SociologyIndian Society: Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion

By the period of emphasis in India's struggle for women's rights, ide…

By the period of emphasis in India's struggle for women's rights, identify the odd one out among the following:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Fall in the child sex ratio

Option (1) Child marriage — Incorrect. Child marriage was one of the backward aspects of tradition that the nineteenth century reform movements fought against.

Option (2) Fall in the child sex ratio — Correct. The sharp fall in the child sex ratio is a new challenge of gender inequality in the twenty-first century. The other three were the focus of the nineteenth century reformers.

Option (3) Sati — Incorrect. Sati was a backward aspect of tradition that the nineteenth century reform movements set out to end.

Option (4) Ill treatment of widows — Incorrect. The ill treatment of widows was a chief concern of the nineteenth century reform movements.

NCERT (2026-27): “5.3 Struggle for women’s equality and rights …
In the nineteenth century reform movements, the emphasis had been on the backward aspects of tradition like sati, child marriage, or the ill treatment of widows. In the 1970s, the emphasis was on ‘modern’ issues – the representation of women in popular media, and the gendered consequences of unequal development. The law was a major site for reform in the 1980s and after, specially when it was discovered that many laws of concern to women had not been changed since the 19 century. As we enter the twenty-first century, new sites of gender injustice are emerging. You will recall the discussion of the declining sex ratio in Chapter 2. The sharp fall in the child sex ratio and the implicit social bias against the girl child represents one of the new challenges of gender inequality.”