Today is International Women's Day. And it is indeed a moment to celebrate a little. I mean, society has come a long way since its rigid paternalism which denied women the right to earn their own living, to support themselves, and to live their lives in a manner of their liking. Agreed, there are still areas where a lot of improvement, a lot of progress is desirable, but the journey has begun, and I feel that it is acquiring a pace that does not allow for any reversal of direction.
Empowerment is a mild term for a process which is so revolutionary, so liberating in its stride. Merely venerating female divinities does not make a society sensitive to female aspirations. Making women capable of taking their own decisions, of being independent of the pressures of their male relations and other male components of society, is an important step towards empowering the entire society wherein these women play just as important a role as the men.
The adage that an educated lady means an educated family cannot ever be denied; it is a given fact that someone who is literate will always be able to appreciate the subtle benefits that education confers upon an individual in the daily routine of life, and will therefore be more amenable to encouraging others within his/her circle of contacts to acquire some basic level of education, so as to improve their manner of eking their living.
But simply educating them will not suffice, as women need to be able to find opportunities wherein they can apply the knowledge that they have acquired. I am not so much in favour of the idea of reservations based on gender, as I feel they would be counter-productive, and may even alienate the genders from each other, when we should be looking at how the divide can be bridged in a most amicable manner. If an institutionalized bias does exist, then it is imperative that the State provide women with a weapon formidable enough to expose the deviants, and adequately penalize them. Anti-discrimination laws would therefore be more practical, although it must be understood that they need to be better in their manner of implementation than the current anti-dowry laws, which confer unreasonable powers on women, ignoring the fact that there are women, wont to be the black sheep amongst the herd, who would misuse the statute.
One may say that crime per se is not specifically directed against any particular gender, and yet I am not so stupid as to deny the fact that anti-woman crimes are perhaps a truth that society has to live with. Rape, abuse, domestic violence et al are crimes against women; abuse does transcend genders, but in the most general case, women suffer the most from it. And in my view, crimes of this nature are not just crimes against the individual concerned; rather they are crimes against the entire society of which the individual is a part. We need to strengthen our laws to deal with these reprehensible offences, so much as to deter further delinquents from ever even thinking about committing them. Women need to be assured that if they have been genuinely troubled, then the law shall be at its worst against their harassers.
Again, we could investigate the feasibility of how the State can encourage and support entrepreneurial initiatives by women, especially when such initiatives aim at providing a means of employing women and making them self-sufficient. Initiatives like SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) and the Grameen Bank need to be replicated across the country. In the end, it is well established that irrespective of all other factors, financial independence or at least financial autonomy can sufficiently empower women to be able to fend for themselves in a most effective manner.
This has been a long blog, and I am tired now. But the point is this: sure, celebrate this day, but also ponder on what all must be achieved here on. This is not the end of the journey, just one milestone amongst millions to come. Once Minerva and Athena were venerated as goddesses controlling major portfolios like War and the Intellect. I pray that today's Minervas also achieve the same glories.
Susan B. Anthony once said, and I quote, "The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race." Amen to that...
Image Courtesy: The Free Dictionary
