Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage :
The discourse on gender roles in modern India occupies a complex intersection between inherited patriarchal structures and evolving socio-political consciousness. While constitutional provisions guarantee equality and the policy framework has increasingly incorporated gender-sensitive measures, deep-seated cultural scripts continue to govern the lived experiences of both women and men across diverse social strata. Contrary to the homogenizing narrative of progress, gender dynamics in India remain highly uneven. Urban centers may exhibit surface-level liberalization in female workforce participation and social autonomy, but these indicators often camouflage the persistent undercurrents of gendered expectations. Women, even when educated and employed, are frequently subjected to the “double burden”—juggling professional obligations with entrenched domestic responsibilities. The idea of the "ideal Indian woman" remains tethered to notions of chastity, compliance, and familial prioritization, subtly reinforced through popular media, matrimonial conventions, and institutional biases. In rural and semi-urban contexts, the scenario becomes even more layered. While grassroots movements and self-help groups have undoubtedly empowered many women economically and politically, the transformation in gender attitudes is far from uniform. Customary practices such as dowry, son-preference, and moral policing continue to restrict female agency. The intersection of gender with caste, class, and religion further complicates this matrix, rendering some women doubly or triply marginalized. For instance, a Dalit woman in a patriarchal village setup not only grapples with gendered subjugation but also caste discrimination and socio-economic precarity. Meanwhile, discussions around masculinity in India have remained relatively under-theorized. The cultural construct of the Indian male continues to valorize dominance, emotional stoicism, and economic provisioning. These norms are not only restrictive for women but also profoundly limiting for men, who face stigmatization when deviating from prescribed masculine roles. The lack of space for emotional vulnerability or non-conformist identity expression among men reveals that patriarchal systems, while privileging one gender, dehumanize both. Education, digital media, and feminist activism have undoubtedly created ruptures in traditional gender narratives. However, the backlash against progressive gender norms—evident in increasing online misogyny, moral vigilantism, and politicization of women’s autonomy—signals that change is not linear. Legislation alone cannot undo centuries of cultural indoctrination; transformation demands a deeper, intergenerational shift in values. To genuinely transcend regressive gender binaries, India must invest not just in policies but in pedagogies—ones that dismantle gender essentialism from early childhood, promote inclusive masculinities, and validate diverse gender expressions. Without such a fundamental reimagining, the rhetoric of equality will continue to outpace reality, and gender roles will remain ensnared in a paradox of progress and persistence.
According to the passage, what complicates gender oppression further for rural women?
- (a)Access to internet
- (b)Urban migration
- (c)Intersection with caste and class
- (d)Western education
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The question borrows the passage's own words: 'The intersection of gender with caste, class, and religion further complicates this matrix, rendering some women doubly or triply marginalized.'
The example that follows is rural — 'a Dalit woman in a patriarchal village setup' faces caste discrimination and socio-economic precarity on top of gendered subjugation → option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Access to internet — The passage never ties the internet to rural women. Digital media is named among the forces that 'created ruptures in traditional gender narratives', not among the rural complications.
- (b)Urban migration — Urban migration is not mentioned. The passage describes urban and rural settings separately and never has anyone moving from one to the other.
- (d)Western education — The word Western never appears. Education is named among the forces that 'created ruptures in traditional gender narratives' — it loosens old norms rather than deepening rural oppression.
Concept
Intersectionality is the idea that gender combines with other lines of disadvantage — caste, class, religion — so that some women face several at once. The passage's phrase for it is 'doubly or triply marginalized'.
For a detail question, find the question's own wording in the text. 'Complicates … further' maps onto 'further complicates this matrix', and the answer is the subject of that sentence.
The option names caste and class but not religion, the third axis in the passage's sentence. Naming part of the passage's list still matches it; the wrong options match nothing in that sentence.
Key facts
- The passage: the intersection of gender with caste, class and religion 'further complicates this matrix'.
- Its example is a Dalit woman in a patriarchal village, facing gendered subjugation, caste discrimination and socio-economic precarity.
- Dowry, son-preference and moral policing are the customary practices it says restrict rural women's agency.
- Marginalized means pushed to the edge of a society, with less power and access.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking 'Western education' or 'Access to internet' because education and digital media do appear in the passage — they appear as forces for change, not as rural complications.
- Rejecting 'Intersection with caste and class' because it leaves out religion — an option can name part of the passage's list and still be right.
The same passage carries English Q.18 on masculinity and Q.20 on the author's long-term remedy, and Q.16 and Q.17 on urban women.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.