Gender justice and sustainable relationships: an examination

Abstract

Gender justice in the conventional way is opposed to gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is a major cause of concern for any feminist or social activist, Different gender roles are ascribed to people by way of this discrimination. Men are given specific roles by virtue of their capacity which women are considered not to have. Women are allotted roles as part of their obligations for the family, society, their living or their very existence, which ,as if ,are not applicable to men. The most crucial relationship which is responsible for the dynamism in a society and hence its progression is that of a male-female partnership in a family. The very term 'partner' indicates an attitude of mutual love, respect, understanding. Now, the situation in a family is where men and women partners are differently occupied in household chores as they are expected to be. But the conflict arises here. Both have complaints of being discriminated. They feel pressurised, stressed. Hence, the small issues rise to larger scales which finally disturb the relationship to any extent as handled Even for those who manage to ignore or suppress matters, the allegations do not vanish but are rather consciously taken care of with individual level of emotional maturity. My point is that the tension remains — whether dormant or active,. In this context, I like to refer to the book 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus' by John Gray, a relation to his success in holding a dignified relation with others.

partnership relations are to a great extent successful with the implementation of differential treatment towards the other. By differential treatment, I refer to 'treating differently' as discussed by John Gray. What I want to focus at this crucial juncture of understanding is that 'giving differential treatment' or 'treating differently' is not necessarily 'treating unequally', hence is not necessarily 'unjustified'. If the basic purpose behind Gender Justice or say any other form of Justice for humans is to confirm mutual respect and dignity, then such dignity can surely be guaranteed by treating each other differently if that helps in understanding one another better, if that helps in sustaining a relationship meaningfully. Therefore equal treatment as demanded by Gender Justice is not to be taken literally. Having comprehended the inner import of the term, we may interpret it in the context of partnership relations by saying that every partner in a relation deserves to be treated differently by the other in relation to his/her own, and thereby given equal treatment. Hence Justice towards Gender in a partnership relation is headed towards Justice towards the relationship in which both the genders are involved. If for the purpose of healthy partnership, genderisation or essentialisation is needed in treatment, it is not opposed to justice in any way. Attitude is important. Interpretations are important.

"Love is magical, and it can last, if we remember our differences..”