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Vinita Chandra, Banaras Hindu University (Vanarasi, India)
two-thirds of the couples in their sample, the woman had the
job and the man the career. Freedom from beta bias shall
imply that women do not shrink back from adjustments
when it is needed by virtue of being different from men, for
example, if parenthood is opted for, it is the woman who
needs to scale back till the child is born and is in the initial
stages of her life when she needs mother’s feed and
proximity.
In fact, the strategies used to make such adjustments can be
renamed, as the term ‘scaling back’ seems to have some
negative connotations attached to it. It is not regressive, as
few may take it to be, rather, it is tantamount to drawing
lines when and where necessary. Drawing lines is an
important step in human decision making during the
lifecourse. Lines have to be drawn not only in the case of
career, but also in other significant activities like in case of
decisions regarding limiting the number of children,
reducing social commitments, setting limits to community
work as well as leisure time etc. Measures and proportions
are important for human life. When, how, what and how
much; all these questions need balanced answers for
ensuring the overall well being of an individual life. Scaling
back, far from being regressive, is just finding out the exact
proportions.
Adaptations at the level of the Family and Society
For adaptations to be made at the level of the family, firstly,
the identification of family as a constant has to change to a
locus of strategic actions that may shift and change during
the life-course. Familial roles of different members need to be
redefined while adopting a more gender neutral approach in
the context of a changed familial structure and setting. In
the new structure of the family, since every member would
be carrying out multiple tasks and equitably shouldering
multiple responsibilities, training for time management shall
be imparted to all the family members. More practical ways
and means of home management based on a more focused
approach towards the purpose of life will have to be adopted.
Parasitism needs to be countered at the level of the family.
In every family, there are some members who have very less
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