ABSTRACT
What constitutes the state of gender? Many social scientists in Bangladesh would argue that although numbers are important, the state is not about numbers; but to understand the state of gender or to make a situational analysis of women one needs to go beyond numbers. The critical issue on the debate surrounding quantity versus quality is whether the numbers add up to bring about a qualitative change in the lives of women. The latter indeed is not a homogeneous category. The category of woman cuts across class, ethnic and religious lines, with each dimension defining its own parameters. The association of gender with women only in the mainstream discourse is also interesting, though not surprising. It reveals the politics and power associated with the societal construction of man and woman. The gendered division of spaces, roles and attributes is about power relations. It is argued that despite much ado about women’s empowerment, the continuation and often essentialization of the gender divides help to perpetuate and recreate a cycle of power where women continue to remain subordinate and marginalized. In other words, one needs to examine the structures and processes that build up the edifice of power, instead of attempting to look at numbers only. This is not to suggest that numbers are unimportant, but the argument around ‘critical’ mass often misses the point if the mass is making a critical dent in bringing about qualitative changes in the lives of women, or they remain mere numbers without having a trickle-down effect. In other words, both numbers and their approach to issues and problems surrounding women’s lives and living are critical.
