WOMEN IN DIFFERENT HUES AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

“Do not judge a woman on her knees; you never know how tall she is when she stands.”

-Mie Hansson  

Throughout history, women have had different experiences in different times. Some accepted women as warriors, powerful fighters and politicians whereas some strict expectations and strong beliefs were imposed on women and made them believe that they were inferior to men. . Talking about India’s culture, Manu, the great law-giver, said ‘where women are honoured; there reside the Gods.’ In Hinduism, a man without the participation of his wife cannot take part in any religious ritual with perfection. The wives are called ‘Ardhangani’ (the better-half), and without them, any crucial work is impossible to accomplish. Hence, they share equal positions with men. Literature writers and filmmakers, through their works, have tried to demonstrate the roles and identities of women in family and society. These pieces bring out the status of women in the past centuries and the present-times very well. It includes several areas of debate viz., comparison between the condition of women in the past to that of the modern woman, their achievements around the globe, their lives after marriage, numerous opportunities available for them, the social and cultural attitude of the world towards them, to name a few. All this portrays the one aspect very clearly, time and time again — Gender Inequality and the horrors (in the form of its uncountable consequences) for females associated with it.

A woman was considered a man’s possession. Great heights of academic achievements and formal jobs were for men, while women fulfilled the family responsibilities and bore the burden of house-chores. A patriarchal and oppressed society with an inhumane caste system led to the immense suffering of women in various parts of the world. They were (and are being) mistreated inside and outside their homes.  Earlier, the majority of women were uneducated, now, many of them have education, but most of it is not adequate.

We have not made much difference ,have we ?

After years and years of being improperly treated, women have lost their ability to be practical, ask logical questions, and participate in debates and discussions. They follow such customs blindly in the name of worship and prayer.

Another point worth mentioning is the female foeticide. The conventional thinking that since women have always been a burden, no good can come out of a girl being born. These thinkers are entirely incapable of grasping the horrors of a world without women. If girls are born, they do not receive the same commitment and care as boys would.

But now, times are changing. although very slowly, but they indeed are shifting in favour of women. Numerous movies vividly express how the shifting from traditional to modern culture has brought about a modification in the issue of gender discrimination. “Water” by Deepa Mehta, “The Phantom Lover” by Ronny Yu, “ Roshomon” by Akira Kurosawa and “Pushpa” by Sukumar are lively examples of the same. “English Vinglish” is an Indian Film that efficiently portrays how a housewife can independently live in a foreign country without the help of a man and how she can achieve great success in whichever field she desires. 

 Various social norms in some form or the other deny women their rights like right to education, right of freedom, right to all health services, right to all economic opportunities and political participation. From each woman in the house to each woman stepping out for their own, they have continuously faced inequality till now. In previous times, women have had very little to no opinion in front of men, they were supposed to hide their faces, they were only told that they were meant to be doing nothing but household duty,they were told to hide their emotions and understand the emotions of men in their house, they were forced to wear non-exposing clothes, they were to sacrifice their education and dreams for the family, they were prepared for marriages and children, they were responsible for all miscarriages and child destructions where in the real culprit were the men out there and everything which was man-made and is still continuing to torn women apart. Why do we keep on seeing women waiting for their husbands to finish their food so that she can eat with the leftovers and it’s not vice versa? Why do we keep on seeing until now women are scared to step out at night and men are enjoying themselves without any fear? Why do we keep on seeing numerous rape cases even one second before and not any rapist hanged to death for the sin they do? Why are women considered as a slut if she wears a dress and not when she wears a saree? Why is there such an invention called “electric bra” to give shock to any hands that go out there and not any such invention for the man when he tries to commit something blunder ? Why are we supposed to be quiet when domestic violence takes place and not step out of the brutal and unhappy marriages?  Why are women the ones suffering and men ruling? There are a lot of questions which can make us question ourselves as a man or woman to be abiding to but can we see what has happened and has been happening? There are still the majority of women living in villages and following these customs blindly in the name of worship.There are countries where women are still not allowed to show their face and cover their heads 24×7. The post 2021 takeover by Taliban and the conflict between Taliban and Afghanistan showed that there are parts of the country where women are treated like a piece of shit. During the entire conflict, women were advised to wear proper clothes and cover every inch of their body from head to toe as per their customs and traditions and they were also advised to stay at home because their soldiers were not trained to respect women. Times are changing very slowly, they indeed are shifting in favour of women. Women’s status has undergone some serious, dramatic and remarkable changes both at home and at the workplace. The development and empowerment of women in society is impossible without women standing up for themselves. Therefore, we are able to see changes in women, fighting up for themselves, taking huge and bold steps by stepping out of domestic violence, misdemeanour, failed marriages, restricted house boundaries, opening about the crimes against them. This change in women is unstoppable by any human; any other woman not wanting to see some other woman’s growth or any man whose ego is devastated. Society realises that women are the indispensable pillars for advancement and success. Now, women are everywhere. They are political leaders, influencers, presidents, activists, strong independent mothers and moreover respected humans. Human and fundamental rights are the birth rights of any human which is now enacted to enhance the role of women in the society. Women are becoming more noticeable and prominent. They are no longer considered as a financial liability, a failed human or a useless person at home. Society has opened doors for women in all fields seeing their potential to grow as much as men can. The future of women will be bright only if evils like inequality, female foeticide, dowry etc. undergoes complete eradication from society. But, this should not stop right now. If there are liberal women in the world then there are also needy women in the world who need our help to take a stand. Women should now know and know how to break the stereotype and come out as an independent and powerful human.

Credit:Swati Garg