1.8. Chapter outline

perception of consumption and perception of consumption as leisure as a result of capitalism has been discussed in this chapter.

Figure 3. Literature review framework (Source: Author)

Chapter 3: Research methodology Identification of case studies, study parameters for primary study from the same and framework for analysis have been mentioned in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Case studies introduces three case studies based in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Chapter 5: Primary survey study introduces the primary online survey study conducted by the author.

Chapter 6: Analysis attempts to understand the different spatial perceptions and specific needs of women while traversing through the urban consumption spaces of the city through three case studies and primary survey.

Chapter 6: Findings The key findings from the analysis of case studies and survey study has been mentioned in this chapter.

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Chapter 7: Conclusions The author discusses the key points from the research and answers the research question from the data collected and analysed from literature review, case studies and survey study.

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Understanding Gender

2.1.1. What is gender?

According to the American Psychological Association:

In a human context, the distinction between ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ reflects the usage of these terms: ‘Sex’ usually refers to the biological aspects of maleness or femaleness, whereas ‘gender’ implies the psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of being male or female (i.e., masculinity or femininity) (VandenBos, 2015, p. 450)

Gender is a social construct which cannot be used interchangeably with the biological term ‘sex’ (Butler, 2006; Ranade, 2007; Rendell, 1999; Scott, 1986b; VandenBos, 2015). Sex is the biological traits that societies use to assign people into the category of either male or female, whether it be through a focus on chromosomes, genitalia or some other physical ascription, while gender is more fluid, biological characteristics may or may not rely on it (“Sociology of Gender,” 2014). More precisely, it is a definition that explains how communities define and handle categories of sex; the cultural meanings associated with the roles of men and women; and how people perceive their identities, including, but not limited to, being a male, woman, transgender , intersex, queer gender and other positions of gender (Beauvoir, 1949). The word denoted a denial of biological determinism, which is implied in the use of terms as ‘sex’ or ‘sexual differences’ (Scott, 1986a).

In Chapter 3, Subversive Bodily Acts, of Gender Trouble, Judith Butler (2006) challenges the ideas of the way society views sex, gender, and sexuality by stating ‘various ideas of gender create the idea of gender’, and without those acts there would be no gender at all. Rather than the manifestation of an unchanging and cohesive essence, Butler believes that gender identity is unfixed, provisional, and delicate, rather than the expression of an unchanging and coherent nature:

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