Its the beauty of Indian culture that women are worshipped in the form of goddesses like Laxmi, Durga, Saraswati etc. I feel all Indian women have been goddesses themselves in real life as well. For example when it comes to cash crunch for husband she becomes Laxmi, when she has to fight for herself or her family she becomes Durga, while teaching her children she eventually becomes Saraswati. Inspite of giving out more than what she has, the woman is always taken for granted. She does not get the respect which she deserves. Her work is seldom appreciated because its thought that what she did was her duty.
For every person ‘respecting women’ may have a different meaning. For example some may think offering a standing woman a seat in a public transport is respect; some may think that talking politely to her is respect; some may say holding a door for a women is respect and many
more gestures. But for me respecting a woman is respecting her thoughts, her values, her feelings, her freedom, her joys, her tears and not being judgemental.
We know that our government has been working upon women empowerment for decades. But inspite of coming up with so many schemes and opportunities for women the results are quite slow. What are the reasons? Why are Indian women still lagging behind?
The reasons are discussed here-
- The selflessness of woman herself - Women are emotional creatures. They prioritise their family and loved ones even if it means compromising their own dreams. This makes them happy but upset as well.
- Dependence of men on women- how many men do we see who cook or do laundry when they have their mother or wife in family? This ‘over-dependence’ of men on women makes them hard to leave the house for completing their own dreams. In this case women might feel stuck up.
- The women- Yes! Its always a woman who will pull the leg of other women if they tried to succeed. Harsh truth! How many mother-in-laws will allow their daughter-in-laws to work or study after marriage? They are expected to dedicate their complete time to to their family. And the self-esteem of the women is put down.
We generally notice young girls saying that they want to complete their education and get a good job before marriage. Why? Why does their life change upside down after marriage? Why can’t their husband’s home be their second home? Why do they feel so insecure about marriage? Why can’t the things change for a both men and women after marriage? Why are all the compromises, responsibilities, promises and all kind of sacrifices only for the women?
Women don’t generally go against these social norms because their family and society have been brain-washing them right from their childhood about the do’s and don’t’s of marriage. And they start believing it.
If a woman goes against all these social norms and realises her dreams she is not supported by her own so-called family. Instead of appreciating
her wish to stand on her own feet she is questioned.Some women are truly lucky to have a family who support their dreams.
As long as the young girls are insecure about their career after marriage, we have to admit that we have yet not reached the milestone. Its not the government who is at fault but the society.
We can not change the way our elders think but we can definitely change the we think.
Let’s raise our daughters into financially independent ladies and also teach our sons to be independent at home. Let them cook, do laundry, iron their clothes, clean and sweep the house. After all women are not the only gender which eats and men are not the only gender who earn.
Empowerment comes with equality.
