NCERT solutions for Social Science Democratic Politics 2 [English] Class 10 chapter 3 - Gender, Religion and Caste [Latest edition]

Why are we discussing things like household work in this textbook on Political Science? Is this politics?

If politics is about power, then surely male dominance in the household should be considered political.

Discuss all these perceptions of an ideal woman that prevail in our society. Do you agree with any of these? If not, what is your image of an ideal woman?

A ‘time use survey’ was conducted in six states of our country. It shows that an average woman works every day for a little over seven and half hours while an average man works for six and a half hours. Yet the work done by men is more visible because most of their work leads to generation of income. Women also do a lot of direct income generating work, but the bulk of their work is household related. This work remains unpaid and invisible.

Daily time use (hours:minutes)

You can conduct a similar time use survey in your own household. Observe all the adult male and female members of your family for one week. Every day note down the number of hours each of them spends on the following activities: income generating activity (working at the office or shop or factory or field, etc.), household related activity (cooking, cleaning, washing, fetching water, looking after children or elders, etc.), reading and recreation, talking/gossiping, self-care, taking rest or sleeping. If necessary make new categories. Add up the time taken on each activity for a week and calculate the daily average for each activity for each member. Do women work more in your family as well?

Mummy always says to outsiders, “I don’t work. I am a housewife.” But I see her working non-stop all the time. If what she does is not work, what else is work?

1. Can you identify your State on this map? What is the child sex ratio in it? How is it different from others with a different colour?
2. Identify the States which have child sex ratio below 900.
3. Compare this map with the poster on the next page. How do the two of them tell us about the same issue?

Could you think of some reasons why women’s representation is so low in India? Do you think Americas and Europe have achieved a satisfactory level of women’s representation?

If casteism and communalism are bad, what makes feminism a good thing? Why don’t we oppose all those who divide the society on any lines - caste, religion or gender?

I am not religious. Why should I bother about communalism and secularism?

I often crack jokes about people from one religion. Does that make me communal?

I don’t care what my caste is. Why are we discussing all this in the textbook? Are we not promoting casteism by talking about caste?

Now you don’t like it! Didn’t you tell me that wherever there is domination, we should discuss it in Political Science? Will caste disappear if we keep mum about it?

Do you think that political leaders are right to treat people belonging to a caste as ‘vote banks’?

When we speak of gender divisions, we usually refer to ______.

In India, seats are reserved for women in ______.

Consider the following statements on the meaning of communal politics. Communal politics is based on the belief that:

1. One religion is superior to that of others.
2. People belonging to different religions can live together happily as equal citizens.
3. Followers of a particular religion constitute one community.
4. State power cannot be used to establish the domination of one religious group over others.

Which of the statements are correct?

Which among the following statements about India’s Constitution is wrong? It ______.

Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists: