The concept of equality
of sexes has been taught to us right from our childhood and in support of
the same concept the idea of women empowerment was born and since then this movement has
gained popularity. But the question that should have been asked before
the rallies for equal rights for women gained strength is :What exactly is women
empowerment? The question itself is quite simple but the answers are varied and complex.
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| The gender gap captured in Media |
According to the document published
by the United Nations, the term basically entails the following five
components:
- Women's sense
of self-worth;
- Their right to have
and to determine choices;
- Their right to have access
to opportunities and resources;
- Their right to have the power
to control their own lives, both within and outside the
home; and
- Their ability to influence
the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally.
However, as more organizations joined the fray to fight for women empowerment the definition became vague.
Women empowerment should enable women to
fight against any injustice done to them or should enable them to fight for
their rights. In the earlier days, when India was a young free country, many
laws had to be laid down to bring the status of women at par with the men in
the society. However, as time passed these arcane laws were never changed. The quota reserved for women in every government institution and
in most fields was a necessity in those days. To continue in the same
vein even now when most women are at an equal footing with men in all
walks of life is a violation of the ideology in the support of which this
initiative was first taken. These laws automatically put men at an disadvantage.They are
not given even a fighting chance at grabbing the opportunities that in a
perfect world should have been available to both the genders equally.
The society has various means of twisting
the definitions of concepts in a way that suits itself and the definition is
generally distorted to such proportions that the original meaning of a coined
term is forgotten. Such is the case with the term ‘women’s empowerment’. By granting
women freedom, it no doubt aids them in making conscious choices and also makes
them independent, but it doesn't entail handing them opportunities like gifts
for it only makes them weaker. A child only becomes strong when it has fallen
time and again, only to make one more attempt at walking till it takes its
first step. If the women do not fight for their own rights and do not compete
with the men in a world apparently dominated by men, they will never realize their
self-worth in the true sense and may never reach the peak of their potential. Granted
that women are considered to be the fairer sex and they are weaker than their
counterparts in terms of physical strength, it should not result in the male
gender bearing the brunt of unfair practices to compensate the wide gulf.
The concept of women empowerment will be
truly implemented only when the women make themselves capable of competing with
the males on an equal footing. Only then will the scales of equality be
balanced.The men of today’s age understand the importance of their female counterparts in
more ways than we can possibly count and I guess the time is ripe for women to
pick up their arms and walk down the path to the new world as equals with the
men and not as the underdogs that need special offers or concessions to make their
presence felt in the world.
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| Dream for a EQUAL world |
Hence, when we teach gender equality in our schools today to girls and boys, let's tell them that both the sexes are truly equally-equal opportunities, equal importance, and equal reward-punishment standards for both.But for these values to get ingrained in the minds and hearts of our children the teaching should start at home and continue in our schools. Hope, this would lead us to a equal world where women are respected and treated as par with men. Neither women are discriminated against nor granted undue favors.
I AM
“I have hopes,
I have dreams,
I want to fly high,
I want to swim deep,
I speak many languages,
Of love, peace and silence,
I have been crushed many times,
Yet I get up every time bearing the bruises,
I give u birth,
And at death, I am the one you melt in,
I am a vortex of emotions,
I am your shore in a storm,
I am simply.... a woman!!”
-Kavisha Shah
--by Kavisha, a volunteer with Citizens Association for Child Rights a non profit education start-up
working to improve quality of health and education in municipal(inner city) schools of Mumbai
