A full circle of ethics, ocean of patience, sacrifice, forgiveness and mercy; born with the prowess to create, nurture and transform. That’s a #Woman!
People talk about women empowerment, making them stronger.
I say, look deeper they were born strong and already are the most powerful. Undeniably women have always shouldered more responsibilities than men. From being a doting mother, a perfect home-maker, an ambitious corporate achiever to an inspiring symbol of work-home-life balance.
Historically, women in India have been considered an embodiment of Goddess Durga, birth of a girl child is believed to mark the arrival of Lakshmi- The Goddess of wealth and riches. They are the whole-so bearers of life, begetting values, ethics, knowledge, emotions and all that moulds a new born into a human. With the most powerful appearances they make in life and the ferocious roles they take up to voice out the unfair, they can literally send chills run down your spine.
Undebatably, this cant be a fort upheld by someone weak. The only thing that needs a shift is in the mindsets of the Society and the way they perceive strength.
Besides, Indian women also play entrepreneurial roles in cities and contribute significantly to agricultural activities, handicrafts, village art and crafts. SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI bank head Chanda Kochhar, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar- Shaw and HT Media Chair Shobhana Bhartia are among the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to the Forbes’ annual list , and clearly not even close to the idea of weak or dependent.
There are millions of other women in India and worldwide who are marking their paths with modern ideologies and breaking the cliche rule of ‘women can’t have opinions’.
Contradictorily, discrimination against women is reflected in recurrent incidences of rape, acid attack, dowry & honor killings, forced prostitution, female foeticide etc. Women continue to suffer from kitchen to keyboard. This is a real picture of our so called male dominant society, to put it more aptly worst mentality dominant society.
Gender discrimination is a parasite that hampers the development of a nation. Living in a nation where women statistically constitute almost half the population, putting them aside with labels of weak and non-equal won’t ever lead to a fully grown, developed or flourishing country. It’s the prevalent ignorant minds of few blinding all, and at times even trying to influence the wiser lot. Like they say ‘A rotten apple will spoil a great many sound ones’.
The oodles of strength a home-maker constitutes in this country is un-defying and unmatchable. So, why shall there even arise a need to prove as a woman, for being a woman. Neither should be the need to prove the superiority of either over the other, as that’s exactly what we are fighting for, equality of men and women. See no one as less or more, only each one equally worthy of respect.
Stop demeaning and judging women based on their basic choice of working out (a job) or working in (homes). Being a home maker or in a cabin at a MNC, is too trivial a criteria to gauge a woman’s strength. They are the thoughts, the ideas, the visions of a woman, the fire in each one that defines her. Not whether she earns & how much, rather how driven is she to give the future a better set of individuals, working towards more peace driven society than wars, making this world more civilized than promoting the ongoing jungle approach.
The fruitive mentality of the society to enjoy women, that all give room to, is what needs to be given up. This is what making us weak, not what nature made while creating women.
Much more needs to be done. The under-representation of women and the attitudinal bias against women is reflected in several areas of employment as well, say in the police, the judiciary and the law, etc. The fixing of this downcast requires focused intervention targeting education, training, child & health care, nutrition, employment, social welfare services, support and legal safeguards are the most vital, calling us all for action.
Start with the ground work, target the roots and work on the first and foremost- AWARENESS. Self-awareness and that of your rights.
Know why you need to respect and love yourself before anyone else. God didn’t make you by fluke. He had his best ideas while creating you, you are flawless and you were meant to be this way. Don’t try to change, embrace yourself fully and then you’d know what it means to be a woman.
Awareness, Not Ignorance Builds Confidence!
Its not a very fortunate situation to stand and ask for your rights. There never should have arise the need of demanding them. But we did, a lot of us did, putting our positions at stake, compromising and accepting the wrongs we opened doors to exploitation. Remember, we get exploited when we let others do it, accepting and not voicing out the wrong make us a part of the injustice done. It’s a chain that needs to be broken. We let it all happen, and now, we have to stop!
Put your educational academic degrees to use, bring your knowledge gained through the years, into picture and have your well-read and traveled experiences and insights open up your minds. It’s contagious, you breed it, you pass on and the chain gets longer, wider, broader and stronger.
Affirmative actions in areas such as education, health and welfare to overcome entrenched discrimination caused by gender bias, denial of opportunities at work and apprehensions about not getting a fair deal, are all the clock is ticking for.
You need to rise, to give a hand to others. You need to know your rights first, to generate awareness in others and train them for economic development. Gender specific policies with emphasis on activities and resources beneficial to women would definitely help in providing greater opportunities and leaving smaller rooms for unfair practices against women.
Don’t focus on bringing about the change in the outside world without cleaning within. Work towards bringing about a radical change at home as well, where it all starts. Teach your sons to respect women, impart lessons of humanity and not encourage suppression and shutting down the voices of women. Devise atmospheres that let equality brand the personalities of all.
You are a woman, Be One! In full spectrum. Stop feeding your minds with anything or anyone that makes you feel less. Forgiveness is not the weapon of weak, but accepting unjust is.
Don’t exploit nor be at the reach of someone’s exploitative hands. This world is as much yours as of anyone else’s. Life will come at a halt if your existence is halted. Respect thy self, grow out of what you perceive as flaws as that’s the real you with no error in your human design and keep this world going. We are the life makers, we are The Chosen Ones.
It’s about celebrating womanhood, so salute the epitome of dynamism and the symbol of human strength on this International Women’s Day!!
Smita Singh | Samsara School
Edited by: Namrata Gupta
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