Gender, Religion, and Caste Class 10: Top Questions & Answers

Welcome, Class 10 students! As you gear up for your 2023-24 board exams, you've likely encountered the intricate web of subjects, each demanding its share of attention. Today, we dive headfirst into the dynamic world of Class 10 Social Science, specifically, Political Science Chapter 3. Why, you ask? Well, this chapter holds not only the key to understanding the nuances of gender, religion, and caste but also boasts a significant 02 marks weightage in your upcoming examinations. So, fasten your seatbelts as we unravel the top questions and answers surrounding "Gender, Religion, and Caste Class 10." Let's get started!

Subject	Social Science (Political Science)
Class	10
Board	CBSE and State Boards
Chapter No.	3
Chapter Name	Gender, Religion, and Caste
Type	Important Questions & Answers
Session	2023-24
Weightage	2 marks

आपकी जीवनशैली आपकी खुद की रचना है, इसे सजाने और बेहतर बनाने का अधिकार आपके हाथ में है।

Most Important Questions and Answers: Gender, Religion, and Caste Class 10 

Q. No. 1) Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

i. Given below is a cartoon created by Neelabh Banerjee, the renowned Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and comics artist.

What is the cartoon trying to depict?

a. the sexual division of labor in India

b. natural and unchangeable gender divisions

c. income-generating activities done by women in rural India

d. the ability of men to contribute equally to domestic work as women

Ans. Option (a)

ii. Which of the following is the best-performing country in terms of women’s participation in public life?

a. Norway

b. Russia

c. Saudi Arabia

d. India

Ans. Option (a).

iii. Which of the following reasons for the caste hierarchy breaking down in India is incorrect?

a. Growth of literacy

b. Urbanization

c. Secularism

d. Occupational mobility

Ans. Secularism.

iv. In most societies ________ are passed on from one generation to another.

a. Right to vote

b. Gender equality

c. Occupations

d. None of the above

Ans. Occupations.

v. Consider the following statements on the meaning of communal politics. Communal politics is based on the belief that:

1. One religion is superior to that of others.
2. People belonging to different religions can live together happily as equal citizens.
3. Followers of a particular religion constitute one community.
4. State power cannot be used to establish the domination of one religious group over others.

Which of the statements is/are correct?

a. A, B, C, and D

b. A, B, and D

c. A and C

d. B and D

Ans. Option (c)

Q. No. 2) What is the state religion of Sri Lanka?

Ans. Buddhism.

Q. No. 3) At which level of government in India 1/3rd of seats are reserved for women?

Ans. Local Self Government bodies (Panchayats and Municipalities).

Q. No. 4) Name three important leaders who worked for the elimination of caste inequalities in India.

Ans.

• Jotiba Phule
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

Q. No. 5) Define a Feminist?

Ans. A person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for all human beings.

Q. No. 6) What was the Feminist movement? Explain the political demands of the Feminist Movement in India.

Ans. Feminist Movement was a radical movement that demanded equality for women in personal and family life apart from politics, society, and the educational field.

The political demands of the Feminist Movements in India are-

• More women representatives in local government.
• More political representatives for women by having elected women representatives.
• Reserving at least 1/3rd of the seats in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for women.

Q. No. 7) What is the basis of gender division in society?

Ans. Gender division is based on social expectations and stereotypes.

Q. No. 8) The _______ includes those communities that led a secluded life usually in hills, and forests, and did not interact much with the rest of the society.

Ans. Scheduled tribes.

Q. No. 9) Gandhiji believed that politics must be guided by the ethics drawn from different _________.

Ans. Religion.

Q. No. 10) Social divisions based on _______ are peculiar to India.

Ans. Castes.

Q. No. 11) ________ division is a form of social division seen everywhere but is rarely recognized.

Ans. Gender.

Q. No. 12) What do you mean by the sexual division of labor?

Ans. It is a system in which all work inside the home is either done by the women of the family or organized by them through the domestic helpers.

Q. No. 13) Shruti performed a web search for 'Teacher' and found that 80% of the images had women, while a search for 'Pilot' mainly showed men. Discuss how these web search results reflect societal perceptions and the sexual division of labor. Explain with an example.

Ans.

• The over-representation of women as teachers and men as pilots reinforces traditional notions of job roles. The role of teaching is considered a caregiving job suitable for women while the role of pilot is regarded as a physically and mentally demanding job ideal for men.
• Similarly, the job of a nurse is associated more with women and the job of an engineer is associated with men. These trends represent social perceptions and perpetuate the sexual division of labor.

Q. No. 14) Elaborate on the political representation of women in India.

Or,

What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies?

