
Often, society confuses the concept of sex and gender, calling it to be the
same. Instead, sex is the biological aspect and gender is what the society assigns to you defined by your roles. Since ages we have seen women sitting at home, nurturing the family, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the house and the man goes out to work and the bread winner of the family. As the society is progressing, we see gender roles fading out and the women also go to work, men also cook and take care of the kids. It’s important to note that the shift to parenthood is a significant change for a pair, and new moms who are working may quit their job to adapt to this new role as mothers, whereas new fathers’ ties to their jobs may enhance as their need to provide for the family grows with the addition of a baby to the family, and this experience of parental responsibility
functionally differs for both mother and father. As the times are changing, in India, a bill was approved in 2016 that provides maternity benefits to working women, encourages them to be free and independent, and allows them to compete equally with men in the workplace. On the contrary, there are no express advantages given to the child’s father, i.e., no paternity benefit, although the
pattern appears to be changing, and countries are revising their legal aspects. there is indeed a mechanism in place in the government sector for men to receive paternity leave for a period of 15 days prior to the birth of the child or up to 6 months after the child is delivered, with certain terms for the leave to be taken, but there is no imperative for the private sector to extend the same for their employees, and it is entirely up to the employer to do so or not give such leaves. It is important to stress that legislation must recognise that nurturing and bringing up a child is the responsibility of both parents, whether they are mothers or fathers.
But from the other perspective, when contemplating paternity leave legally enforceable, a comprehensive and integrated approach is required. While this is a significant step toward changing gender roles, it will also have an impact on the dynamics of societal norms and the already established legal framework, which must be considered when providing paternity benefits to men. As per a survey published by the Mckinsey Global Institute in 2015, women’s involvement in the workforce in India is 24 percent, compared to the global average of 81 percent, and women’s rural participation is just 32 percent compared to 81 percent for males. These figures highlight how maternity or parenthood makes it difficult for women to return to work because there are no legal
options for paternity leaves, which would allow couples to distribute responsibilities and work together. It is necessary to understand that both the parents are important for a child in its early days. Although, woman’s presence is required for caring and breastfeeding her child, anything beyond this is a matter of gender roles and has nothing to do with the parent’s sex. With this idea, it’s important to remember that fathers don’t get as much time with the kids, especially in urban areas, so the incorporation of paternity leaves will not only reinforce gender roles, but men will also benefit from the time off to grow a relationship with their children Paternal leave isn’t just about
achieving gender equality. Another essential goal is to improve the nature of the father child relationship in order to improve the child’s overall well-being. The construction of a legal framework that not only enables but also encourages men to look after the children is an example of how legislation and regulation may help change society’s thoughts about gender parity and the idea of mother and father both taking care of the child together.
I think it is a step forward towards gender equality if paternity benefits are given to fathers. It will help with the age old conditioning that only mother should take care of the house and will also allow fathers to be a part of the early development of their child. India took a step towards gender parity when it passed the Maternity Benefits Act in 2016, it definitely made space for new mothers to come back to work and made the transition a little smoother than what it was.
References:
- Maternity Benefits Act, 2016
- Maternity Benefits Act, 1961
- “A fresh look at paternity leave: Why the benefits extend beyond the personal”https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/a-fresh-look-at-paternity-leave-why-the-benefits-extend-beyond-the-personal
