Better Half of Bangalore

Abstract

In the case of a relatively traditional society like India, on the one hand gender roles are strongly enforced, while on the other hand the continuous feminization of the workforce has been a result of the liberalization of global policies in the early 90’s. The still present binary definition of gender is confining men to the productive space and relegating women to the domestic sphere. The entrance of women in the labor force implies the entrance of women in the public urban space. This paper challenges this spatial separation of industry from the urban life of the city in the current context, when the landscape of industries is changing from manufacturing to service. This relationship between urban morphology of the industry and the gendering of paid work will be illustrated in the Indian context. A case study of two industries in Bangalore highlights the unique challenges of women participating in the workforce. The paper explores if another urban model is possible, responding better to women’s needs.