1. It has been decided to conduct
a debate in our school on the
topic, 'Women deserve equality
and not reservation.' Write 4
arguments to support the topic.
Answers
Explanation:
No. They do not need reservation.
I award an A for Against reservation and R For it.
I'll tell my reasons. Source : JEE 2012 (, News sources for results of CBSE)
Performance (School): Women(Girls) perform equally well(if not better) to boys at the high school level. This has been a consistent result for many years now. (A)
Performance (Competitive exams) : Girls have performed continuously worse than boys in competitive exams. JEE 2012 for instance, the ratio girls:boys for registering for exams was nearly 1:2, however, the qualified ratio was more 9:1. (R)
Evolution : Men have evolved to have better spatial skills and this is something that might give them the edge in maths and physics. (R)
Response to Stress: Women perform better under stress, they have on an average lesser blood pressure and rate of heart beat. (A)
Response to competition: According to a study at Stanford () Women have a harder time responding to competition with the other gender. (R)
Societal norms: Girls in India have an implied pressure to go for "feminine" jobs. (R)
Stigma against reservation: Women already face the brunt of a stunted position in the Indian society. There is no need to alienate them further by granting them reservation (case in point SC/ST/OBCs and the doubts cast on their academic performance). (A)
Unfair to the rest: Looking at gender as a factor which has almost equitable distribution between boys and girls based on important factors like education level of parents, house income, access to education, access to coaching and internet, it would be unfair to grant extra privilege to girls just because the results are unexpected. Biological imperatives and evolution factors does not mean that we attempt to correct it(do not take this statement as chauvinistic). The whole institution of reservation is unfair to begin with, but it should be done to counter factors relating to economy and underlying conditions, not nature. (A)
Having said all of that, an astute reader would notice that I have had 4 As against 4 R's. But I still reason that such a move would be more harmful than good. This only make arguments on where women are disadvantaged with respect to men, and does not give any voice to where they are advantaged (for eg. law, medical entrance).
Plus the Indian society already marginalised women, than for the chauvinists/supremacists to get another reason to do that. With constitutional mandate, no less.