Assessing The Shift In Attitudes Vis-À-Vis Women In Non-Traditional Occupations: The Case Of Women In Police

Abstract

The allocation of work based on gender has been an unchangeable pillar of human society since time immemorial. This entailed the conceptualisation, reification and regimentation of work based on gender. Although the idea of work has undergone a paradigm shift necessitated by the transformation from primitive to modern form of social life, some form of division of labour based on gender still pervades in modern society in some form or the other. In this context, our cultural milieu prescribes normative choices of occupations for men and women and these are enforced through various social controls like norms and mores. Although, the juggernaut of modernity has weakened such sanctions as compared to primitive societies, there is no denying that such social controls still influence human lives. In this context, the Police is one such occupation which is traditionally thought to be more in tandem with a man’s sensibilities and thus women during the inception of the Police were out of the picture altogether. In spite of the fact that the need for women in Police was felt due to the rise in crimes against women, they were still made to feel like misfits in such a male-dominated occupation. Even today, the strength of men in Police heavily outweighs women and policing remains grossly male-dominated. Thus, the paper attempts to assess the shift in attitudes regarding women in police as they navigate such non-traditional occupation.