Line of inquiry: The role of gender
equality in societal progress.
Non literary work extract (essay)
Declaration of Sentiments by Elizabeth Statone
The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man
toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.
He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men—
both natives and foreigners.
Having deprived her of this first right as a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her
without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.
He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.
He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.
He has made her morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes with
impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband.
In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he
becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master—the law giving him power to deprive her of
her liberty and to administer chastisement.
The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man
toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men—
both natives and foreigners.
Having deprived her of this first right as a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her
without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.
He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.
He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.
In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he
becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master—the law giving him power to deprive her of
her liberty and to administer chastisement.
He has so framed the laws of divorce—determining the proper causes of divorce and deciding
to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given—as to be wholly regardless of the
happiness of women. The law, in all cases, assumes the supremacy of man and gives all
power into his hands.
After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single and the owner of property, he
has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be
made profitable to it.
He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers most
honorable to himself.
As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known.
He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education—all colleges being closed
against her.
He allows her in church, as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic
.
Literary work extract: The Home and the World by
Rabindranath Tagore
My husband used to say that man and wife are equal in love because of their equal claim on
each other. I never argued the point with him, but my heart said that devotion never stands in
the way of true equality; it only raises the level of the ground of meeting. Therefore, the joy of
the higher equality remains permanent; it never slides down to the vulgar level of triviality.
My beloved, it was worthy of you that you never expected worship from me. But if you had
accepted it, you would have done me a real service.
You showed your love by decorating me, by educating me, by giving me what I asked for,
and what I did not. I have seen what depth of love there was in your eyes when you gazed at
me. I have known the secret sigh of pain you suppressed in your love for me. You loved my
body as if it were a flower of paradise. You loved my whole nature as if it had been given to
you by some rare providence. Such lavish devotion made me proud to think that the wealth
was all my own which drove you to my gate. But vanity such as this only checks the flow of
free surrender in a woman's love.
When I sit on the queen's throne and claim homage, then the claim only goes on magnifying
itself; it is never satisfied. Can there be any real happiness for a woman in merely feeling that
she has power over a man? To surrender one's pride in devotion is woman's only salvation. It
comes back to me today how, in the days of our happiness, the fires of envy sprung up all
around us. That was only natural, for had I not stepped into my good fortune by mere chance
and without deserving it? But providence does not allow a run of luck to last forever, unless
its debt of honour be fully paid, day by day, through many a long day, and thus made secure.
God may grant us gifts, but the merit of being able to take and hold them must be our own.
Alas for the boons that slip through unworthy hands!
My husband's grandmother and mother were both renowned for their beauty. And my
widowed sister-in-law was also of a beauty rarely to be seen. When, in turn, fate left them
desolate, the grandmother vowed she would not insist on having beauty for her remaining
grandson when he married. Only the auspicious marks with which I was endowed gained me
an entry into this family; otherwise, I had no claim to be here.
In this house of luxury, but few of its ladies had received their meed of respect. They had,
however, got used to the ways of the family, and managed to keep their heads above water,
buoyed up by their dignity as Ranis of an ancient house, in spite of their daily tears being
drowned in the foam of wine and by the tinkle of the dancing girls' anklets. Was the credit due
to me that my husband did not touch liquor nor squander his manhood in the markets of
woman's flesh? What charm did I know to soothe the wild and wandering mind of men? It
was my good luck, nothing else.
For fate proved utterly callous to my sister-in-law. Her festivity died out, while yet the
evening was early, leaving the light of her beauty shining in vain over empty halls, burning
and burning, with no accompanying music! His sister-in-law affected a contempt for my
husband's modern notions. How absurd to keep the family ship, laden with all the weight of
its time-honoured glory, sailing under the colours of his slip of a girl-wife alone! Often have I
felt the lash of scorn: a thief who had stolen a husband's love!
Bullet points
· The global issue explored is gender equality and its role in societal progress, analyzed
through a non-literary extract critiquing patriarchy and a literary extract
· The non-literary extract critiques systemic oppression, emphasizing how patriarchal
systems deny women rights and hinder progress.
· Repetition of “He has…” underscores the relentless injustices, such as depriving women of
voting rights and autonomy within marriage.
· The metaphor “civilly dead” highlights the dehumanization of women in patriarchal
structures, vividly depicting their lack of individuality and agency.
· The text critiques the absurdity of denying women basic rights while granting them to "the
most ignorant and degraded men," emphasizing systemic hypocrisy.
· The literary extract explores gender dynamics within marriage, using metaphors and
introspection to examine female agency and the complexities of power in relationships.
· Bimala compares her husband’s love to a “flower of paradise,” symbolizing idealized
devotion, but critiques superficial empowerment in gendered relationships.
· The rhetorical question, “Can there be any real happiness for a woman in merely feeling
that she has power over a man?” reveals the deeper need for equality built on mutual respect
and shared agency.
· Together, the texts contrast direct systemic critique (non-literary) with emotional and
relational introspection (literary), offering a holistic understanding of gender inequality.
· Both texts highlight the necessity of dismantling patriarchal systems to foster societal
progress and build a more just and equal world.