Ans. Political representation of women in India:

• In India, the proportion of women in the legislature has been very low.
• Central Legislature: The percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has touched 14.36 % of its total strength for the first time in 2019.
• State Legislature: Less than 5% of its total strength is women.
• Local Government: 1/3rd of the seats are reserved for women in Panchayats and Municipalities.
• India is among the bottom group of nations in the world, in this aspect.
• Women’s organizations and activists have been demanding a reservation of at least 1/3rd of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. But the Women’s Reservation Bill has not been passed.

Q. No. 15) How are religious differences expressed in politics?

Ans.

• Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.
• Human rights groups in our country have argued that most of the victims of communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities. They have demanded that the government take special steps to protect religious minorities.
• The women’s movement has argued that family laws of all religions discriminate against women. So they have demanded that the government should change these laws to make them more equitable.

Q. No. 16) What are the various ways in which women in India face disadvantage, discrimination, and oppression?

Ans.

• The literacy rate among women is only 54 % compared to 76 % among men as many parents prefer to spend their resources only on sons.
• The proportion of women in highly paid and valued jobs is very low.
• The Equal Wages Act provides that equal wages should be paid for equal work. However, in many areas of work like sports, cinema, agriculture, and factories, women are paid less than men for the same work.
• Girl children are aborted before being born as many parents prefer to have sons rather than daughters. Such sex-selective abortion has led to a decline in the child-sex ratio in the country to merely 919.
• Women face various kinds of harassment, exploitation, and violence inside as well as outside their homes in both rural and urban areas.

Q. No. 17) ‘Communalism can take various forms in politics.’ Explain.

Ans.

• The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. These involve religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities, etc.
• A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community.
• Political mobilization on religious lines involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, and emotional appeal to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
• Sometimes communalism takes its ugly form of communal violence, riots, and massacre.

Q. No. 18) How can the relationship between politics and religion be beneficial and problematic at the same time? Explain.

Ans. The beneficial influence of religion:

• It can make politics value-based.
• Religious communities can politically express their needs and interests.
• Political authority can monitor all religious discrimination and oppression.

Problematic influence of religion:

• Political parties will try to make political gains by pitting one group against another.
• State power may be used to establish the domination of one religious group over another.
• Communalism always leads to violence and riots.
• It can disintegrate a country.
• It distorts the secular values of the country.

Q. No. 19) Why is communal thinking flawed?

Ans.

• People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspirations.
• There are many voices inside every community. All these voices have a right to be heard.
• Therefore, any attempt to bring all followers of one religion together in a context other than religion is bound to suppress many voices within that community.

Q. No. 20) Mention the constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.

Ans. The constitutional provisions that make India a ‘secular state’ are as follows:

• There is no official religion in the Indian state.
• Our constitution does not give a special status to any religion.
• It provides all individuals and communities the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
• The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion.
• It allows the state to intervene in matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religion to ensure equality within religious communities.

(*Here ‘state’ means ‘Indian Government’)

Q. No. 21) What are the various forms that caste takes in politics?

Ans.

• When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate.
• Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiments to muster support.
• Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote compelled political leaders to gear up for the task of mobilizing and securing political support.

Q. No. 22) The focus on caste in politics can sometimes give an impression that elections are all about caste and nothing else. Do you agree? Explain.

Ans. No, this is not true.

• No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.
• No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.
• Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste. Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no candidate from their caste.
• The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. That could not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their political preferences.

Q. No. 23) ‘Caste has not still disappeared from contemporary India.’ Write any three examples to justify the statement.

Ans.

• Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
• Untouchability has not ended completely, despite constitutional prohibition.
• The effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today. The caste groups that had access to education under the old system have done very well in acquiring modern education as well. Those groups that did not have access to education or were prohibited from acquiring it have naturally lagged behind.

Q. No. 24) ‘It is not politics that gets caste-ridden, it is the caste that gets politicized.’ Explain.

Ans.

• Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighboring castes or sub-castes that were earlier excluded from it.
• Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities.
• New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups.

Q. No. 25) How have caste and the caste system undergone changes in modern India?

Or,

Explain the socio-economic changes responsible for breaking down the old notion of caste hierarchy in India.

Ans.

• Social reformers like Jotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, and Periyar Ramaswamy Naicker have carried out movements to end caste inequalities.
• Economic development and urbanization have broken caste hierarchies in India.
• Growth of literacy and education, as well as occupational mobility, have also changed the mindset of people towards caste.
• The Constitution of India prohibits caste-based discrimination.
• Practicing untouchability is a punishable offense in India.

Q. No. 26) What are some negative aspects of caste in politics?

Ans.

• Caste politics lead to tension and violence.
• Politics based on caste identity alone is not a healthy feature in a democracy.
• It can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development, corruption, etc.

Must Read: Gender, Religion, and Caste Class 10 Notes

Must Read: Class 10 Revision Notes Class 10 Important Questions

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