“Women a social tool to trigger the change.
Strong muscle as men, she must challenge”.
The nucleus of our society, a strong pillar of our families, an epitome of patience & sacrifice, no matter how we define this subject, the words will never be enough to capture woman’s being. From centuries with the progress in our social, economic, traditional, and other cultural values which were deemed at taking us to the next level, we have been striding hugely, but when it comes to women folk our society as a whole has flunked to take her along in every front forward, equally.
If we look around at our society, every now and then people are censuring woman and her every actions; be her dressing, looks, choice of course, medical health, mental state, bold approach, her job role, living behaviour, social status, her background and what not. But we forget the very role of women as a mother to raise her children and manage the whole family with utter patience and kindness, as a sister being the support and mental booster to her brothers and as a wife being pillar of strength to her husband in all ups and downs.
‘A world in which every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality, all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment been removed, is a dream yet to be realised’.
It is pertinent to mention that with much needed change the birth of “Feminism” has taken shape in the world. Such changes have not just raised the bar to beat the drums louder with larger support but also have started breaking ice somehow to include women in every sphere of society by giving them equal opportunities to grow, participate and contribute. And it also can’t be denied that the huge strides forward by women have showed their real and beautiful colours; she in no longer just a housewife confined to cooking and washing, but in every circle of life she is progressing. Be it landing on space, defending a nation against all odds, volunteering to face social issues by acting as a force of change. Women have been successful in breaking the conservative mindset, a glass ceiling wherein women were not promoted to higher levels to be as equal as men. Many such instances can be mentioned but the main aim to strengthen the women at core is still a challenging task.
At various levels, and in ffar flung areas, women are still facing the heat of being left behind in various forms. Therefore, some serious efforts should be made to help them attain their self-esteem and leadership skills. Starting from girl child education, her job, and till her marriage every women-oriented door is full of challenges. To foster the change in the existing social circle where most families rely on girls’ labour for household chores, carrying water, raising children, eventually leaving little or no time for schooling. Thus, prioritizing the girls’ education should be the single biggest investment in our society and we must keep striving for it. An educated girl is less likely to lag behind in context to other genders. It realizes us the equality of access and attainment of educational qualifications is necessary if more women are to become the agents of change.
A slew of schemes that have been launched in recent years is playing their part to empower women physically and socially. But what about the mental stability and emotional development of women which has remained an untouched debate till now. Are there any means to help women to overcome the emotional turmoils? Isn’t the recent suicide case of Ayesha Arif Khan enough to make us realize the helplessness of a woman at the hands of emotional distress. Why does it become so easy for women like Ayesha to surrender their lives at the cost of domestic violence and such other curses of which they are victims?
Have those who organized conventions/conferences/seminars and workshops been successful in eliminating all the discrimination against women? No, had it been so then Ayesha would not have preferred to drift into the waters of Sabarmati river to calm her mental unrest. Like Ayesha there are many daughters of Eve who chose to burn/drown or poison their lives to end up their emotional sufferings. A lot needs to be done to rid women of the dangers present in our society.
I, as an individual observer and a student of life, while reading different articles and books describing the race of women, found them going through different distinguished prisms at both their personal as well as the institutional level.
Hundreds and thousands of thoughts emerge and equally millions of ideas might rise as how we should look at this notion about women equality, but a collective, consistent, and a serious approach is required to open the door.
Gender inequalities manifest differently to men, girl child and women regarding their education, health, career, and overall agency in decisions affecting their future. The term “women empowerment and welfare” must not be confined to those guaranteed under the constitution. It should also mean more jobs, opportunities for women entrepreneurship, increased safety, ease in day-to-day living and protection from other evils of the society. In short, the road to women’s empowerment and welfare has several factors to dotting its path.
- Give women the power of decision making at government, private and at our household level. Her strong mindset we hardly know can do wonders in making a way forward.
- Achieving the goal of women being equal to men will provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and to promote its proper functioning.
- Women are as tough as men, why can’t she be a leader, an independent entrepreneur, an employee to work equally as men?
- She does have wings, just give her a space to rise above the clouds she is aspiring for. Stop derailing her path as she must jump to taste the plethora of chances waiting for her to step in!
I may recommend and narrate ample statements to describe how to advance in women empowerment and welfare, but the question remains the same for all of us. Do we really care? To conclude is not to put a full stop on this thought process about women empowerment, but it should be a mere beginning to take off well.
Author is pursuing her bachelors from GDC Bandipore.