Locating Women in Masculine Professional Space A Comparative Study of Women Police in the Cities of Guwahati and Shillong

Abstract

newline [i] newlineLOCATING WOMEN IN MASCULINE PROFESSIONAL SPACE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WOMEN POLICE IN THE CITIES OF GUWAHATI AND SHILLONG newlineABSTRACT newlineEvery society irrespective of its various cultural and societal norms has a tendency to reduce everything into gender lines, whether it is in the form of dress, colour, profession, etc. It is the society that often tends to surround itself with such practices that are often considered to be gendered in nature. For example, females are more associated and connected with the pink colour and dolls while males are mostly with the blue colour and cars This idea of demarcation continues to play a dominant role even during choosing a particular profession. Girls are expected to be in a profession that requires feminine attributes such as caring, patience, emotion, etc., while boys are expected to be tough, strong, and masculine. newlineThe idea of choosing a suitable profession jolts from a very tender age of an individual. Society at a tender age of a child tries to inculcate what profession they should opt for and how exactly children should move forward to achieve it. Apparently, the concept of stereotypical ideologies and notions plays a significant role in society. It is because of gender stereotypes; people consider particular professions or tasks to be specifically meant for a particular sex. This is how society engages in the process of gendering and the concept of gendering professions gets fitted in the minds of people in society. Nevertheless, professionally and personally women have left no stone unturned in proving their calibers and have successfully entered their domain reaching the zenith with flying colours. One such profession is the profession of police, which is dealing with providing defence. In almost all patriarchal societies, defence is perceived as male territory. It is one such profession that claims more physical strength, agility, emotional toughness, and so on. Often it is observed that men are more expected to be in this profession and give